Worship Leader Blog

Last night I was caught completely off-guard by Gungor, the last artist of the Wednesday Night of Worship--as clichéd as this sounds, you really had to be there. I doubt I can come up with words to describe the evening. The variety of musical styles and instrumentation was amazing and surprisingly refreshing, coming at a time, for me, when I'm very nearly (and I hate to admit this as a worship leader in the church) "worshiped-out."

Having come to this conference immediately following a week at a quadrennial denominational conference that was also filled with inspiring times of worship, I think I'm at a point where I need some quietness and solitude, and not just to process all of the content that I've taken in, but just to be still before God.

Don't get me wrong--I love the incredible variety of worship bands and artists and all of the different styles and worship experiences that this conference affords, but two weeks of non-stop input and daily corporate worship has given me a yearning for...well, fishing.

And I'm not talking in spiritual terms about "fishing for souls"--I'm really talking about going by myself to a quiet, lonely spot on the lake, where the only sounds are the sounds of geese and cranes and turkeys in the woods and waves lapping at the rocks, and the occasional splash of a largemouth bass--where I can quietly reflect on the goodness and creativity of God, listen for his still, small voice, and rest in his presence.

Frankly, it's going to take some time for me to process everything I've heard and seen in the past couple of weeks. I'll transcribe my notes at some point, and I know that I'll be doing great if I can implement even one or two of the ideas that have come my way this past fortnight.

So, one more day of NWLC11, and I'm looking forward to it all; and then I'm looking forward to going home.

Again, let me be clear--I'm grateful beyond words for these times of communion with God, for opportunities to worship without being the worship leader on the platform, for new ideas and perspectives, for reminders of what my priorities ought to be, for a brief respite from the week-in, week-out routine of my ministry--all of that has been wonderful, priceless. And I love a loud guitar and drums as much as the next guy--maybe more than most guys my age. But I'm tired, and I'm ready to be alone with God for a while. I need some time to practice the discipline of solitude.

I'm grateful for the experiences and the content and the input; I pray I'll be able to process it thoroughly, and soon--but I'm also praying for a day's rest sometime soon.