Is it O.K. for a Worship Leader to Dance?

Recently I was given some feedback from a brother who was concerned about how I tend to move around while leading worship. More specifically he graciously pointed out that although he acknowledged the fact that I was caught up in the joy of worshipping the Lord that dancing while playing guitar and leading worship was a distraction for some. I accepted the feedback graciously but was almost immediately prompted by the Holy Spirit to read this piece of scripture:

1 John 4:18

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

I was left reflecting on what the issue really was and why some people would be uncomfortable when I as a worship leader was worshipping God filled with the Spirit and full of joy. I reflected upon King David who is known in the Bible for his praise and worship of God. King David himself danced before the Lord, when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem...

2 Samuel 6:14
“And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.”

I found my mind wandering to that joke I have heard told in some circles that goes something like this: “Why don’t Baptists approve of couples...........while standing up? Because they are afraid that it will lead to dancing”

How can anyone worship in truth and spirit if they are feeling restricted to do so, even subtly? Much of the book of Psalms was written by David, and the Davidic style of worship has been practiced in Israel for many years, even unto today. Today, the resurgence of dance, and other forms of the arts being used in worship in Christian churches is referred to as the reinstatement of Davidic worship. David in fact refers to dance as a form of worship in some of the Psalms he wrote. ..

Psalm 149:3
“Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.”

Psalm 150:4
“Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.”

Obviously if a worship leader was “getting down” and swinging his guitar and breaking out into some freaky John Travolta dance moves under the guise of worshipping the Lord I may question that BUT gently swaying or dancing softly on the spot as the Spirit leads shouldn’t be an issue in my opinion, what do you think?

BTW I came a Hillsong video of live worship and the lead singer appears to swaying and dancing a bit :)

In Christ, Scott Towaij www.musicalprayers.com

Kingdom Bound Impressions and Connections

Well, it is 5:43 PM on Thursday August 5, 2010 and I am back home in Ottawa after taking in my very first Kingdom Bound Festival. Kingdom Bound has been held in Darian Lake New York for 24 years now and runs for 4 days. A friend had arranged for my lead guitarist Joel Williams and I to go down to the festival and set us up with free wrist bands, accommodations and food so we could both experience the festival and network with artists, make American radio contacts and meet the Kingdom Bound organizers to hopefully arrange to play the festival during it's 25TH anniversary in 2011. The artists and speakers were incredible and you can see the full list here but I wanted to talk about our experience and how God worked a miracle at this festival! http://kingdombound.org/artists_and_speakers.php

I am sitting here in a state of almost disbelief as I managed to meet and put a copy of my CD into the hands of Robin Mark, Paul Baloche, Downhere, Newworldson, Superchick, Jason Upton, Phil Joel (former Newsboy) and Kathryn Scott and the Newsboys. I remember clearly standing in front of Paul Baloche and him saying "hey, I recognize you, you are that guy that does those nice twitter posts, I recognize you from your picture..." Very bizarre, Paul and his entire band each got copies of my CD and I am feeling pretty confident that they and all the other artist who received it, will actually listen to it.

In addition to all of this I ended up at a tent for a huge American radio station WDCX which broadcasts in Detroit, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Dallas, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Syracuse, Birmingham, St, Louis, Portland AND is heard throughout Toronto. I met the music director and gave him a couple of copies of the CD. he listened to it that night and when I saw him the next day he said "great record, definitely great stuff on here and we will definitely be adding 'Shine On'...we don't have cancon in the U.S. but we love Canadian bands like Newworldson and Downhere and your music is great..."

I also got to meet the 3 key people who run Kingdom Bound and got CD's into each of their hands and talk to them for a bit and I am feeling pretty confident that we will be playing there next year!

The festival itself was so incredible, Toby Mac last night absolutely blew my mind! The Newsboys the first night were amazing as was Downhere and Newworldson but perhaps the most powerful experiences for me were inside the Integrity Music Worship tent which is just gigantic. I saw Robin Mark, Jason Upton, Paul Baloche and others in there where the Holy Spirit was so present that I felt like I was inside a Holy cloud. I was ministered to, impacted and have been forever effected by Kingdom Bound. If nothing comes from all of the connections I made at Kingdom Bound I am O.K. with that, God simply reminded me to trust Him and I will continue to do so, Hallelujah!

In Christ, Scott