*Why We Worship Conference: Johannesburg 1999*

Moving with the Lamb

God is speaking through the music

Friday was day 2 of the ”Why We Worship” conference in Johannesburg, South Africa

by Donn Edwards

Each worship set and each worship leader has provided a different flavour and dynamic to the conference. And yet through all of this, God is speaking, and weaving a wonderful tapestry. This tapestry has different colours and textures, and it tells many stories of love. Not only does it tell of God’s love for us, but it tells of our response to Him.

Take, for example, the traditional African song “Thula Sizwe”:

We sang it as a prayer, and we sang it again as our hearts cried out to God, and we sang it again as an anthem of triumph, all woven together in a great prayer to an almighty God who rules and reigns in this, the “dark” continent. It is a continent crying out to Him, and desperately in need of Him; and yet we had a real sense that there is a window of opportunity that we cannot ignore.

The manifest presence of the Holy Spirit once again brought tears streaming down my face, to the point where I could hardly sing the opening verse of “Praise Psalm” by Sibusiso Ntsala:

It is somewhere between an anthem and a prayer, and it is just an awesome song to sing in a worship setting such as this.

I spoke to Rita Springer before the start of her set, and was impressed by her commitment to serving others and being inclusive. I’m sure she would have preferred not leading at all, but came as a servant and included others. The result was just a wonderful combination, with her powerful, passionate voice and a tender leading that was sweet and fragrant. So “Come, Now is the Time” became a call to the lost and the broken to gather together and receive healing and forgiveness.

From there we moved on to “Moving with the Lamb” by Sibusiso Ntsala. They tried to persuade him to sing the song, but he preferred to stick to playing keyboards and percussion. You are going to hear a lot more of “Moving with the Lamb” in the months to come.

The tune is gentle and intimate, and you end up wanting to sing it forever. One day we will be able to do just that.

The evening set was completely different, yet again. Brent Helming was in charge, and he too chose to include others in the process. It was my “night off” in that I wasn’t operating the chorus board, and had more freedom to express myself. It also gave me the opportunity to see how people were responding during worship. The New Covenant Church in Bryanston is decorated on the inside by about 50 flags, each one representing a nation that they have relating churches or missionaries in. So it didn’t seem out of place to wave a few more flags. I found some hear the front, and during “Jesus Lead On” did exactly that. Then we did “Pour out my heart” with a very African flavour, followed by Simon van Niekerk’s song “Vula Amanzi, Umfula Ahambe”, which means let the river flow.

Simon led the worship during this song, and the “Vula Amanzi” part is sung almost like a war cry of the Israelites being led into battle by the priests with their trumpets and other musical instruments.

God graced us with even more of his presence and power, as well as jubilation an joy. I watched an older man standing near to me who looked like he was really “getting down” and partying before the Lord. Jeremy Cook commented during his message later that it was wonderful to see such an open expression of emotions in church.

Simon followed this with a wonderful song by Thys Meades called “Bring Me Back”. The second verse goes:

By the time we had finished singing this song, most of us were on our knees. It seemed fitting to sing “Nothing is as Wonderful” and “Rock of My Salvation” in response. After kneeling before the Lord it was time to get up on our feet again, and Brent and the team did a wonderful version of “You Shelter Me”, with drum solos and stuff.

After Jeremy Cook’s message we went into a wonderful time of ministry, where the Holy Spirit ministered particularly to the musicians, empowering and equipping them, and giving them new vision and passion for the lost.

Thus ended day 2. As I write this, Saturday has started with a thunderstorm in the early morning, and we are expectant of great things today.

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