The Psalmody School of Worship courses are very unique and special, even though many people have perceived them to be about music or singing, they are really about the heart of every believer and their connection to God. Through themes such as thanksgiving, remembrance and the true meaning of many praise and worship words, we start to catch a glimpse at what it really means to have a 'worship lifestyle'.

On the blog today I would like to highlight some of the rewards of running a Psalmody school and include a few responses to the course that people have had recently.

Rewards of Running/Being Part of a Psalmody School:

1. The material itself - each Psalmody Level is a 13 week course, with DVD teachings and manuals and workbooks for those participating. There is a wealth of anointed teaching found in these pages that you can keep coming back to and learning from for years. 
2. The opportunity to grow as a leader being a facilitator - the opportunity to lead a Psalmody course (or School) as a facilitator provides an excellent opportunity to develop leadership qualities. We don't require that it's facilitated by church leadership (but should be approved by church leadership), so this opens up opportunities for anyone to step up and facilitate the course. It's a really simple format to follow, yet there is endless ways God can move through each lesson. Seeing this unfold in a group setting is both rewarding and exciting for a facilitator (see testimonies below).
3. Gathering together with a focus - the great thing about the Psalmody courses, is that there is a lesson focus for each week, it's a powerful thing to dig deep into a foundational truth about worship and really take hold of it. It's also the reason we always recommend running it over 13 weeks and not rushing it, we all need time to let these truths sink in and then implement them.
4. Implementing whats learned - as stated above it's important to focus on one lesson a week to really catch that truth and run with it. But we have also included in the course pack the Workbook that goes with the manual (click here for lesson samples). In the workbook you can put into practice what has been learned, we use the acronym PRAISE (Pray, Remember, Assess, Interact, Say & Embrace). These six points help to let the lesson go from the informational stage to the transformational.
5. Group discussions - some of the most powerful times of Psalmody Schools come out of the group discussions that are part of the course. In these times the group gets to interact with each other to discuss points and bring out their own understanding of the lesson. We are always amazed at what God deposits in people and the excitement that comes from people who are transformed.

Responses & Testimonies to the course:

Tom Inglis' teaching reflected how effective worship can be a place of healing and how it can carry the power to heal people - Upasana Gurung, Kathmandu Nepal

I have learnt that during this act of praise and worship I am living in the purpose for which I was created – to worship my Creator in and through all I do.
Psalmody has also changed my spiritual disposition. It has opened a new, deeper and more fulfilling dimension in my relationship with my Maker.  I am now so aware of the power that praise and worship yields and the pleasure my worship gives my Heavenly Father - Margaret Lamprecht, South Africa

The School of Worship is really having a tremendous impact on the lives of those who attend here at our church.  I am seeing people’s eyes being opened and lives being transformed each week as I facilitate the lessons - Northern Cape, South Africa

Just wanted to let you know that we are having some sort of “Worship Explosion” happening in our Bible Study group – it is truly awesome!!!
Everything I had been hoping would come to pass by doing this worship course is unfolding right in front of my eyes, it is really exciting and amazing.  I can see a flow on effect to the whole church actually – Praise the Lord some more! - Judy, NSW, Australia

Doing the Psalmody course in our house group setting has brought Papa God into a reality.  Not only have I come closer to God but closer to these new people experiencing friendship and support - by sharing our vulnerabilities we have shared the very heart of Gods love. - Killwinning, Scotland

Why not start one with your church, small group or family today? Contact us, or visit our online store to get started.

David

This blog is a follow on from the previous Worshiping Church Blog.

We also have to make people feel comfortable, and they should when about to encounter a living God. Be friendly, they have come to meet with God, but they meet you first, what a thought. Their first impression of God is through you, His representatives. At the door, welcome them with genuine love, not manufactured. Work on this as a priority among the practical things you do. Also keep the church clean and tidy. A tacky church doesn’t give the impression of an excellent God (to the unsaved). It doesn’t have to be the best venue in town, but do the best you can with it. 

On a missions trip once in central Africa, I was on my own and looking for accommodation for about 6 nights. Some nuns directed me to an American minister’s home that they said would give me accommodation. It was the biggest and best home in town and had commanding views at the top of the hill. Him and his wife were initially keen to have me, but at dinner on the first night, they changed their mind because I spoke in tongues and was a man of faith. Next day I was walking the streets looking for accommodation. On the third night an African couple took me in whose humble home was a mud hut. It was spotless and the presence of God filled the place. I had such a wonderful experience as I lay awake that night looking up at the thatched ceiling with a galvanized bathtub hanging from the rafters just a few feet above my head. I will never forget the impact on me of their friendship, and the cleanliness of their humble home.
We need to make our place of worship (local church) friendly, clean and tidy to all our visitors. They want to experience a place where there is a sense of order and stability, but also freedom and love.

Glorify God through testimony, thanksgiving, praise and worship
Use testimony, this is a powerful demonstration of worship. Be thankful and express gratitude. This will get people’s interest, they are looking for good news, they are keen to hear about supernatural things that have happened to ordinary people who have a relationship and trust in God. A culture of giving testimony is extremely powerful. A person’s testimony is very compelling and can be as persuasive as preaching.
Praise God enthusiastically; let visitors know you are excited about Him. Joy is a spiritual force that is also very powerful. The un-churched need to know that we come to church with a joyful heart; it’s not a duty, but a joy.
Worship Him reverently; let them see you genuinely love God. Some churches have worshipped growth at the expense of worship. We have bragged on the size of our church instead of the size of our God. We have put outreach before intimacy because of the false security we find in have in numbers present more than God present.

Allow God to demonstrate His love through the H.S as you worship
Expect miracles and healings, expect the captives to be set free, expect God to do the impossible in worship. Let the focus be on pleasing God at all times, but also conscious that there are those who don’t know Him, and need to experience His presence through your life and actions more than anything else. They know the difference between the genuine and the sincere, the fake worship and the true worship. They know when our care for them is genuine or insincere. They know very well how the world has treated them and they are desperate for change. You are that change, you are their connection to God.

His Church in Pinetown hosted the Psalmody Conference from 16 -17 August.  First Psalmody conference in South Africa since I left in 1994, and it was a wonderful experience. The evening sessions were well attended, and I know of people who came from Johannesburg, Kimberley and other places. The ministry of Fiona Desfontein, Jane Curle and daughter Crystal was excellent, backed by their wonderful music ministry. It was a time of letting the delegates know the history of Psalmody and update them with what is happening now.

The vision has never changed and God has given me updated material to stir this generation to worship in spirit and truth. We will definitely do another Psalmody conference hosted by His Church next year, and let you all know well in advance. It’s all about His presence and the authority that is made available when we worship. This is what this generation is anticipating, and this is what we will focus on in the years to come. We have to be a generation who are intimate with God and fearless against the enemy, enthroning God in our local church geographical areas with worship. The enemy does not fear the sound of music unless it is saturated with faith in the One to whom it is directed.

Tom

The power of music in evangelism. Here are some facts:

• Music is another very successful tool to communicate the gospel.
• God has placed in every person the ability to enjoy music.
• This is confirmed by the fact that the scriptures in the Old Testament were sung, and the Psalms were set exclusively to music and song.
• God used music to convey his Word in places of worship such as the Temple, Tabernacle, and local synagogue.
• Statistics show that the majority of those who receive Jesus are under the age of 18, and the power of the Gospel through the use of music is drawing young people.
• Great preachers are also using music and worship as a tool to draw people to their meetings. Some may argue that God's word is enough to draw people, but this is not consistent with scripture, as God has always used music as the vehicle through which he is worshipped. 
• We would be foolish if we dismissed the powerful medium of music to attract the lost to our churches, because lost people are looking for hope, and hope is found in the atmosphere of songs of praise and worship to God (Psalm 71:14).
• Prayers of repentance and songs of hope have accompanied most revivals throughout church history, and sinners have come to Jesus as they were convicted through the praises of the saints. 

Songs of Evangelism

1. ‘He has put a new song in my mouth-- praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD’. Psalm 40:3 (The song we have is basically a song of evangelism, of freedom).
2. ‘Declare His glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods’. Psalm 96:3-4(Glory = all that He is. Wonders = the things that other God’s cant do.)
3. ‘Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name’. Psalm 18:49 (Unsaved are supposed to know How grateful we are to God).
4. ‘Great deliverance He gives to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore’. Psalm 18:50 (They are supposed to hear about how God delivers us.)
5. ‘I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations’.Psalm 57:9 (God would not expect us to sing among the nations without results. He expects our praises to draw them to Him.)

Examples of the power of praise in people’s lives

• Acts 16:25 Paul & Silas  
• David – King Saul’s servants knew the power of music 1 Sam 16:15-23

When we know the power that worship has on people’s lives, we will worship with an expectancy that our churches will grow. Lets make a fresh commitment to worship, and let God add to the church.

The law of thermodynamics states there nothing is at absolute rest and that there is a constant movement of electrons within atoms in everything that exists. Scientists have developed sensitive instruments able to record sound coming from the stars and other inanimate objects. It’s not unreasonable to believe that these are sounds of praise confirming God’s Word, that all creation praises him. 

Astronomers have detected regular patterns in the so-called afterglow of creation that they say were caused by sound shock waves shortly after the Cosmos was born. They provide the most precise measurement yet of several of the key parameters that cosmologists use to describe the Universe.

The following article was taken from the BBC news 30 April 2001:

"The early Universe is full of sound waves compressing and rarefying matter and light, much like sound waves compress and rarefy air inside a flute or trumpet," said Italian team leader Paolo deBernardis. "For the first time the new data show clearly the harmonics of these waves." The new results are from a new, more detailed, analysis of images obtained by the Boomerang (Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics) experiment. Boomerang is an extremely sensitive microwave telescope that was carried by a balloon that circumnavigated the Antarctic in late 1998.The balloon carried the telescope at an altitude of almost 37,000 metres (120,000 feet) for 10 days. Initial images were published a year ago but since then astronomers have been able to carry out a more detailed analysis.

Just as the difference in harmonic content allows us to distinguish between a flute or trumpet playing the same note, so the details of the harmonic content imprinted in the CMB allow us to understand the detailed nature of the Universe," said Dr Barth Netterfield, of the University of Toronto in Canada. In their first release of data, in April 2000, the Boomerang team was able to reveal only one harmonic peak. Now, according to Andrew Lange, of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, they can see more.

Using a music analogy, last year we could tell what note we were seeing - if it was C sharp or F flat," he said. "Now, we see not just one, but three of these peaks and can tell not only which note is being played, but also what instrument is playing it - we can begin to hear in detail the music of creation.

The images obtained cover about 3% of the sky. The researchers plan another campaign to the Antarctic in the near future, this time to map even fainter images encoded in the polarisation of the cosmic microwave background. The scientific payoff of such measurements "promises to be enormous", said John Ruhl, of the University of California at Santa Barbara. "With today's results we know for sure that the music is there and we can interpret it." There is no doubt that by listening carefully, and in new ways, we will learn even more.

Notes: According to Ramchal - Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto - in his book, 'Adir BaMarom' (p. 40), the planets are moved by musical waves. These are his words: "All those things above are carried out by music, and all the luminaries, when they go out from their source, are motivated by music.

Each planet has music. It is interesting to note that scientists have recently discovered that each planet produces a different melody. The ZOHAR (Exodus, Shalach) says that the constellations themselves create music. And, according to the ZOHAR (Exodus, Vayakhel) the music of the sun is so wonderful that if the ears of man were not blocked, he would be capable of hearing this music. However, he would not be able to exist for his soul would leave the body."

The Good News translation say's it like this. 'How clearly the sky reveals God's glory! How plainly it shows what he has done! Each day announces it to the following day; each night repeats it to the next.No speech or words are used, no sound is heard; yet their message goes out to all the world. (Psalm 19:1 -4)