Conquer distractions with 5 tips

Crying babies, hecklers, cell phone ringers, loud music coming in from outside the church, drunkards. We've all been in services where there have been distractions. How do we not let distractions ruin the praise and worship (P&W) experience?

Make sure you're squared away early - I have a 3 year old and sometimes (most of the time) she's the main distraction! (Sorry Zoe.) If I don't have her squared away prior to P&W, I can expect chaos. If you're a parent, make sure the child is with the designated caretaker early and let him/her know to keep a special eye out for the child. While we want folks to make a joyful noise, kids can sometimes take it to the next level and sometimes the caretaker is engaging in P&W without realizing the kid is banging the tambourine into a coma. 

Find the right outlet to inform congregants of proper protocol - If you're at a church like mine, there are many people who aren't used to general church protocol. We can't assume that people know how to act during P&W. Sunday morning might not be the best time to say it, but find a way to inform the congregation of your church protocol. Maybe a handout, addressing it in a business meeting, a sign on the bulletin board (if people read it), addressing it during church announcements or during new members class might be helpful.

Give people direction - My new thing to do is to tell people what I want them to do. "Hands in the air," "tell the Lord thank you," etc. This generally stops whatever people are doing because they're listening to you talk and will likely respond. Giving people directions helps them to stay focused.



Work with your ushers - If we had ushers I would totally collaborate with them so that they know to ask individuals to quiet down or excuse themselves from the sanctuary if they are distracting others. You could also ask the ushers to remind congregants to silence their cell phones as they greet them when they enter the sanctuary. "Good morning, glad to see you, come right this way and don't forget to turn down your cell phone please!"

Get gangster - While I don't encourage this tactic as a first resort, sometimes it needs to be employed. This should only be used if the distractions are really bad. In between songs or before you start, you could make a statement in a number of manners:

• "We're not going to stop singing until you bring in your wandering minds and usher in God's presence" (I find this one to be the most effective.)

• "Father God, our prayer today is that you help us not be so distracted while we sing your praises." (A tad passive aggressive, but whatevs)

• "How dare us come all the way to church and act like we're too busy to worship God?!" (Straight gully, but even Jesus turned over those tables in the temple.)

Would love to hear other strategies. Please feel free to share and let me know if you try any of these tips and how it went.

Blessings

Fill Me Up - Casey J (Lyric Video)

This is tearing up the radio waves. Enjoy!

What I know for sure

 

Skip Oprah (even though I kind of like her); here's what I know about God for sure...

If God said it, He will bring it to pass!

Many years ago, an evangelist prophetized (is that a real word?) to me that God was going to bless me in my studies and grant me favor. She told this to me right before I was going to undergrad. While I already was awarded an academic and music scholarship, I also applied for another scholarship and received it. I also eventually got other small scholarships and graduated with honors and thought "Ok, God. Thank you for blessing me." However, when I went to school for my cytotechnology certificate at Johns Hopkins, that's when I really saw God open doors for me. The program was very selective (only 5 students per year) and God blessed me to get it. Then I was featured on the front page of the hospital newspaper for the outreach activities I was doing in some of Baltimore's public schools. It ended up being a wonderful experience. I thought "Ok, God. Thank you for blessing me again!" Then I went to graduate school to work on my masters in public health. I received a big scholarship in year 2, and ended up with a job that paid for my last year of school. And then when I got my PhD - just kidding. I stopped at my masters. But anyway, I know that when God says something, you can bank on it. It doesn't mean that I didn't have any challenges, cuz trust and believe my student loans total more than some peoples' homes, but God is faithful! (Put a praise on it right there!)

God will make a way...
When I was preparing to go to Hopkins, I had no money for the program. I mean $0. Not even a student loan. We were coming up to the week I was supposed to be leaving for school with no money. We applied for a private loan with bank even though we had been turned down for others. A few days before I left, that loan came through. Look at God!

And a way.
I suffered a huge accident a few years ago rollerblading. I fractured my left elbow and ended up needing 5 surgeries, a cast, and year of occupational therapy to correct it - only it never was really corrected. At the time, it was my final year in grad school and my capstone project (similar to a thesis) was due. Unlike all of my friends who waited until the last minute to start their papers, I had begun months in advance and had been diligently working on it. When the accident happened, I had already had a solid first draft of about 17 pages. God put it in me to work on that paper early because after the accident, I could no longer type proficiently. Sometimes he makes a way before we even know the way was already made!

God is no respecter of person.
I know that God is able to do anything for anyone. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer by far, typically a B student, but God has done great things for me in the area of academics.

The blessings of the Lord maketh rich...
Moving past my academic life, I picked up a job that seemed to be pretty good, but I just didn't like the job as much as I wanted to. I applied for a different position in the company for something more related to my studies. I felt really good about the interviews and was very hopeful, but ultimately did not get it. I stayed at the company and about year later, that position opened up again so I applied again. This time I got it and now I have a job that I absolutely love.

And He addeth no sorrow with it.
About a year into the new job, I got a big raise. I'm not going to get into the mechanics of why/how I got it. Just trust me when I say that I didn't ask for it and when they gave it to me all I said was "Thank you God!" I could care less the rationale. It was a huge blessing!

So there you have it. In the words of J. Moss, I'm not telling you what I read. I'm telling you what I know.

God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think! (Eph. 3:20) There, I finally quoted a scripture :)

What I know for sure makes me more than willing to sing praises unto God. Most of the songs that I write are simply songs of praise. I always thought I'd have something deep and pivotal to share with the world, but my testimony is simply God is good and faithful. I am content praising God for all that he's done in my life and I hope that's whats reflected when I lead P&W.

Blessings