Wizard's Timing

This post is not late. Nor is it early. I finished it precisely when I meant to.

Last Saturday, the first of September, several people from our base drove to Mosaic, the church that Seth and I go to most Sundays, to take part in a night of worship. Seth unfortunately thought he had better things to do, but I was in for an extremely wonderful night of praise, joy, and experiencing God. The worship night was led by a guy named Hans Kraenzlin and his band. Hans himself leads on guitar, his wife deftly plays the keys, and others played bass, drums, electric guitar, and another acoustic guitar. Hans and his band released an incredible worship album a couple months ago called On the Back Hills of Bethlehem. You can get it on iTunes here, and you might just want to after you hear how Jesus-loving and creative they are.

Before I came, I really had no idea what to expect from a night of worship in a New Zealand church like Mosaic. It turned out to be more fun than just about any worship night I’ve ever been to before, partly because Kiwi Christians seem so unbounded in their concept of worship. A worship session here is much more than just singing and a little prayer; instead, there may be dancing, intercession, giving people encouraging or prophetic words, sitting around reading Scripture, listening to God, or just laying in God’s presence. The worship leader may well throw out the planned order of songs as he or she listens to where the Lord is leading. And there is a genuine passion and love for Jesus in followers here that is so apparent in worship. Maybe my sampling of Kiwi Christians has been especially good, but it seems to me that because it’s not a cultural norm to be a Christian here anymore, pretty much everyone who calls him- or herself a Christian is passionately sold out for Christ. Some of the gifts of the Spirit seem to flow more freely in Christians here, especially prophecy. But maybe that’s just in YWAM and Mosaic, I don’t know. In any case, I’m glad to be in New Zealand – there’s so much to learn from believers here.

Over the course of the evening with Hans and his band, there were times when it felt impossible not to start dancing. Dancing like a fool for Jesus is so much fun! A couple of times, Hans or other band members left their instruments, jumped down off the stage, and began dancing. At other times, Hans led us to pray and intercede on behalf of the city of Tauranga and the people here. Specifically, New Zealand has the highest rate of teen suicide of all developed countries, so we joined the Christians here in interceding on behalf of Kiwi young people. The music itself was full of creativity and power. For one song the base player picked up a didgeridoo and used it really skillfully to add an amazing element to the song. Another time, Hans did a Maori chant (along with a guy in the crowd) while still playing the guitar. I found out later that this is in a song on his album. It was a ridiculously awesome time – Hans and his band have a huge gift from the Spirit, and have really surrendered to Jesus to use it to its fullest.

If you want to get a taste of Hans’ music, check out this song on Youtube. It’s probably my favorite of his songs, and I love it when the voice of his little 3-year-old comes in near the end. Precious! His wife’s piano playing is wonderful too! And again, if you want to hear more, look in the iTunes store.

More blog posts coming really soon! Love you guys!

A son of the King,

Dan