Joshua Seller

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2013

2013-12-04T16:59:00.001-08:00

WORSHIP MATTERS CONFERENCE

2013-07-17T05:44:00.000-07:00

There is a special 2 day worship conference coming to Ontario September 20-21, 2013.

Workshop Topics Include:

Release The Song: Why People Don’t Sing and What To Do About It!
Maximizing the Participation of the People of God in Corporate Worship
Expanding Your Chord Vocabulary: A Hands-On Acoustic Guitar Workshop
Making Room for the Spirit’s Leading
What Are You Talking About? What to Say When You’re Not Singing
Building Healthy Teams
Planning a Worship Service
Leading a Worship Service
Leading Youth in Worship
The Senior Pastor – Worship Leader Relationship
Bringing Balance to Our Approach to Worship
Empowering Your Congregation to Worship
Choosing Good Songs

You can register HERE

DIALING DOWN YOUR VOLUME

2013-04-23T10:38:00.001-07:00

It’s hard for me to sit still and be quiet. I’m not that good at it. In fact, my whole life has been a bouquet of pushed envelopes and talk-first-think-later situations. I describe myself as a recovering moron… I’m an extrovert. There I said it. And I’m a worship leader. So the temptation when I get around people is to be the center of attention. To bask a little in the limelight. To talk too much and listen too little. Where’s the balance? Are you like me? Are you an extroverted worship leader too? If you are, and you’re honest, you like the attention your personality brings. People tell you, “You’re the life of the party.” Or maybe, “I just love the passion in your leadership.” Both of those are good things – but also pitfalls that trap us into thinking our specific gifting or personality trait somehow makes our ministries better. Wrong. I’ve been fortunate to be around some amazing leaders – men that lead tens of thousands of people and recognize their rightful place in the overall spectrum of creation. These men lead with confidence and passion. They seek to take chances and get up in people’s grills for the sake of the gospel. These “extroverts”, though, have proven there’s more value in leading boldly coupled with love and humility than leading boldly and using the excuse, “Well that’s just how God made me.”

So follow along with me as I speak to myself by speaking to you, the extroverted worship leader.

A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP

In my first years of ministry I’d refer to myself as a bull in a china shop. Picture that – a massive, stomping bull in the middle of a store filled with fragile items. I wasn’t mad at anyone, but I wasn’t aware of how my team perceived my actions. I was focusing on “distraction free worship experiences”. But I neglected to make room for the body of Christ to use their gifts in an environment that was both focused on the task but also fun. Success as an extroverted worship leader looks like this: You recognize your gift set and work well. But you lead in such a way that draws both personalities (extroverts and introverts) into the journey, rather than excluding or scaring the other into following and keeping quiet.

The day your church leadership handed over volunteers and a congregation to your care, you moved from a singer to a pastor. It took me a long time to accept that – I didn’t want the extra responsibility. But accepting that responsibility has made so much difference in my ability to lead.

TAKE INVENTORY

One of the most helpful things for me in balancing my personality is looking at who I am in Christ. If our meter is gauged on what the Bible says we are (extroverted or not), it will give direction on how we should function. No Christian extrovert can honestly say, “I’m loud, annoying, and proud of it. That’s just how God made me!” Sure, you may be all of those things. But when God saved you, God changed you and wants to use your outgoing, in-your-face qualities to help stir up and edify fellow believers – other extroverts and introverts. God’s will for your extrovertedness is never to tear down, belittle, or walk over those who aren’t made like you. If you aren’t sure how your team perceives you, ask them. It’s going to be revealing and even painful. But if you’re seeking to grow as a new creation and not lean on your natural tendencies, I believe the growth opportunity is worth the pain.

THE TAKE AWAY

Your goal as a worship leader is to present Christ to your church and assist them in singing, praying, and meditating on the truths of God. Simple enough. But have you thought about that statement outside the 70-minute weekend service? You may lead the songs without a hitch, hit all the notes, and never get off the click track. But outside those things, how would you rate yourself? You see, most people in your church will never see how you interact with your sound guy. They will never hear you tell the string section how frustrating their intonation is. They will never see how you hangout with people because of what they can do for you rather than to serve them. (You don’t have to be an extrovert to make these mistakes, but we do tend to be more prone to these things.)

I don’t mean to make you feel guilty. Rather, I want to encourage you to take your personality and harness it for effectiveness. I struggle all the time with my flesh and how it wants to respond in high stress, crunch time scenarios. But my flesh doesn’t run the show. The spirit that’s in me is waiting for me to wise up and let it do what God put it there to do. Decide today. Stop telling yourself you’re pretty great because you get things done or speak well from the front. Look to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and humility to lead with the gifts God’s given you.

You’re extroverted. Use that natural ability to lead, speak, and grow ministries with a meek, gentle, and humble spirit.

HIPSTER

2013-01-18T17:46:00.001-08:00

HERE COMES CHRISTMAS

2012-11-26T12:01:00.001-08:00

Excited for Christmas! Merry Christmas to
You and your family this year!

NEW YORK CITY

2012-11-26T11:57:00.001-08:00

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY

2012-08-24T07:41:00.001-07:00

I find it harder and harder to write blog posts that by the end of reading it, you actually feel that was a good use of your time. It's not that I don't have new ideas, a greater sense of the Lord at work or fun pictures, its mainly I just don't have the time to sit down and re-live them for a blog post. I work hard at trying to be faithful to my God, family, church and to be honest that takes a tonne of time to do well.

Follow my twitter: @joshuaseller
Read about our churches music: www.harvestworship.ca

js

IT'S THE SUMMER

2012-06-20T12:01:00.001-07:00

NEW ALBUM: VICTORIOUS

2012-04-12T12:44:00.003-07:00

I so excited about a new album Harvest Worship released on Tuesday. It's 8 original worship songs that we have introduced at Harvest Bible Chapel in Oakville. As a worship ministry, we are praying God uses these songs and future songs to build and grow a deeper worship culture in the church. One of the ways we are hoping to do that is through a new website harvestworship.ca where we will post songs, charts, video's and other resources we are finding helpful.

If you haven't picked up a copy of the new release we would love it if you did! You can get it on iTunes here:

Canada Store
US Store

ZOO

2012-03-22T07:39:00.001-07:00

HARVEST WORSHIP | 2 SONG SAMPLER

2012-03-17T16:57:00.001-07:00

Our team has been working hard on a new 8 song project featuring songs around the theme of Easter. You can now download the title track "Victorious" and "Came to Save" 2 songs featured on this project for FREE!

The full length album comes out every on April 12, 2012 or Easter Sunday if you have tickets to Easter Together at the Hershey Centre.

FAMILY DAY

2012-02-20T18:54:00.001-08:00

Love my family so much. Loved making a first memory with my little boy today. We went to the Toronto Car Show. He was a class act and a joy to hang with! Amazed I get to call him my son.

BUILD A BEAR

2012-01-16T11:18:00.001-08:00

Spent the day with London today. We went to build a bear where he picked out a little Koala Bear and named it 'LaLa'
He's napping with it now. A great day.

A GREAT NIGHT TOGETHER

2012-01-15T18:18:00.001-08:00

The band and I lead tonight at McMaster U for about 300 students passionate to see Jesus move on their campus.

WHY I HATE RELIGION BUT LOVE JESUS

2012-01-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

Interestingly I posted this yesterday when it had 300 views. Today for some reason it has over 6 million. Funny thing this internet.

With all the views comes all the buzz, comes the sides comes the analysis, comes the you get what I mean. However a man I highly respect and admire (Kevin DeYoung) posted a critique of this video going line by line. I'd invite you to read it, chew on what he's saying and let me know your thoughts.

Here is a excerpt from the article:

"The word “religion” occurs five times in English Standard Version of the Bible. It is, by itself, an entirely neutral word. Religion can refer to Judaism (Acts 26:5) or the Jewish-Christian faith (Acts 25:19). Religion can be bad when it is self-made (Col. 2:23) or fails to tame the tongue (James 1:26). But religion can also be good when it cares for widows and orphans and practices moral purity (James 1:27). Unless we define the word to suit our purposes, there is simply no biblical grounds for saying Jesus hated religion. What might be gained by using such language will, without a careful explanation and caveats, be outweighed by what is lost when we give the impression that religion is the alloy that corrupts a relationship with Jesus."

Here is the link to the entire article:

MORNING INSPRIATION

2012-01-11T05:58:00.000-08:00

Stop animation. Shot in Toronto at one of the bookstores on Queen. There would be about 30 different photos taken per second to make this work. Amazing.

ELEPHANT ROOM 2

2012-01-10T10:11:00.000-08:00

What is the Elephant Room conference?

The Elephant Room isn't about men side stepping around real issues the church faces.

It is however disrupting the way we think, the way we lead, and the way we do church with the intent to God's word as our standard rather than pragmatics or popularity.

I think its safe to say we believe uncomfortable conversations, passionate discussion, tense dialogue can sometimes lead us to see Jesus more clearly. Getting tied up in church work we tend to even at times looses sight to the work of the church. I believe Pastor James' heart for this day isn't making friends or even being nice, his heart in all of this is to open up a space where real dialogue can happen and we can lay the facts on the table about what God has clearly laid out in His word for us.

This conference isn't for the church goer looking to be a fly on the wall, its way more than that! It's for the church leader looking to seek wisdom and council from men just like you and I who desire to make our life and ministry count for the Kingdom.

January 25, 2012 is going to be Round 2, a new roster of leaders, more in-your-face conversations and at the end we believe a greater understanding of truth and unity.

CHRISTMAS EVE

2012-01-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

Here are some elements from our Christmas Eve services this year at Harvest. Enjoy!

KIDS ROCK

2011-12-31T10:58:00.001-08:00

BORN IS THE KING

2011-12-20T13:32:00.000-08:00

Loved this song from the first time I heard it. Thankful for our choir who added so much energy to the opening song this past weekend.

If you would like the click track and video for this click here (password: hbc)

YOU'VE GOT TO BELIEVE

2011-12-07T06:48:00.001-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PEEPS

2011-12-05T18:21:00.001-08:00

4 of the many peeps I do life and ministry with, I make music and discover new things with; love them is an understatement. They are family.

CHRISTMAS MONDAY

2011-11-28T09:19:00.001-08:00

It's beginning to look like Christmas!

"THE ANSWER" CHRISTMAS VIDEO

2011-11-23T09:53:00.000-08:00

We recently released a new Christmas Narrative that sets up the reason for the season!

Its available now at Worship House Media (web|twitter)

With so many big questions in this life, and so much hurt and pain it’s easy to feel discouraged and lost with it all. We look to the world and to the answers that others have to explain what’s going on around us, and yet we still feel that something is lacking. What’s my purpose in life?

But there is an answer, an answer so strong and so secure. An answer that makes sense of everything, and His name is Jesus. He is the one who brings liberty from condemnation, light from darkness, freedom from sin, truth from lies and life from death. In Jesus only are the answers to the questions found. The answer: Jesus Christ—period

MY MONDAY

2011-11-21T13:21:00.001-08:00