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421 days ago
'Worship Leader' is a well known title for the average Christian teen in our area. But what is a worship leader really? We usually have five to seven people on stage leading the music any given month. Are they worship leaders? Is just the lead singer the worship leader? How does one 'lead worship'? With the help of Bob Kauflin (worshipmatter.com) we're working through the answers to those questions. Here's his definition: An effective corporate worship leader, aided and led by the Holy Spirit, skillfully combines biblical truth with music to magnify the worth of God and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, thereby motivating the gathered church to join him in proclaiming and cherishing the truth about God and seeking to live all of life for the glory of God. That's a pretty intense definition! But we're striving to become leaders like this. For God's glory, our joy and the salvation of many.
526 days ago
Exciting things happening on the GIFT front these days. We had a great Advisory Board meeting end of May, talking about the usual from how this past year has been, what speakers we should ask for the coming year, whether we should have one music team or many and so on. Then we got to talking about the purpose of GIFT. Up until now our slogan has been "challenging and encouraging Christians through music, teaching, prayer, sharing and fellowship." We decided that it's time for GIFT to go beyond discipleship. Beyond just reaching Christians. We talked about how to do that. For one thing we're going public. July and August we will have GIFT in the Emo Lion's park (unless it rains). But in the big picture GIFT as it exists in Emo will not change much. Rather, we're working towards starting a sister project in Fort Frances with an evangelistic focus. It probably won't be called GIFT and it won't happen in a church but together with the evangelical churches in ...
630 days ago
The events of Easter affect all of life as a Christ follower and so we speak of the cross all year round. Jesus' death on the cross affects (or should) how we speak about others, the decisions we make for our future, how we work on the job and what we do on Sunday morning. Every day we should be reminded that if it were not for the cross we would be on God's 'bad side', unable to speak with Him or be in a relationship with Him. Each morning we should sing for joy, thanking Jesus for replacing us on the cross so that we can know God, rather than death. And yet, the calendar tells us that it is time to celebrate the Easter events in a special way. We get some time off from work to commemorate and celebrate Christ's sacrifice. It is a special time. A time to remember and reflect in deeper ways. We'll be doing some of that this month at GIFT through the singing, speaking and even, Lord willing, choreographed music. He lived. He died. He said in three days He would ...
721 days ago
As you deck your halls with holly, sip your apple cider or egg nog and plug in your Christmas lights, we hope you're also planning on taking some time out to celebrate the reason we celebrate: God becoming man. Come take a breather with us as we sing some traditional carols as well as more contemperary songs that capture the mystery of Christmas. "Good Christian men rejoice with heart and soul and voice...Christ is born today!"
828 days ago
Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. Psalm 96:2-4 We are commanded to sing and to talk about what God has done. Sometimes it can feel a bit like a duty. And yet, what a privilege! I think it is so awesome that God has given us music as a gift and tool to praise Him. He could have made it a lot less enjoyable. But music brings enjoyment to the ear and lifts our hearts. We also get to share about what God has done. The more I talk about His works the more wonderful they seems to me and the more wonderful they seem to me the more I want to talk about it! Specifically that He has forgiven all my sins because of Jesus and that one day I will stand before Him and see His face. My prayer is that GIFT would continue to do that: Sing and Declare. Over ...
