Chapter 11 // A Lamb Fixation

The river finds its fountainhead in the Lamb of God. As the redeemed gaze upon the Lamb, their love is awakened and enflamed, the river catches their hearts up, and the new song explodes from within. // Bob Sorge // Following the River // p76

What is it about the Lamb that is so different? What is it about the Lamb that draws us to fixation and holy fascination?

The bible says that when the Son of Man is lifted up, He will draw all men unto Himself. This is the power of the cross. Jesus was lifted up on the cross just like the snake was in the desert with Moses which caused the curse of death to stop.

This is the power of the very fact of the Lamb who was slain. The sacrifice. Seeing him as the Lamb draws our attention to the sacrifice. This means soo much to us. It’s the LOVE of God. It’s what he bought for us. It’s who we are in Him. How could we not worship?

If it was Jesus as the Lion, or as the man, it would bring a different response. Another thing about Jesus as the lamb is that we follow Him wherever He goes. He is the good shepherd who leads us, yet it says we follow the LAMB. Is that not a picture of following the least of these? Jesus came as the least of these. He was born in an animal house. So we follow the Lamb. We follow Him into the lowest places, we follow him as He stoops low and lifts up the heads of those who have no hope. We follow Him as He reacts not to the voices of accusation. We follow Him into sacrifice and surrender and into the most humble, laid down love that has ever been given to us. When we realize that we indeed are the least of these, we indeed are the same as any other person from any other background on earth, we realize truly our need for Him and how much we have been saved from. We realize that we have been rescued 🙂 Then we go out and do the same. There is no greater love than this: laying down your life for your friend. So even unto death, we will follow the Lamb and lay ourselves down for all those who He loves. Once we have been rescued, how could we not rescue?

The Lamb fixation, the Sea of Glass worship, produces a Holy Adoration and Fascination as we lay down in the river then get up again empowered to live out the first two commandments.

Chapter 10 // Sea of Glass Worship

I’m so excited about this chapter! Yes, some of the chapters I’m writing about AS I read them. Why am I excited about this chapter? Because I’ve heard so many people talk about the Sea of Glass and even read about it in Revelation and imagined it… yet still feel like I don’t fully get the meaning of it. Lord. Reveal it to me!

You’ve got heaven in your heart. You can’t help yourself; this desire has been infused into your soul by God. You long to stand on the great sea of glass, in glory, gazing upon the throne of God Almighty, His fire flowing into your spirit, setting you on fire with God-sized passions for the face of Jesus Christ, your love now flowing back to Him in gratitude and exhilaration. For this you were created. Nothing less will ever fully satisfy you. // Bob Sorge // Following the River // p61

The worship of heaven is multitude-driven. In contrast, contemporary worship on earth tends to be platform-driven. // p62

After reading a bit further, I finally get it. The reason people are so excited about the Sea of Glass is not just because of the Sea of Glass but because of the whole throne room scene. It’s because of everything else that’s going on in there, and then they picture themselves standing on the Sea of Glass with everything else all around them. To get the point across, I’m going to do another big copy and paste.

… when you’re standing on the sea of glass, and the river of fire is pouring into your spirit, you don’t need someone reminding you to stay engaged in worshipping the Lord, you are engageed! You’ve got a river springing up from within; you’re beholding the very throne and face of God; waves of glory are emanating from the throne and igniting your heart; and you are surrounded by burning ones. You’ve never felt so alive in all your life. // p63

I’ve often pictured the throne room and painted it in my mind according to John’s description in the book of Revelation, and this definitely brings me into encounter. So, the reason why people get excited about the Sea of Glass is the same reason I get excited about the whole Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4 descriptions of the throne and the throne room. Thank You Jesus! Now I get it.

Often in the past I’ve been in corporate worship and used my imagination to picture really being in front of the throne of God, and this fills me with awe and wonder. It causes me to worship just because of the One who is sitting there on the throne. His throne is HUGE. HE is HUGE! Once during my first FITN track, we were in Friday night EGS and Stuart Greaves was speaking. I wrote about it then and am going to share it here:

The leader who heads up the NightWatch here was preaching on Isaiah 62 and 63. As he was preaching I could sense and see in my mind’s eye the presence of God filling the whole auditorium. Jesus the Judge of the Nations was sitting on His throne and He was so big that all I could see was His feet and up to His knees. The preacher got up to a particular point in His message, then stopped… There was silence for a few seconds, then he started to sob and sob… He couldn’t keep speaking so asked Misty and the worship team to come up and he left the stage. I was kind of not stirred up a whole whole lot, just excited that Holy Spirit was doing something. Then all of a sudden my housemate who is sitting in front of me started to wail. I was happy because she normally isn’t like that so I knew God was doing something.

The next thing I knew I was hurled forward with such force that my mouth hit my knees. I was screaming and Heaven just invaded that place with the fear of the Lord. All I feel was just this FEAR of the Lord, not a bad fear, but a healthy FEAR of HIM and His HUGENESS. All I could see were tribes, unreached tribes who didn’t know Him and were continuing in their animism… My heart felt as if it had been pierced. I was screaming and grieving on the floor as I felt His HEART for His BRIDE! // Serena // August 2011 // adventureswjc

Sea of Glass worship (I’m talking about the throne room here) causes us to experience HIS heart and brings breakthrough and revelation of who HE is and who WE are in Him!

We live before the throne all week long. We gaze upon His glory all week long. When we gather together for corporate worship, it’s like heating the furnace seven times hotter. // p69

When we are truly in multitude-led worship, Sea of Glass worship, where the leaders from the platform do not have to “poke” us to help us engage: that is when we see unbelievers come in and fall on their faces. They KNOW God is in the house.

Chapter 9 // Grateful Dead

The power of the band was not in their ability to produce hits but was rather in the power of their live concerts. // Bob Sorge // Following the River // p58

The author here is talking about the secular band “Grateful Dead” who were known for every once in a while stepping over a “spiritual threshold”, which would affect both them and the crowd in spiritual ways. This would happen when they would leave the pre-written music and step over into the spontaneous. It was not in the songs which were written and recorded for albums, but rather in the improvisation, when they “stepped out of the boat”, so to speak. This spiritual experience was so powerful that some fans would book places in every concert and follow them around just for the chance of experiencing it.

The enemy has a counterfeit in everything and this is just one example of it. One of the band members would call it when the “seventh man” would show up. They recognised that there was one more person than just the ones in the band, who would show up and cause them all to be in this spiritual (not good!) encounter.

Just as this counterfeit river was experienced by those who went to the “Grateful Dead”, so there is an original river which is fully accessible by us. The one which is from the One who made the heavens and the earth! The fact that the counterfeit exists should cause us to hunger even more and press even further to encounter this heavenly river! Even just reading this chapter is causing something in my spirit to get jealous as I’m reminded of past corporate worship experiences and want to experience more! More, Lord! We want more!

We have a fourth man, His name is Jesus. The author points to the account of Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego in the fiery furnace as a reason for using the term “the forth man”. It is when they were thrown into the furnace and a forth man was seen in there who looked like the Son of God.

God, I miss worship that has You showing up in that capacity! I think it may even sometimes be me who just needs to step in, instead of holding back and sometimes getting complacent and distracted because I’m so used to worship around me what feels like all the time! We can get familiar with the greatness of the places that God in His goodness sets us, and sometimes what is just normal to us is what others will travel miles to get to. God I’m asking that You would reawaken my appreciation for what we have here, so that I am unhindered from stepping in. Let it not be familiar anymore. Let us be hungry for YOU and You only! Help me to not overstrive, yet not get complacent 🙂 Thank you that all I need to do is let what’s in my heart overflow into simple yet powerful praise.

Chapter 8 // Worship Wars

When you hit the river you can’t help it. A new song just automatically flows. // Bob Sorge // Following the River // p51

If they’re singing songs both new and old in heaven’s river, and we’re praying for God’s will to be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven, wouldn’t it be reasonable to conclude that we should be singing both new and old songs in the church of Jesus here on earth? The wise worship leader will bring out of his storehouse songs new and old (see Matthew 13:52) // p52

The old song gathers; the new song propels. The old song unites us so we can flow together; the new song has the power to catapult us into deeper waters. Instead of pitting one against the other, let’s maximise both. If we do, we have the best chance of finding and following the river. // p53

I love what the author says here, and it is so true. When we are familiar with a song that is being led from the platform – or even just in a group – we will all sing it because we all know it. It may bring back nostalgia from other instances of that song being played, where individuals had encountered the Lord powerfully. The old song has the power to bring us back to our first love or a time of remembering the good things the Lord has done or brought us through. The old song unites us.

The new song can give words to what is being felt or seen in the spiritual realm in the moment. It can give words to what the group has been experiencing or going through recently. The new song could prophetically speak forth what the Lord wants to do from then on!

One thing that we have been learning in Terri Terry’s classes is about the Tehillah new song. Tehillah is the spontaneous song. It is a song that comes unrehearsed.

When Israel began to sing and tehillah, the Lord set ambushments against her enemies.  If tehillah was merely ordinary singing and not some special expression of singing, then why did the text say both  ‘sing’ and ‘tehillah’? Two different words are used because two different expressions are meant. Tehillah wasn’t just spirited singing, but actual songs of the spirit that were unprepared, unpremeditated, and unlearned. // C. Trombly

And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang (resound in praise) to the Lord and those who praised (yadah) in holy atire, as they went out before the army and said, ‘Give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness is everlasting.’ And when they began singing (resounding in praise) and praising (tehillah) the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so they were routed. // 2 Chronicles 20:21-22

This new song is so powerful that it brings breakthrough against the enemy! In Psalm 33:1 it says that this tehillah praise is beautiful to the Lord. The praise that comes from the spontaneous overflow of His Bride’s heart touches His! In Psalm 22:3 it says that the Lord is enthroned upon the tehillah of His people. So when we tehillah, He is there, enthroned upon our praises! What else flows from the throne of God but the river of God!

Chapter 7 // Weaving a Glorious Tapestry

You’ll never find the river with your CD player. You may get blessed a bit, but you’ll not swim in the waters of the Ezekiel 47 river. To find the river, you’ve got to move past the linear movement of a CD and get into the flowing, creative waters of corporate worship. // Bob Sorge // Following the River // p41

It was probably around April or May 2004. I was 17 years old, just finished high school the year before and still struggling with depression. I was talking to a friend on the phone in another state. This was not the first time I’d talked to her and not been able to get past the pit of no purpose, loneliness and sadness that I seemed to be always stuck in. She said, “Serena, you need to get into the presence of God.” Sounded good to me! But how? I asked her how, and she was surprised that I had no clue what she was talking about. She told me to get off the phone, put on a worship CD (I had borrowed Hillsong United’s “More Than Life” album from a friend) and start worshipping God.

So I did.

And He came.

Yes, He is always with us 🙂 He never leaves us. However at this point I needed an encounter with Jesus. I needed to KNOW He was there and KNOW He loved me. And I needed to feel His presence. And He came.

What I’m trying to say without going into the long story is that God totally uses previously recorded worship to encounter us, to turn us around, to heal, to set free, and to deliver! I love using music in this way to breakthrough 🙂

Yet there is more for us even than this! Isn’t God good? What the author is talking about here, is about finding the river in the creativity found from never before produced worship. From many people at once; the body of Christ together, collectively, in one combined expression… that is what weaves this glorious tapestry.

Every worship service is like the on-site formation of a new tapestry. Together we are producing something that is unique, living, immediate, and fresh. When the service starts, nobody knows how the tapestry will end. But as we enter the river of God, out of the synergism of corporate worship begins to emerge a tapestry of affection that glitters and shines with compelling beauty. // p44

When I am in a meeting with other people, having just come off the plane from Africa and being slightly culture shocked and sick from the western food which my body is adjusting to, and there is a family with all ages of children there who have just finished a regular day of school and work, and a grandma who has just spent all day tending her garden, and a lawyer who has just interrupted his long day to come join us, plus several university students, and a few homeless people who came too… The worship in that meeting is going to be a unique tapestry of worship created as each person steps out and contributes their love to the Lord, which will never be seen again. Because each time we come together, different things have been happening in our day, different things have been happening in our hearts, and there might be one less or one more person or a completely different group of people meeting… Thank You Jesus for placing us in FAMILY! This is what weaves the glorious tapestry!

The Song

“Even There” – Psalm 139:7-10
Where can I hide from You?
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from You my Lord
You are with me

If I go up to the heavens
You are there
If I make my bed in the depths
You are there
If I rise on the wings of the dawn
and If I land at the end of the ocean
Even there Your hand will guide me
Even there

I will praise You God!
For even there, You are
It is in Your heart
that I am found and I’m held fast

I will praise You God
I will praise You God
It is in Your heart
that I am found and I’m held fast

Apologies for “tired” sounding voice. This was recorded while getting better from cold/cough and meant to be on voice rest =)

Chapter 6 // Leading Worship or Leading Songs?

A copyist works from the head; a musician works from the heart. For a musician, music starts down in the gut. // Bob Sorge // Following the River // p37

In this chapter the author talks about being a ‘copyist’ vs being a ‘musician’. I do understand what he’s talking about in terms of those who are trained to be able to read music sometimes not being trained to be able to just play, or rather, not being free to just play from the heart. I know because I was one of those ones! And this was mainly because although I was a musician at heart and I would love to just sit at the keyboard and experiment with sounds, my mother had such a time getting me to sit down and practice at all so if I sounded like I was getting distracted, I had to stop that and get back to practicing scales and pieces. It’s kind of like a child who refuses to get in the bath. Once they get in they start to play and experiment with the water, and don’t want to get out but imagine if they were told off for playing. Naturally they probably wouldn’t want to stay there either! Being a musician is really just about having experimented and played with sounds enough that you are extremely familiar with your instrument and able to pull out the sounds you can see and feel in your heart…

However I do believe there is a need for the copyist! Any musician who is able to be a copyist is surely made a better musician because of it. If you think about it a ‘copyist’ is not just the one who reads music and causes it to come out through their fingers or breath, but this ‘copyist’ is also the one who hears and is able to reproduce the sounds of a master musician or the sounds of the wind, or the traffic, the music of the world around them. Part of what makes us great musicians is being inspired by the sounds we are surrounded with. A similar example to this would be the painter who is inspired by the sunset over the Indian ocean in Africa… Then of course we get to painting the sounds we hear and vice versa: expressing pictures through sound.

It seemed to me that the brother had not made the transition. He knew what it was to get in his secret place with God, enter the womb of worship, and allow the procreative juices of true worship to stir his heart and produce genuine expressions of worship. His songs were equipping the international church! But when he stepped onto the platform, instead of finding that same place of gestation and incubation and abiding love relationship with the Lord Jesus, he reverted to simply singing the songs he had written. // p39

I believe that part of this is because we may not understand how to get there. How do we be in our secret place with the Lord on the platform as well as on our own? Of course it’s not the same, and it’s not the secret place. Again I really believe that one of the keys is being intimate with Holy Spirit throughout out whole day, and another is to be so aware of who we are as being enjoyed by Daddy God, so that it’s easy to immediately be at His feet, to immediately be face to face, to immediately come into His loving presence and to lead out of that relationship and the question, ‘what is Your heart for us today Daddy?’

Chapter 5 // The Tension Between Preparation and Spontaneity

Preparation empowers you to deviate from your preparation. [It] is not confining but releasing… It’s preparation that gives us the courage to step into the unknown that the river represents // Bob Sorge // Following the River // p29-30

I love this! And it’s so true. Another couple of examples of this are: the Harp and Bowl model, and boundaries for children. In our harp and bowl labs last quarter, we learnt a lot about the model and why it is empowering not confining. While it may seem confining to an individual new to it, it avoids confusion and adds direction to sustaining 24/7 prayer. This quarter we have a new worship team coach and he is awesome at stopping us a huge amount of times during practice, getting us to refine and define exactly what is supposed to happen in each little section of each song. While this can seem annoying or seem like it’s “stopping the prophetic flow”, it is actualy really releasing because everyone knows what’s going on, and it really does mean that the “prophetic flow” can be dramatically increased because of it! Just try it, and you’ll see 🙂

This reminds me of boundaries with children. When no rules or boundaries are given to children, they can tend to act out a lot more than if they have set boundaries, and at least a general idea of what is supposed to happen when. Boundaries to children mean that they feel loved, and they feel safe. They may test those boundaries, but ultimately they are more settled, have less to worry about and are able to bloom more into who they were created to be!

Having preparation in a worship service means the whole team knows where they are going and is able to communicate easier. There is more unity, and the worship leader doesn’t have to worry about everything that is going on in every which direction, and has more mental space and energy to communicate with the others in the team as well as recognise and follow where the Holy Spirit is going. It also means that the team isn’t stuck doing the same kind of sound every single service, because they have had time to experiment with new sounds/rhythms/beats beforehand.

There is a time to practice. Set aside an evening in the week for the worship team to rehearse. But when you’re just moments before service starting time, that’s the time to be digging wells in the Spirit. That’s the time to be reaching out in intercession and passion. That’s the time to tune our hearts to His heart. When a worship team owns the reality of John 15:5, “Without Me you can do nothing,” then we will use the spare moments before the worship service to lean with all our hearts upon our Beloved. He alone can take us to the river. // p33

I remember plenty of times when I would be part of a team that would spend those last moments tuning up those little bits of songs or transitions. Yes, they definitely helped. However I agree really, this practice should come during the week, not at the last minute. Both individual and team practice is needed so that the team are skilled on their instruments and in flowing together as a team.

Spending those last moments before a service pressing into Jesus is definitely best! However they should not be the only time that the team leans into the Lord. You see I’ve come to those times before where I’ve realised that oops, this is the most amount of time I’ve spent with Jesus ALL WEEK! Yikes. This is NOT what you want to find yourself realising.

In short, preparation as a team is needed definitely BEFORE the service and not just at the last minute, and tuning our hearts to His should be a part of our every day worship and part of that specific preparation time too! Thank You Jesus! We need You all the time!

Chapter 4 // The River Versus The Songlist

Okay. I like this whole chapter. It’s really hard to pick quotes when you like the whole chapter. I gotta remember this is for school so I can’t just copy and paste the whole thing and make it my blog post… not that I’d do that anyway!

Why do I like this whole chapter? Probably because I’ve seen it happen so many times!! This chapter explains different ways song services can go, for example:
– The landlubber service
– The aborted service
– The quit-while-your’re-ahead service
– The tunnel vision service
– The U-turn service
– The standard charismatic service
-The so-close-you-can-taste-it service

Go read the book if you want explanations 🙂

One thing that is on my heart, even while writing this, is that I don’t want this to turn into a way of observing and judging worship services and/or worship leaders. The only times I would want to find myself judging and labeling services would be maybe if I was the one leading them, so that I could see, WITH Holy Spirit, how I could do it better. We are not called to judge hearts, only God is. I’ve been in enough different cultures, even different western cultures, to know that there is no one perfect way to do worship. We can sometimes end up judging worship services based on our own experiences, closing ourselves off to jumping in the river just because the music or way its being done (or even type of people!) is different than what we’re used to! If we do this, we can very well end up observing on land while the whole rest of the group is actually legitimately in the river. Just because they are all in the river doesn’t mean that I automatically will be. It’s all about the heart. Just seek Jesus, and only Him. Not your favourite music. You can end up deep in the river in corporate worship even if everyone is horribly out of tune, and rhythmically in different places. Yes it’s true!! (of course I realise the need for skilled musicians, or I wouldn’t be doing music school 🙂 )

When we hit the river in worship, the river can actually appear to be a detour. The river is flowing one way, and our songlist is going another way. Worship leaders are sometimes faced with a very awkward decision. Sometimes they have to choose between the river and the next song on the list.

Going with the songlist is like staying in the boat; it’s safe, predictable, and dry. Going with the river is like walking on water; it’s unpredictable, potentially hazardous, and filled with uncertainty. And following the river can be very disruptive to service orders. Sometimes we pay a price to follow the river.  Leaders often have to make split second decisions to either go with the river or go with their list.

Those who have walked with Jesus long enough have learned that it’s safer to be out on the water with Jesus than to be in the boat without Him. But walking on water looks more dangerous
// Bob Sorge // Following the River // p22

 

Can I just say, too, that sometimes following the river means staying with the songlist 🙂 Let’s not think that we need to leave the songlist in order to be in the river. That’s like saying we must manifest in order to encounter the Lord. It’s not about the manifestation. It’s about the Lord. It’s not about the going out of order from the songlist. It’s about the Holy Spirit. There is nothing wrong with leaving the songlist, there is nothing wrong with manifestation. I do both those things. But it is about WHO is initiating.

Chapter 3 // River-Hunting

The greatest delights of the river are to be found, not at the banks, but in the middle of the river… But it’s not automatic, we must seek this river with all our hearts. // Bob Sorge // Following the River // p11

As we navigate our way in the river of God, it’s essential for worship leaders to not only learn how to find the river of God, but also learn how to stay in the river of God. It requires flexibility to change direction when we perceive that our current direction is taking us away from the deeper waters of the Spirit’s flow in worship. // p16

In this chapter, the author talks about how the middle of the river, the deepest parts, can sometimes be turbulent, and seem unsafe. The important thing is to have a good guide. In terms of the river of God in worship, it can seem unsafe yet we have a good guide and His name is Holy Spirit.

I believe that it is not necessarily that He will move on the right song, but more that He will lead us deeper into the river when our hearts are motivated rightly towards wanting Him, and wanting Him only. It should not be just that we want to be in the river, but that we want to be with Jesus. We want to behold the One who fully beholds and knows us and yet still loves us. This is where we find the river. He is a good God and He wants to pour out His river of healing, His river of love over us. If it is a corporate meeting and one where we are leading others into worship, it definitely starts, for me, with asking Him what His heart is for the ones who will be there. He is the one who knows who will be there. He is the one who knows what their hearts are going through. He is the one who knows what song will break through to them… and yet not even necessarily what song, because He can break through in any song. So, it is not about the songs… but we need to still seek Him on what songs to choose! Lord, search me and know my heart, show me YOUR heart, give me YOUR heart for the people… and lead me in YOUR ways so we will all end up deep in the river with You!

So, ask Him for HIS heart for the people…
and, worship Him for HIS glory! to seek HIM only! We want to seek Him for Him only… because He is worthy.

I believe one key to flowing with the Holy Spirit and letting Him lead us deep into the river, is understanding His heart for us. His heart towards us is for good, not evil…

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! // John // 1 John 3:1 // God’s Word

That english word “lavish” has its roots in words that means a deluge of rain. When I think about a deluge, I think about the kind of rain that when you go outside (or rather when you RUSH through it to try get from the car to the house without getting soaked!) you end up completely wet and soaked through. Right to the skin! This is the kind of love that the Father has given to us! He LAVISHES it on us.

We need HIS heart for those we are leading!
We need to seek Him for HIM!
We need to know we are His BELOVED, CHOSEN, ADOPTED children!

This is what releases me to be able to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading more easily. It helps me to be able to change direction when He wants, too 🙂