Today is the day that I get the privilege to worship with my church family at COTES. This has been a long time coming after our detour to Colorado last year.  I can’t begin to capture in words how excited I am to celebrate Jesus tonight with passion.  It’s this passion that drives me to “get up and jump!!!”  I don’t think I’ve ever dedicated a blog post to sharing why I go for it every time I get the opportunity to praise and worship in the band.  So, I’ll take a quick stab at it this morning as I’m about to run through the set list again in preparation for tonight.

First let me just say, I don’t let my passion become action on stage to ever make it about me.  I don’t want to ever make it on one of these cheesy sites that pops up when you google “jumping bass player.” In fact, I’m going to start with my top 5 reasons why jumping around on stage doesn’t make me “cool.”

#5 — Broken Guitar Straps – In mid-song, and in mid-set I have broken many straps.  This may sound hip and cool, but while you’re trying to keep the rhythm going while fumbling to pick up the guitar all coolness leaves the room.

#4 – Rhythmically Challenged – As you may have seen, I can’t really jump in rhythm and play.  I love to jump around, and every now and then I do catch the beat…but inevitably anytime I try to do both I mess up.  Don’t ask me how, but it all works out with an off-rhythm jump and in-rhythm bass line.

#3 – Sweat, Eyes, And Wet Shirts – I don’t have much hair, in fact let’s face it…I don’t have any hair.  So, the sweat pours out over my eyes, nose, ears, and guitar.  When you get sweat stuck between your ear canal and the in-ear monitor that is no fun.  The worse part is sweat creeping into the eyes, where it stings and complicates vision.  My shirts are usually soaking we after a night of praise, which makes for an awkward hug with friends afterwards.

#2 — Falling Off Platforms — This has happened too many times to count.  Luckily I haven’t broken anything major yet, and thankfully we’re all on a level platform now.

#1 — Lost In Worship — There is nothing more embarrassing than being lost in worship and song.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve missed a note, bridge line, or whole chorus bass line because I was so lost in the worship that I totally forgot where I was.  It’s a balance that I haven’t mastered, but I’m getting better at…I try to laugh it off as I’m feeling like the biggest idiot!

Now that we have established that there isn’t any self-fulfilling reason my passion in worship makes me anything else than just another musician serving the church, let me explain why I play the way I do.  Some of you know the past I come from.  I played a lot of years with bands in garages, warehouses, and bars.  When I was  in that scene I would go for it then too.  Of course, I had hair then too…so it was a different kind of “going for it.” The sad thing was it was all for a kingdom of darkness that would eventually drag me to a place that was spiritual death.  By the grace of God, the physical death door I was knocking on stayed closed until He opened my eyes to the path He had set for me.

Now when I get an opportunity to play songs about God, and for Him, I count that a privelege and honor.  I don’t take any of these times of worship lightly.  Music has always moved me, but I can honestly say that praise and worship has moved me like nothing else.  I can’t bring that passion and love to God in worship with nothing less than all of me.  I’m not going to play for His Kingdom any less than I played for the wrong kingdom.  I can’t begin to even comprehend shrinking back when playing for God, for I know how lucky I am to be alive and capable to play.  I celebrate that grace and salvation from death with Jesus and all the angels in Heaven, as I believe they worship in truth and spirit with us.

Please don’t misundertand my point here. I’m not saying that the way I praise and worship is the only way.  I strongly believe that God looks at the heart and wants to see us express worship to Him in truth and spirit.  It’s a choice that we are all given to make.  I don’t judge anyone for how they come into their place of worship.  I do challenge you to make sure that you don’t worship the things of  this world with more passion than our God who created it all…and created us.  For me, I’ll still go for it everytime like it’s my last time.  I believe God was pleased with the way David worshipped with reckless abandon in front of ark of the covenant.  We all still have a reason to get up and jump like David.  My prayer is that I see a family of worshippers tonight that go for it like nothing else in this world!

Breathe In & Smile Out,

Chris