The praise service on Sunday morning ...
We act like it's a buffer to the real service, an intermission where pretty music is playing, but if we need to get something done, then that's the time for us to prepare for the real service.
We even factor in the praise and worship time if we're running late to church. Yes, we have time to stop for breakfast ... gas up the car ... run back to the house for the umbrella we forgot to grab. After all, it's only the worship team. It's not like it's the real ministry opportunity.
God's Word begs to differ.
Our heartfelt praise is a weapon against worry and the attacks of the evil one. The praise and worship team leads us by breaking down the walls and casting off the chains of our weekly worries. Our active praise motivates us into obedience and empowers us to step out in strength with the joy of Jesus on our lips.
We owe God our praise, even if we don't feel it inside. When we shake the walls with our praise, and we worship God wholeheartedly, the atmosphere shifts, and our church service takes on new meaning.
Our praise then assumes a guiding role and serves as a prophecy for our future. It places the promise we cannot see into our grasp and gives us personal motivation and encouragement to walk in sanctification.
When we develop a personal lifestyle of passionate, daily praise, the stones will no longer be required to cry out to heaven, because we will have fulfilled Christ's command.
A Message from the Desk of Tim Barker:
Praise should be vibrant and expressive.
I deeply love Jesus and cherish the freedom to worship Him without restraint.
I want to hear the walls vibrate with praise, and for worship to change the direction of our interaction with God. Allow Him to draw you in today.
Tim R. Barker, D. Min.
About Tim:
Reverend Tim R. Barker is the Network Pastor/Superintendent of the South Texas Ministry Network, which is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
He is a graduate of Southwestern Assemblies of God University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in General Ministries/Biblical Studies, with a minor in music. He also received a Master of Arts in Practical Theology from SAGU and received his Doctorate of Ministry Degree from West Coast Seminary.
Reverend Barker was ordained by the Assemblies of God in 1989. He began his ministry in the South Texas District in 1984 as youth & music minister and continued his ministry as Pastor, Executive Presbyter (2006 - 2009) and Executive Secretary-Treasurer (2009 - 2011) in the South Texas District, where he served until his election as the South Texas District Superintendent in 2011.
By virtue of his district office, Reverend Barker is a member of the District's Executive Presbytery and the General Presbytery of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, Springfield, Missouri. He is a member of the Executive Board of Regents for Southwestern Assemblies of God University, Waxahachie, Texas, and SAGU-American Indian College, Phoenix, Arizona. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Pleasant Hills Children's Home, Fairfield, Texas, as well as numerous other boards and committees.
Reverend Barker and his wife, Jill, married in 1983, have been blessed with two daughters. Jordin and her husband, Stancle Williams, who serves as the South Texas District Youth Director. Abrielle and her husband, Nolan McLaughlin, are church planters of Motion Church in San Antonio. The Barkers have four grandchildren, Braylen, Emory and Landon Williams and Kingston McLaughlin.
His unique style of pulpit ministry and musical background challenges the body of Christ, with an appeal that reaches the generations.
