Ruach Conference 2014: Wrecked on Tuesday

I have a half-written post about Tuesday's morning and afternoon sessions, but my heart is so stinkin' full after the night service I've gotta spill some of it before I explode.

Let me just start by saying how ridiculously good and anointed the RPC Worship Department is. I say department because they have like 27 different teams and every last one of them is dripping with anointing.

I said all that to say that tonight's opening song, "I hear the sound" flat wrecked me. I found out later that John Brockman, one of RPC's many worship leaders, wrote this song. And I can only imagine how God would upload a song like this to anyone.

Well, that was just the opener. Lee University's Campus Choir backed up the worship team and, as always, they were jubilant and highly anointed.

Worship prepared the way for the word from Free Chapel Pastor Jentezen Franklin. "Don't Waste Your Oil" was the subject of his message.

His text was 1 Samuel 16 where David is anointed king after the Samuel passes over his brothers.

Jentezen's message was basically pour into people who will receive what you have to give.

He listed various types of people that he won't waste his oil and/or time pouring into. Everything from mean people to stingy people to those who ridicule and mock the moving of the Spirit for today–are not worth losing sleep over. It's not worth it to even argue with them.

Can I tell you how freeing that is?

Jentezen went on to tell the story of a city in North Carolina near a Marine Corps air station that has signs posted around the city stating, "Pardon our noise, it's the sound of freedom."

The funny thing about that story is I just heard the very same thing on Sunday when Dr. Bryan Cutshall, president of the Redemption School of Ministry, preached at my home church (a wonderful experience that started off our week with a bang).

Pastor B, as he's affectionately known, shared the story after the most remarkable exegesis of Psalm 23 I've ever heard–a word that still has me in wonder even today.

After Tuesday night's service, as I walked by Pastor B. he stopped me and remarked about sharing that story Sunday and he called it confirmation.

As if that wasn't enough, a young man with Campus Choir (who I didn't know from Adam) stopped me on our way out the door and gave me a prophetic word. The young man said that he could see I was locked in a prison room and I was praying, fasting, and even singing at the wall for it to fall, but God had to remove some things behind the wall first. He went on to say that the wall is falling now.

Now, I'm not typically one to just accept a prophetic word from a total stranger. Ever. But the truth in that word confirmed by actual issues I've been facing, coupled with the confirmation of Pastor Jentezen and Pastor B. tells me freedom is here!

You can call that weird. You can call it strange fire. You can call it whatever you want. I call it the sound of freedom. I call it an on time word straight from the throne.

Thank God for Ruach.

Ruach Conference 2014 - My Thoughts on Day One

When I first heard about the Ruach Conference some months ago, I knew it would be a can't-miss event for spirit-filled believers everywhere. And let me tell you, day one of the conference certainly lived up to those lofty expectations.

After a brief time of worship, the conference began with a greeting from the pastor of the Redemption Point Church, Kevin Wallace. Pastor Kevin noted that he felt a burden to host the Ruach Conference after hearing about another conference which existed only to shut-out and shut-up spiritual gifts and the moving of the Holy Spirit in today's church.

He didn't call-out that conference by name, but I can only assume he was talking about last year's Strange Fire Conference hosted by John MacArthur in California.

I posted a response to MacArthur's rhetoric right here at joelabarker.com–a post that has been my most-viewed and commented-on to date.

I don't believe Pastor Kevin's vision for Ruach was for the conference to be the "Anti-Strange Fire" conference. Rather, the heart of this conference seems to be just what it's branded and billed to be–breathing fresh life into the spirit-filled church.

For this worship pastor, Ruach's vision became reality in the two sessions I attended with the incredibly anointed Ricardo Sanchez.

The Grammy award winning worship artist said some things during those two hours that made me uncomfortable and downright convicted in my heart.

It's really easy to become complacent in ministry. That's especially true when you feel called in multiple areas, as I am. Sometimes you get lost in the shuffle between where you are now and where God is calling you to go. I'm not making excuses, I'm just telling you the truth.

Truth is exactly what Sanchez shared.

Among the first noteworthy comments he shared was this little gem, "the presence of God will always come where the presence of God is invited."

Well, yeah. I've said it many times. I've proclaimed that very fact on my fair share of stages. I'm just not sure I've really believed it every time I've said it. Today, I believed it.

Sanchez continued, "when God's presence comes, the Kingdom comes with Him." Now, that I've never heard. But man, did that open up my heart right off the bat.

Think about that for a minute. When we experience Him in worship, we are experiencing the presence of the Kingdom of God.

I recently had a few moments like this in worship.

Leading worship at my home church's Fall Campmeeting just two short weeks ago, we reached a different dimension than I've ever experienced. I began flowing in prophetic worship and it was like God literally sat down among His people in that church.

His Kingdom broke through and that experience has changed the way I view worship. And of course, Ruach happens at the perfect time to reinforce and confirm what God began two weeks ago in my heart.

There were many more quotes and topics I could share from our time with Ricardo Sanchez, but the time of worship we had with him toward the end of the session deserves a mention here.

It only lasted five or six minutes, but our small group of about 25 worship leaders experienced a shift in the spiritual atmosphere as Ricardo led a medley of worship songs before our time was up. He was touched. We were all touched in just a brief few moments. Further driving home his point that God shows up when He's invited.

Dan Reiland's leadership talk followed the worship breakout session.

I was excited to hear from Reiland. He's a can't-miss interview on multiple podcasts that I subscribe to–including the 200 Churches podcast where he's a monthly guest.

Learning some of the ins-and-outs of leadership from someone of his stature in the Kingdom was a treat. I discovered that I'm mostly a "learned-leader" with some qualities of a "natural leader." I think I also discovered why I battle the aforementioned complacency issue as well.

The treat of day one, however, was the evening service with Reinhard Bonnke–a true giant of the faith. The short video prior to his taking the stage was enough to make a Presbyterian shout. Bonnke claims 74 Million people have been saved from Hell through his ministry via the simple proclamation of the Gospel across the globe.

That's just an astounding number. And watching his videos through the years, I believe the reports.

Bonnke talked a bit about his age and the successor to his ministry, Daniel Kolenda (Tuesday speaker). There were moments in the message where Bonnke's heart was revealed in such a way that you could feel his burden for souls. Not just souls on other continents either.

His emphatic statement, "America shall be saved" brought much of the near-capacity crowd to their feet.

Bonnke continued, "Africa has given me incurable faith for America."

The statement "incurable faith" messed me up. I'll have more on that topic in a later blog post, I guarantee it.

Only an evangelist like Reinhard Bonnke could give a compelling altar call for salvation at a conference primarily for pastors and church leaders. About 20 people responded too. The night services are open to the public, so I'm fairly certain those that responded were not backslidden preachers, but you never know.

In all, day one was incredibly refreshing content-wise. It was also a treat to spend much of the day with my parents and some friends in the ministry. Not to mention meeting many folks face-to-face that I had only met via social media prior to Monday's opening sessions.

Day one of Ruach was nothing short of incredible. I'll have more as the week progresses.


*My next few posts will feature my reflections on Ruach Conference 2014 hosted by Redemption Point Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. These posts are not official recaps. Just my thoughts.

A Response to John MacArthur's Strange Fire Conference

After a few weeks off to refocus and redesign the site, I've decided to make a brief comeback before the relaunch to address some recent news concerning John MacArthur's Strange Fire Conference.

I am Pentecostal through and through. I was dedicated at 17 days of age in a Pentecostal church. I spent the first eight years of my life in an Independent Pentecostal Holiness church and for the last 23 years I've called the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) organization my tribe.

I want to make it clear from the get-go, however, that the Kingdom of God knows no division. I will continue to worship with many blood-bought, born again Christ-followers regardless of their denomination, creed, or secondary teachings. 

That said, I must address some disheartening statements made these last few days by noted theologian, author, and minister John MacArthur.

MacArthur's conference apparently was birthed out of his yet-to-be-released book Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship. 

It appears that the book has a lot to say about the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. If MacArthur's opening statements at the conference are any indication, the book will accomplish much in an effort to slander many Christ-exalting men and women.

Part of MacArthur's opening address reportedly included the following statement:

There are a half a billion of professed Charismatics. For some frame of reference, there are a billion Roman Catholics, and 14 million Mormons. So you see that this is a massive issue. And yet, nobody would fault pastors for confronting Mormonism for their false view of God, Christ, and Salvation. 

By many measures, John MacArthur should be considered a pioneer of faith in 21st Century America. Yet, someone as deeply rooted in the Word of God as MacArthur should understand that comparing Pentecostals to Mormons is, at best, laughable.

MacArthur must realize that neither of those enormous religions even gets the essentials right. There's absolutely no comparison here.

MacArthur reportedly continued:

Am I discrediting everyone in the movement? No. I think there are people to desire to worship God in a true way. They're caught up in this as well, though, because intention is not enough. But the movement itself offers nothing to enrich true worship. 

Surely, John MacArthur doesn't view "true worship" as the act of gratitude that Pentecostals exuberantly portray in church every Sunday, right? 

True worship is less what we do on Sunday and more the reflection of the consecrated life we live before our maker throughout the week. True worship has little to do with the tongue-talking, exuberant style of praise you see in most Pentecostal churches.

The Apostle Paul–noted tongue-talker–wrote in Romans 12:1 that we should present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service or our spiritual worship. Any theologian worth his salt will tell you that means living as though we are dead to self and alive to Christ and His ways. That's the essence of true worship–not our joyous style of praise.

If true worship is what we're judging Pentecostals by, my home church alone sacrificially helps around 100 needy families every month with emergency food boxes and has served 250,000 hot meals since 1995 while averaging only 75-80 attendants on a weekly basis. Sounds to me like we know plenty about true worship.

One more MacArthur quote:

The charismatic movement continually dishonors God in its false forms of worship. It dishonors the Father and Son, but most specifically, the Holy Spirit. Many things are attributed to the Holy Spirit that actually dishonor him. In many places in the charismatic movement they are attributing to the Holy Spirit works that have actually been generated by Satan.

Matthew 12:25-26 NIV – "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?"

Jesus said that, by the way.

This is the easiest of MacArthur's statements to refute. By far.

By MacArthur's own admission, Pentecostalism is the fastest growing movement on the planet. People are coming to Christ in droves all across the world in Charismatic services. The unmistakable tug of the spirit is active in our services and sermons.

Why would Satan be so ignorant as to generate a movement that is leading literal millions of people to Christ?

Half-a-billion people worldwide consider themselves a part of this movement. That makes Pentecostalism one of the top Christ-essential protestant movements ever.

Yet, instead of applauding the efforts of countless men and women–pastors, teachers, and missionaries–for making such a vast difference for the Kingdom of God, John MacArthur has attacked us.

It is not my intention to attack or rebut cessationalists with this post. I refuse to debate cessationism vs. continualism in this space.

My contention here is John MacArthur's reckless, arrogant, and irresponsible actions at this conference.

Strange Fire has become a three-day Pentecostalism bash-fest. I find that incredibly detrimental to the Kingdom of God.

I'll be the first to admit, there is some "strange fire" out there. I've been witness to plenty of it during my 31 years. But using the fringe to color the full canvas makes a horribly disfigured painting.

I am thankful for many in mainstream protestantism that have stood with Pentecostals during these last few days. The unity you've portrayed in the face of unprovoked attack on an integral part of the body of Christ is encouraging.

I won't hold out hope for an apology from John MacArthur. But in the interest of the Kingdom, I'm praying he does so.

Worship Experience: Reflections from April 21

I'm a little late getting to this post, but Sunday was an especially draining day physically and we just started revival at the church. Life happens. Ministry happens. And blog posts get pushed back. It's not the end of the world.

Here's this week's Worship Experience!

Sunday Morning Reflections

I need to learn more hymns. Well, it's not that I need to "learn" them per se, I just need to practice, update, and actually sing more of the hymns that I know.

I lead two hymns and I alternate them two every other week. Victory in Jesus (page 120) and We Shall See the King (page 120) are very good songs and we do them well, but I'd really like to mix it up a bit more every now and again.

I love to do hymns in a traditional style, but I'd really love to modernize some hymns and do them on a regular basis.

Worship leaders, how have you done this? How do you stay respectful to the song that many generations grew up singing while updating it to fit the modern mold? I'd love to hear some incite.

Sunday Morning Setlist

• We Shall See the King


• Counting on God


• Let it Rise


• There is a River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qQos4iEyAo

(Disclaimer: The use of this clip does not in any way equal an endorsement of this ministry. It was the only usable clip of this song and you've gotta admit the spanish subtitles are wicked awesome.)  

 

Sunday Evening Reflections

I knew Break Every Chain was going to be a powerful song for our church in this season when we learned it last year.  The song and the anointing on it in this season has been nothing short of amazing at our church.

As a singer, I know my limitations. I know how high and how creative I can be with my voice under normal circumstances. But "normal circumstances" are out the door when it comes to singing under the anointing. And singing this song under the anointing is a rush physically and spiritually.

I feel the anointing more often than not on stage, but there are times, mainly when my physical body is tired or stressed, that it's much more difficult to get into that anointed flow. Sunday night was not one of those times, even though I was quite tired physically.

During the song, I felt a strong unction that God was breaking chains of intimidation off of someone in the church. I spoke that word and have since received confirmation that those specific chains were indeed broken during the worship service.

That's the power of worship. It's not a song, or a style, or a singer. It's God rushing into an atmosphere that is saturated with His praise. As Hebrews 2:12 says, Jesus, our brother, even proclaims the name of God in the midst of a worshiping congregation.

According to that Hebrews reference, in an atmosphere that welcomes His presence, Jesus walks among those engaged in worship and literally speaks the names of God into our spirit.

Do you need a healing? Worship and He'll speak Jehovah Rapha. Are you stuck in a financial bind? Worship and He'll speak Jehovah Jireh. Are you battling a spirit of intimidation? Worship and He'll speak Jehovah Nissi.

There is incredible power in your outward expression of worship.

How has God used you in a worship service? Have you felt His presence and left the building changed after a time of intense worship and praise?

Sunday Evening Setlist

• Super Victorious


• This is how we overcome


• I Am


• Break Every Chain

Worship Experience: Reflections from April 14

Sunday Morning Reflections

Ah, Hymns of the Spirit. When the old regular red back won't do, there's always Hymns of the Spirit. I have fond memories of singing from the songbook, which coincidentally is also red. I have seen the book in green as well, but I digress.

My memories of Hymns of the Spirit come from our time at the Boynton Church of God over two decades ago. I was young, quite young in fact, but when I hear songs like "I'm Glad He Lifted Me Out" and the classic "I'd Tell the World" my mind automatically shoots back to the early 90's when we'd sing those songs over and over and over again.

When I heard my mom singing "Come and Dine" this morning as Sunday School was dismissed (Yes, we still have Sunday School. And don't judge. Sunday School is only a slightly less hip way of saying 'Small Groups'.), I just had to ask her to lead it as our first song of the morning.

Despite the blank stares from many members of the praise team who couldn't quite recollect the song from deep inside their inner hymnal memory vault, we sang the song to a fairly good response.

I felt the spirit in the song and I thought it was the perfect opener for a Sunday morning.

Sunday Morning Set-List

• Come & Dine


• Promises One by One


• Can't Nobody


• Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)

 

Sunday Evening Reflections

As a member of the Church of God, I've had to refrain from learning, partaking in, or otherwise orchestrating non-spirit-led choreographic routines in our worship services. That is, until we learned Deep Cries Out by Bethel Worship.

Granted, there's not a ton of choreography that goes with the song, but we move to the left and move to the right a few times in the song. Not quite Electric Shuffle level, but close.

Truth is, I love the song. Our young people love the song. And I'm pretty sure the worship team loves the song. So, we do the song.

We learned a new song in practice as well. "We Give You Glory, Glory" by Bryn Waddell went over really well during the service. The band and I sang this song as a special because we haven't practiced it with the vocalists yet. Needless to say, I cannot wait till this one is ready to sing in worship.

http://vimeo.com/36834913

Sunday Evening Set-List

• Friend of God


• Deep Cries Out


• Heaven on Earth

 

Worship leaders, how was your worship experience Sunday? Have you learned anything new recently? Do you do hymns anymore? Have any recollections of past hymns and worship services? Come on and share in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!

 

Worship Experience: Reflections from Sunday, April 7

Worship Experience will be a weekly post at joelabarker.com. As a worship leader, I want to share with others what God is doing in my church with the worship team.

My hope is that "Worship Experience" will become a hub of sorts for worship leaders everywhere to share their Sunday experiences, set lists, service recaps, etc.

Now, for this week's Worship Experience.

Worship Experience: April 7

Sunday Morning Reflections

Ever get that feeling that half the congregation stayed up way too late on Saturday night? Yeah, thought so. I get it every week, too.

But that's part of the burden and the joy of being a worship leader. You start out cold and tired and by the time you hit the final note, people are really expressing their love and emotionally lifting up their Savior.

This Sunday was no different. And, as usual, by the time "How Great is our God" ended, our folks were there, in that wonderful, service-tone setting, atmosphere of worship.

No matter how many times that song is sung or how much weight is added to Chris Tomlin's wallet when we sing it, there's almost a ready-made atmosphere of worship by the time we finish up.

Sunday Morning Set-List

• Victory in Jesus


• Promises


• How Great is our God

Sunday Evening Reflections

Sunday evening services are almost always polar opposites of Sunday morning. Folks have had a chance to eat, rest, and reflect on Sunday morning for a while.

The atmosphere of worship is usually set before the worship team even begins its first song on Sunday evening. Our service starter, Missy Tallent, usually prays down an atmosphere before I even get the mic.

Those are the fun services. We, as the worship team, can just step right in and flow.

On Sunday evening, we started off with "Break Every Chain" because the flow was already moving that way.

Typically, I follow the Worship Leader Manual by starting off with a fast song (I have no idea if such a manual exists, but I imagine if it does the first chapter contains only the words "OPEN WITH A FAST SONG"), but sometimes—usually on a Sunday evening service—there's no need to get folks pepped up with a one of those mind numbingly-clap-on-the-off-beat-to-feel-the-Spirit kind of songs.

So, we moved the fast song all the way down to No. 2 on the list.

The song that really resonated was Israel Houghton's "Your Presence is Heaven to Me." God has used that song incredibly in this current season we are in at Joyful Sound Church.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMgGExYzzYI

 

Sunday Evening Set-List

• Break Every Chain


• Oh Happy Day


• Show Me Your Glory


• Your Presence is Heaven to Me

How did you feel about your Sunday worship service(s)? What songs are you singing in this season? How does the congregation react when/if you go against The Manual? Do you even care about The Manual?

 

I lead worship at the Joyful Sound Church in Chattanooga, TN.

Introducing Joelabarker.com | Worship, Church, Community, Kingdom

Welcome to joelabarker.com! I'm so excited to get this blog launched. As I said in the first post "Ready. Set. Go!", this site is nearly one year in the making.

Over the last year, I have basically had to relearn blogging. After five years writing about sports for various websites and publications, I figured I should take my time in venturing out into a new area of the blogosphere.

Yes, sports was and still is a favorite hobby. Yes, I still know way more than I should about the 4-3 defense, 40 yard dash times, and the MLB trade deadline. But, ministry and the church is my life.

The content that will be covered here is hardly new to me, but, believe it or not, there is a difference between writing about quarterback hurries and church communications.

So, what will I cover here at joelabarker.com? Let's refer to the site header for starters.

Worship

If you've read my about page you know that I am a worship leader. If you've been in church longer than a minute you should know what a worship leader does.

I may cover new songs or worship service experiences in this space from time to time, but more than likely I will cover worship in the deeper sense—the lifestyle of worship.

After all, what we do on Sunday is merely an outward expression of an inward attitude.

Church

No, I will not be critiquing church services, preachers, pastors, etc. Way too many blogs have taken on that fools errand.

I will blog about the church. You know, that whole pillar and ground of the truth thing. (1 Tim. 3:15)

I hope to cover topics ranging from the state of the church to church communications to marketing and planting. My plan is to go as in-depth as possible on issues like church benevolence ministries and outreach.

Community

The word "community" in the context of a blog or website is quite different from the use of the word in a church context.

Sure, I want to build an online community around my site. But my ultimate hope is to play my small part in inspiring leaders to really effect change in the way they view their real-life communities. I'm not just talking about their local neighborhoods, but I want to see communities of believers, churches, pastors actually working together for a change.

We should be sharing ideas, best practices, and resources. Like the Acts 4:32 church.

That's not to say that I'll be preaching at or grumbling about the inward-focused churches or pastors who'd rather eat their own shoe than collaborate with other ministers (Yes, there are plenty of them out there). That's not what I'm about and that's definitely not what this blog will be about. I want to see John 13:35 lived out loud.

Kingdom

Ultimately, I want to be all about the kingdom. I want this site to be all about the kingdom. I want everything I do, say, write, preach, and sing to be all about the kingdom.

If it's for the kingdom, I'm all for it.

Everything written on this website will have a kingdom mindset at its very core.

Hopefully that brief overview explains my starting point for this website. I'd love to hear your input on the ideas presented in this introductory post. What's your take on the worship > church > community > kingdom topic?

 

image courtesy of flickr creative commons user jayneandd