Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (14th June, 2016)

DIVINE ESCORT

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: Luke 4:1-14

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Romans 8:14

You must be led by the Spirit of God so that you avoid error. “…ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).

There are two types of ministers: those who love dreams, visions and prophetic things. The other type are those who love the solid Word of God.

People who base their lives only on the written Word easily go into error. On the other hand, those who live their lives mainly by following visions and prophecies are equally prone to error. Error comes when you are only guided by the written Word of God. Error comes when you are bereft of dreams and visions and prophecies!

Error comes when you only live by the rules and principles of the Word of God but deny the leading of the Holy Spirit. Do you want to be in error? Do you want to deviate from the will of God? Of course not! You must believe in the Bible but you must be led by the Spirit of God.

“If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

Quote of the day (23rd May, 2016)

“Be yourself, not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be.” – Henry David Thoreau

Worship Team Training – No Fake Worship

We have all been there. Everything may sound fantastic, look attractive, and planned with purposeful intent. But, something just doesn’t seem right. You feel fake vibes when hoping for authentic ones. Regardless, what makes a worship service fake might be boiled down to a few things. Though, there may be more to put on a list.
The truth is God wants your real worship, not the things of your worship. Here are Five Things that are fake.

Here are five ideas that promote the “fake factor” in church worship services.

1. The worship team is performing like they are in a stadium and only 200 people are in the worship center. Just means over-scaling your team, sound and presentation might not be helping you. The energy put into production shouldn’t outweigh the value of building relationships with the people in the congregation you serve. Your haze machine cannot fill that gap.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. – Psalm 29.2

2. There is no context of God’s character , just our experience. We can sing “we worship You” all we want, but who is “You”–a fuzzy God who just makes us feel fuzzy or an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God who is jealous of us loving anything or one more than Him. Do we go for a God-or-girlfriend emotion or promote confession and celebration?
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. – 2Chron 7.14

3. You do the latest song or idea because it’s the latest song or idea. Content is king in worship, not the buzz of the newest thing.
What is the voice of the prayers and songs of your own people? Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. – Psalm 86.6

4. Worship team members are there more for their talent or to play music and not for their spiritual growth. Sure, hire the best people to music pop, but is that your goal? The story of the messengers or artists on stage is important. They are not just tools, they are real people you put up there. Hire people, by the way. But, treat them like…people.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. – Eph 4.25

5. The goal for the congregation is a feeling , not a transformation. I am all for emotive expression of worship, it’s just that the goal is that we are formed into the image of Jesus a bit more by all that we do in worship and life. So, to just reduce the outcome to sentiment is just a bad idea. Period. Do we expect a “religious” or spiritual encounter to actually change us?
You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me. – Psalm 81.9
“God wants your worship, not your things of worship” – Branon Dempsey
@rkweblog
@BranonDempsey @WorshipTT

Rich Kickpatrick, along with Branon Dempsey is one of our Worship Team Training Instructors

Visit Worship Team Training for more of these articles.

Cwesi Oteng – He Changeth Not (Lyrics and Song)

HE CHANGETH NOT

Our God He reigns
And His kingdom forever rules
Our God He reigns
He changeth not

Our God He reigns
And His kingdom forever rules
Our God He reigns
He changeth not

Our God He reigns
He changeth not

He changeth not
(Repeat many times)

Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
He changeth not
(Repeat many times)

Download this song

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (24th April, 2016)

April 24, 2016

KEEP IT UP

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: Genesis 26:1-6

And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. Genesis 25:5

Isaac successfully inherited his father’s ministry. He did not destroy the wealth that he inherited from his father. Isaac was unlike Rehoboam, who inherited everything from Solomon but lost it within five years. A common mistake of those who inherit wealth is to inherit the wealth without learning the wisdom that created the wealth. Rehoboam inherited the wealth of his father Solomon but did not learn the wisdom of Solomon. His foolishness was seen at his very first cabinet meeting (1 Kings 12). He displayed a complete lack of tact and wisdom, the very thing that had created the wealth of Solomon!

Indeed, it is said that only two percent of those who inherit a fortune are able to make their inheritance grow.

Isaac, on the other hand, received a great inheritance from his father Abraham and continued the tradition by becoming great in his own right. The principles that had made Abraham rich were the same principles that made Isaac rich. If you do not learn the principles that made someone great, you will not be able to sustain the wealth he gives you. It is obvious that Isaac inherited the principle of blind obedience to Almighty God. Remember that God made Abraham rich as he blindly obeyed him. Isaac did the same thing.

When the Lord told him to stay in a land when there was a famine, he was obedient. Through this obedience Isaac also became rich in his own right.

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (22nd April, 2016)

April 22, 2016

MYSTERY

by Dag Heward-Mills

READ: Genesis 12:1-10

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: Ephesians 1:9

The perfect will of God is mysterious, to say the least. Following the will of God can make you look odd and weird. But you will not shy away from the perfect will of God if you understand that the will of God is essentially mysterious in its nature.

A mysterious thing has strange and often inexplicable features. It is not easily understood and it is often misunderstood. People misunderstand God and often think that He is trying to pull them down or destroy them when He presents His will for their lives. They cannot fathom this wonderful and mysterious will of the Lord. When you understand that the will of God is mysterious, you will not be afraid of it or reject it.

There are certain things we do to secure our future. Certainly, forsaking your country and your family and launching out into the desert is not one of the ways to secure a great future. Mysteriously, that was the way Abraham was going to become internationally famous. The mystery of the will of God can be shown in how God gave Abraham a great name on earth with a lasting heritage in Heaven when he walked out into the insecurity and uncertainty of the will of God.

Abraham mysteriously acquired a great name for himself and got himself into Heaven. How did he do this? “… but the one who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17, NASB). By simply forsaking the security he had from his country and his family, Abraham embraced the security of walking with God.

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (20th April, 2016)

April 20, 2016

MOCKERY

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: Nehemiah 4:1-7

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psalm 1:1
 

Mockery is a painful, difficult thing to experience. To insulate ourselves from mockery, we build a cocoon around our lives. Mockers and scoffers are part of the community which God has sent us to. Mockery comes from a spirit that tries to shut us up and keep us silent.

Satan knows you fear embarrassment. ‘When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble — burned as they are?” Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building — if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!”’ (Nehemiah 4:1-3, NIV). We unconsciously keep away from anything that ridicules us. The devil loves to ridicule us. If I had allowed intimidation to work on me, I would not be in the ministry today.

Satan keeps you away from new things through the fear of ridicule. Ridicule is a barrier you must cross. The devil is a bully and he knows your weak areas. Anytime you attempt to go into an area of ministry, he reminds you of your own weakness in that area. When it is time for you to become a pastor, he’ll remind you about all your deficiencies and why you do not qualify.

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (19th April, 2016)

April 19, 2016

COMMON FEAR

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: 1 John 4:16-19

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
 

People do not pay tithes because they are afraid.

Many people do not pay tithes because they are afraid of poverty. They fear: “Will I be able to go through the month. Will I survive if I pay my tithes? This is a common fear, but you must remember that fear is an evil spirit.

If you follow fear, you are following a demon. God has not given us the spirit of fear. Can you imagine where a demon will lead you? If you love God, you must cast out your fears and decide to obey Him.

A quick analysis will reveal that people do things even though they have deep fears within. People get married in spite of their many fears. There are many things that could go wrong in a marriage! There could be unfaithfulness! There could be divorce! There could childlessness! There could be tragedy! There could be poverty! There could be death! In spite of these fears, people continue to marry and do what they really want to do.

Why then are you unable to overcome your fears and pay your tithes? It is time to walk by faith and pay tithes. A person who does not pay tithes is living by the spirit of fear.

“God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7, New Century Version).

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (14th April, 2016)

April 14, 2016

KEEPING IN TOUCH

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: Exodus 34:27-35

And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone…
Exodus 34:30
 

Fellowship with Jesus everyday. God wants to interact with you. He wants to fellowship with you. God’s desire since the days of Adam has been to fellowship with man.

When Moses came down from the mountain after fellowshipping with the Lord, the glory of the Lord was upon him. The glory of the Lord will be upon you when you fellowship with God.

When I woke up in this world, I found myself in Ghana, West Africa. I realized that I was very far from the great men of God in America. I desperately wanted to fellowship with them but there was no way possible. I did not even have a visa to America, nor had I any money to buy a plane ticket. Even if I had been able to get there, many would have seen me as a crazy black man who was trying to get too close! They would have called their security guards to protect them from me. So God showed me a way that I could fellowship with some of the most anointed people of this generation; their books and tapes!

I have fellowshipped with many people through their books. I got to know their minds through their books. In the same way, I have interacted with the Lord Jesus by reading the Bible and studying His words and actions.

You will not be a minister of substance if you do not have your own personal fellowship with the Lord. I do not mean a last-minute check of certain Scriptures before you preach. A quick check of a Scripture is different from fellowshipping with somebody through the written Word.

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills

Your daily devotional by Dag Heward-Mills (12th April, 2016)

April 12, 2016

SALT

Dag Heward-Mills

READ: Matthew 5:13-16

That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Matthew 5:13
 

Good salt and bad salt look exactly the same. There is no way to tell that salt has lost its taste.

The salt of Christians is supposed to make people thirsty for God. Unfortunately, the church has lost much of its flavour and is making people thirst after money and success rather than God.

We have become a wrong kind of salt but we look exactly like good salt. It is not easy to tell when the church is in the imperfect will of God. The salt (gospel ministers) that has lost its flavour is huffing and puffing about grasping worldly things instead of living for God. But it is not easy to see the difference between salt that has lost its flavour and salt that is still salty. Those in the perfect will of God and those in the imperfect will of God look exactly the same.

Good light and bad light: As the light of the world we are supposed to show the world the path to God, but we rather show them the paths to the world’s wealth and glory.

The light that shows the path to God and the light that shows the path to the world are both light and therefore have many similarities. It is difficult to see the difference between these close and parallel lights and yet they point to very different destinations.

Credit: Dag Heward-Mills