Tag Archives: musicians

Worship All Night (Well, Almost!)

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This year the Feast of Tabernacles in Kalisz has more worship teams than ever before from all over Europe, and this year even one representing Israel.  And that’s what had us up worshiping almost all night.  The leader of the Israel worship team arrived a couple of days ahead of his team, and he asked Team Italy to play backup for him.  The musicians all said yes immediately.  Bethany was desperately tired, and I wasn’t convinced that I would be either wanted or needed, and so thought a good night’s sleep would do me some good.

Remember, yesterday, we did the worship from 2-4 AM.  Team Israel’s time was 10-12 PM, and our next session was 4-6 AM.  So Bethany was probably wise to get some sleep while she could.

I don’t remember what it was that changed my mind.  I think I just got excited about the idea of backing up Hebrew worship songs.  I think there was also the feeling that I should be with the team if at all possible.  It turned out to be a great choice.  The music was amazing and very anointed, the sanctuary was packed out, and best of all, God showed up.  I don’t know how, but two hours went blazing by in what seemed like 20 minutes at the most.

Then we went back to the hotel, slept for about three hours, and went back to do our early morning session.  Yesterday’s early session was only Team Italy.  This morning there were a few other people in the sanctuary, most of whom joined into the spirit of worship.  I say most because there were two girls who sat on the sofa (situated in front of the platform where the drums are, and right by the table where the Communion bread and wine were set out for us to partake of before our worship sessions).  For our entire set, these two girls talked and giggled, even though the church gave strict instructions several times that the sanctuary is not a place to talk.  It was very distracting for me and for Bethany, since we were angled to face toward the couch, and couldn’t look toward the other teammates without catching sight of the girls.

I had a shaker egg in my hand, and was tempted to throw it at them.  Then I remembered what the Holy Spirit told me about rude people: it is not my job to teach them manners  I’m just supposed to love them.  So then I prayed that they would get up and go someplace else.  They didn’t.  And when I complained to God, He said, “They are not the problem, you are!  You need to focus on seeking Me, and you should be able to focus on Me no matter where you are or who is around.”

So it wasn’t a fun lesson or an especially fun session—the techie didn’t do a very good job of hooking us up, so we couldn’t hear each other, and the music suffered (yes, the musicians all got borrowed instruments–God provides!).  But it was an important step in personal spiritual growth, and that’s what counts.  God is good!

Worship in the Wee Hours

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Team Italy’s first worship session was 2-4 AM on the first night of the Feast of Tabernacles.  Here is our team:

Giuseppe – Bass player and musical director of the worship team

Roberto – Drummer and Giuseppe’s very talented son

Daniele – Electric guitar player

Felicity – Acoustic guitar player and worship leader

Bethany – Chorus and intercessor

Me – Chorus and intercessor (and possible dancer), also team leader in things non-musical

Upon our arrival, one of the German teams was playing.  Not being a musician, I didn’t notice anything wrong until our bass player came to me and pointed out that there were no guitars, and three members of our team play guitar: electric, acoustic, and bass.  What to do?

I sent the drummer up as our first musician to take over while we figure the rest of it out.  He went up on the platform and behind the drum partition.  The German drummer refused to let him slide in and take over.  It was a surreal moment.  Meanwhile the rest of the team began pacing in various parts of the room, while the German team played some soft background music, just right for making the changeover.

Just then the techie arrived.  He told me that they don’t have any instruments to loan, which is not what I had been told.  He made a call, and found us an acoustic guitar, which we put into Daniele’s hands.  Giuseppe, clearly unhappy at first about not having an instrument to play, began to pray and worship from below the platform.  Soon his worship became truly joyful.

So with drums and guitar, we made music for the Lord.  Believe it or not, it was really nice, too!  We (the three females) did a lot of riffing, which turned out really nicely.  There were a couple of songs that Felicity launched into that were either not in the songbook or were too unfamiliar to me.  At those times, I stepped from the platform, grabbed an Italian flag, and started dancing.  By that time only team Italy was in the sanctuary, so that gave me a great deal of freedom.

Giuseppe stepped onto the platform and using Bethany’s microphone (the closest one at hand), prophesied that he now had a bigger vision than Italy, and that all this—even not having all our instruments—was a part of God’s plan.

At one point, Felicity had been riffing for a while in a very mellow mood, and I thought it might be too mellow for the hour.  So I stepped back up onto the platform, riffing the title of a lively song that she had planned for our first session, but perhaps had forgotten about.  She gave me a big grin, and launched right into it, which gave Roberto something to really sink his drumsticks into.

Before I knew it our replacements were in the room, dancing joyfully to our music and preparing to take the platform.  I don’t know how two hours passed so quickly.

On the way out of the church building, Giuseppe told me, “We need to get instruments somehow.”  Yes, somehow, we do need to get instruments.  But thank You, Lord, for this first session and what it taught each of us about the heart of worship.  The heart really is more important than the music, and we had plenty of heart.  God is good!

Pray for America!

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Yesterday I heard an interview with Jonathan Cahn on YouTube.  Cahn is a Messianic Rabbi and the author of The Harbinger.  The interview was on Sid Roth’s show It’s Supernatural!  What he shared was that George Washington’s first act as the first President of the United States of America was to pray that America would always follow God, and always enjoy God’s protection.  That prayer was prayed in the site of the nation’s original capital: at the corner of Ground Zero in New York City.

That prayer constituted a covenant relationship between the United States and God.  It is abundantly obvious that God kept His part of the covenant, blessing America above all other nations on earth.

  1. Idolatry – Jeremiah 16:18 – “I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.”  America has made an idol of money.  Actors, musicians, and athletes have also become idols.  Even our pets have become idols (read my blog post A Shocking Statistic).
  2. Immorality – Hosea 4:10-12 – “They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not flourish, because they have deserted the Lord to give themselves to prostitution; old wine and new wine take away their understanding.  My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.  A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.”  America has become so immoral that the sex act has become the expected end to a date.  Sex has become as casual as shaking hands.
  3. Broken Covenants & Injustice – Isaiah 24:5 – “The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.”  Marriage is a covenant relationship, but marriage in America has been under a 2-fold attack: 1. couples no longer consider marriage a prerequisite to having sex, living together, or having children together; and 2. the legalization of gay marriage, which defies the Biblical definition of marriage.  (Don’t hate on me for making that statement.  I am all for gays having monogamous civil partnerships and enjoying the same legal rights as married couples.  But don’t call that marriage.)  And on the issue of injustice in America, start with the slaughter of the indigenous American peoples (also known erroneously as Indians) and the demonic institution of slavery, which built wealth based on the sweat and blood of kidnapped Africans.  The injustices continue against people of color in the US in the form of racial bigotry and prejudice, which have become politically incorrect, but have never truly ended.
  4. The Shedding of Innocent Blood – Numbers 35:33-34 – “Do not pollute the land where you are.  Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.  Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.”  Abortion, which was legalized in America 40 years ago, has murdered over 56 Million unborn babies (see the Abortion Clock for the exact current number both in the US and worldwide).  Abortion is akin to the sin of Israel in sacrificing their children by putting them in the fire to Molech.  In her amazing book, He Came to Set the Captives Free, Dr. Rebecca Brown noted that abortion is a blood sacrifice to satan, the god of self.

Beginning with removing prayer and Bible reading from public schools, America has abandoned its covenant with God over the last 50 years.  After the horror of 9/11, David Wilkerson said that God had issued the US a warning that He was lifting the hedge of protection, and he cited Isaiah 9:10, which says: “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place,” (ESV).

Interestingly, Isaiah 9:10 is exactly what the politicians all said in the aftermath of 9/11.  This verse sounds like the good old American indomitable spirit, but for 1 thing: it quotes what Israel said when God lifted the hedge of protection.  Instead of turning back to God and seeking Him, they vowed to rebuild bigger and better than before, using stronger materials.  It is the indomitable spirit—the spirit that refuses to bow to God’s sovereignty.

What came next for Israel was invasion and utter destruction by their enemies.  What comes next for America is something similar or worse.  If we stay on this course, there will only be a small remnant of Americans left, and our country will be left devastated.  Most likely, Americans will be scattered across the globe.

Look at how we have actually set ourselves up for disaster: Our public buildings are almost without exception owned by foreigners.  Farmers are required to buy seed that produces no seed, so farming is no longer sustainable in America.  The economy is no longer based on gold, but now it’s based on paper currency, which is a house of cards waiting to fall.  Iran is very close to having missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the east coast of the US.  And we are on their target list right behind Israel.  We keep talking to them about peace, but they are not interested in peace.  They must start a war against Israel and America so that the 12th Imam, the Mahdi—Islam’s Messiah—can appear.  And that is all that they are interested in doing.

But here’s hope:

  1. If American Christians will humble themselves and pray, God will hear them.  “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land,” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
  2. If American Christians will all vote according to God’s principles—the values this country was founded upon (Bible and prayer allowed once again in public places, no abortion, pro-family and marriage), then God will relent and not send destruction.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASomehow people always spot me as an American!

There are enough Christians to swing politics back onto the right track, but we’ve got to quit voting our wallets and start voting according to Biblical values.

A good example of a truly humble and repentant prayer was prayed by Daniel, of whom no sins or blunders are recorded: “We have sinned and done wrong.  We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from Your commands and laws.  We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land,” (Daniel 9:5-6).

God is good, but His patience is at an end.