Definitely take the opportunity to read this article by my buddy, Zach Norman. I met Zach when I preached a DNOW in Atlanta, and he was leading the worship. It became obvious to me that not only could the dude flat-out sing and his band freaking rock it out, but he also had a genuine heart for Jesus, the gospel, ministry, and teenagers. So youth pastors, look Zach and his band up if you need a solid, Jesus-loving, seriously talented, but genuine about ministry kind of band. Trust me, you’ll thank me when you book them and they lead the worship at your event! Listen to Zach’s heart and faith regarding real worship below. – Chip Dean

What exactly is worship? Is it defined by what we do? Is it singing songs, raising our hands, praying, evangelizing, or caring for the poor? It can be. But what exactly makes any of these things acts of worship? I can tell you. It’s the heart. It’s our motivation and intentions behind what we do. And in order for anything we do to be qualified as worship, our hearts must be set on Christ. In fact, what did Jesus say is the greatest commandment? He said the most important of all is to love the Lord our God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:29-30). And by all Jesus meant all. As new covenant believers we claim Jesus to be our Lord, and so we must worship Jesus in this type of way. Why Jesus? Why not just God? In Luke 24:27 Jesus says that all of the scriptures point to him. So God’s way of pointing us to himself is by sending Jesus- he fulfilled all that the prophets and Moses spoke of. Continue reading →