Just rear back and sing!

I love to hear good choir singing. Everything from the 360-member Mormon Tabernacle Choir, to my little group of 15-20 folks at Highland Baptist. While it would be my dream to be able to lead a huge choir of 50 or more, I wouldn't be happy unless those folks were determined to put 100% into it. One thing that I have always stressed to my choir is to just rear back and sing. I'll take a handful of choir members that pour their heart and soul into the music over a professionally trained singer any day of the week.

We are blessed at Highland to have a bunch of spiritual people. On any given Sunday you will see hands raised, tears flowing, shouts of praise, and amens all over the house. When our choir is singing, many times I keep my eyes closed just soaking in the sounds flowing toward me. It's then that I start feeling those Glory bumps running down my arms and legs. I start having problems keeping my feet planted still. My eyes start pouring over with tears and it is all I can do to keep from screaming out or jumping over the pulpit. I'm not alone. Every now and then I'm able to open my eyes and look at the choir and I can see different people feeling the same way as I am. The Lord moves upon us in a wide assortment of ways. Not everyone has the desire to shout or raise their hands. Some people are like me and can't keep from crying like a baby when the Spirit hits them. However the Lord moves you, you should definitely MOVE! I hope the floor beneath our choir loft is reinforced because one of these days we're liable to stomp the place down!

I guess I got off of the subject a little but anyways, what I'm trying to convey is that people need to just tilt their heads back, open their mouths up wide, get a big breath and let those songs rip! Who cares if you don't exactly hit the right pitch or if you accidentally sing over a rest, or come in at the wrong time? There's no reason to feel apprehensive when you are singing about the Lord. We are lifting up the most powerful, mightiest, holiest, and awesome name in the universe! He is worthy of our full effort and our whole heart. Don't cheat our Savior out of a blessing. Just rear back and sing!