Measuring Our Worship

                                                                   

I Chronicles 16:

7 Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and

his relatives to give thanks to the Lord.

8 Oh give thanks for His deeds among the peoples.

Make known His deeds among the peoples.

9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;

Speak of all His wonders.

10 Glory (boast) in His holy name;

Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.

11 Seek the Lord and His strength;

Seek His face continually.

12 Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,

His marvels and the judgments from His mouth, 

13 O seed of Israel His servant,

Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!

14 He is the Lord our God;

His judgments are in all the earth.

15 Remember His covenant forever,

The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,

16 The covenant which He made with Abraham,

And His oath to Isaac.

17 He also confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,

To Israel as an everlasting covenant,

18 Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan,

As the portion of your inheritance."

19 When they were only a few in number,

Very few, and strangers in it,

20 And they wandered about from nation to nation,

And from one kingdom to another people,

21 He permitted no man to oppress them,

And He reproved kings for their sakes, saying,

22 "Do not touch My anointed ones,

And do my prophets no harm."

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;

Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

24 Tell of His glory among the nations,

His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

He also is to be feared above all gods.

26 For the gods of the peoples are idols,

But the Lord made the heavens.

27 Splendor and majesty are before Him,

Strength and joy are in His place.

28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;

Bring an offering, and come before Him;

Worship the Lord in holy array.

30 Tremble before Him, all the earth;

Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.

31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

And let them say among the nations,

"The Lord reigns."

32 Let the sea roar, and all it contains;

Let the field exult, and all that is in it.

33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy

before the Lord;

For He is coming to judge the earth.

34 O give thinks to the Lord, for He is good;

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

35 Then say, "Save us, O God of our salvation,

And gather us and deliver us from the nations,

To give thanks to Your holy name,

And glory in Your praise."

36 Blessed be the Lord, The God of Israel,

From everlasting to everlasting.

Then all the people said, "Amen," and praised the Lord.

When you gather for worship each Sunday, is this what you are doing? Is this what is accomplished during the time of your gathering that you call praise and worship? Does what you do and what you sing about elevate the Lord as this does, or do you find yourself singing songs to yourself, about yourself ? Do you glory in praising Him?  Do you sing of His mighty deeds, the greatness of His salvation, the wonder of His majesty, the glory of His name? Does what you call worship boast in Him? Does what you do on Sunday bless the Lord, or is it designed to bless you? Can you really be blessed if you are not blessing the Lord? Would you call your gathering a holy array? Do your people come to present themselves before the Lord, and have that sense of trembling before Him? Are you ascribing to the Lord the glory due His name? Does what you do bring glory to His name? Does your worship time cause the people attending to say, "Amen," and praise the Lord.?

Just asking.....But God has given us the means, by His word, to inform and guide our corporate worship. Hopefully, this is how you are measuring your worship; to know if it is acceptable in His sight, and a pleasing fragrance and soothing aroma to Him

Becoming What We Worship--Psalm 115

 

Their idols are silver and gold, 

the work of man's hands.

They have mouths, but they cannot speak;

they have eyes, but they cannot see;

they have ears, but they cannot hear;

they have noses, but they cannot smell;

they have hands, but they cannot feel;

they have feet, but they cannot walk;

they cannot make a sound with their throat.

Those who make them will become like them, 

everyone who trusts in them.

Psalm 115:4-8

Italics mine

In this grand Psalm, the worship of God is contrasted with the worship of idols. The key thought is in verse 8 in italics above. There is a truth presented here that we are molded into the image of what we worship. As a result we take on the identity of what we worship. Those who worship idols made by the thought and hand of man will become just like them.  

As the Psalm progresses, Israel is exhorted to trust the Lord and worship Him. Why? So they will become more like Him. So a good question to keep in mind as we structure our worship service is who is the object of that service, man or God?

He is Worth It

                                           

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view

of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus

my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of

all things, and count them but rubbish so that 

I may gain Christ.

Philippians 3:8

In thinking about my relationship with Christ, its value far surpasses anything else. He is worth the sacrifices I make for Him. In the process of thinking about this, I had a scene come into my mind. A scene that has come up occasionally when thinking on sacrificing for the Lord, and how He is worth the sacrifice. It is a scene from my own imagination, that came about as a result of reading an excerpt from a missionary biography a few years back about John Paton. I wish I could remember where I read it, but here is the gist of it.  

There was a family that felt led of the Lord to go and witness to the natives of the New Hebrides, and were dropped off on the island to begin their ministry. The inhabitants were cannibals, and were fierce warriors. Over the next couple of years his children and his wife died and were buried, and John slept on their graves every night for fear that the cannibals would dig up their graves. John would later remarry and return to the island to continue to share the gospel with these people. Of course, there is more to the story, but the scene that keeps coming to my mind is one where this man, having given up all his possessions, comforts, and security to come to this foreign and hostile land; and then losing his entire family, is alone in the darkness and stretched out over the graves of his wife and children. And in my mind the man is proclaiming to the Lord, "You are worth it!  You are worth it!"

My friends, I don't know what you are giving up to serve the Savior. I don't know what sacrifices you are making or have made; but I do know this, "He is worth it!  He is worth it!" He is worth the work of our faith and the labor of our love. He is worth the taking up of our cross. He is worth the suffering of shame for His name sake. He is the pearl of great price who is worth all of what we have. He is the One who paid it all, and so He is the one who is worth it all. Let us take our lives and offer them up, so that along with Paul, we too may gain Christ and may be found in Him on that day. 

Principles for Corporate Worship-No Matter the Music Style

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you,

with all wisdom teaching and admonishing

one another with psalms and hymns and 

spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness

in your hearts to God.

Colossians 3:16

In this verse we see six principles regarding corporate worship at work . One, it should be word based.  Two, worship should be participatory.  Three, worship should be more than one dimensional, containing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Four, it should be jointly edifying.  Five, it should be God directed. Six, it should come out of a thankful heart.

1. On being word based, the word of God is the truth, and we know from John 4:23-24 that those who worship Him must worship Him in truth; so if we want to worship God in truth, the foundation of our worship should be His word.  It should dwell richly in us so as to guide our worship, and be sung in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Additionally, it should not be a hodge podge of biblical snippets, or contain vague spiritual references, or substitute euphemisms for biblical terms. It is amazing how many of the songs (contemporary and old) have very little theology, or poor theology, or contain false teaching. To borrow a phrase from Francis Schaeffer, the lyrics we sing must be true truth. There is a didactic (teaching) component of worship that speaks to the heart through the mind. When this occurs worship becomes powerful and personal.

2. On being participatory, the pronouns you and your in this verse are plural, so this is something that all that are gathered together should be doing. So it should not be observatory, but participatory.  Any style or methodology of worship that prevents or hinders the joint participation of the gathered believers should be eliminated.  Now this does not rule out solos, etc., but corporate worship is just that, corporate worship; and the style and methodology should promote and encourage corporate participation.

3. On being more than one dimensional, there is a richness and balance in the types and styles of songs, and this balance should be part of the corporate worship experience.  It will cover all aspects from the richness of deep theology to soul stirring melodies, from contemporary choruses to ancient hymns. It should take us from the depths of love to the heights of joy while covering everything in between. 

4. On being jointly edifying, as we sing His word together we are teaching and admonishing one another.  There is an edifying power, and an edifying and correcting effect on each other as we sing together or are sung to by soloists, etc.  The word put to music will not return empty or void without accomplishing all that God desires, and He desires for us to play our part in the dissemination of His word.

5. On being God directed, as this is the most important of all the principles.  All worship should be God directed.  It should be about God, focused on God, taking our attention away from ourselves and focusing it on God...His greatness, His majesty, His power, His love, His care, His grace, His provision, His salvation, His faithfulness, His mercy, and all that He is and all that He does.  I am reminded of the song, "It Is Well With My Soul", this song is so God focused and was written at a time of great tragedy in the life of the writer.  Much like the Psalms, in the middle of lament the focus is still on the Lord.  Our coming together for worship is a time for us to corporately present ourselves and our sacrifice of praise to God Himself before His throne in midst of what is happening in our life.  It should be a transcendent time in the presence of God for all who are gathered together no matter their circumstances.

6. On being thankful. A thankful heart will be a worshiping heart, a praising heart, a God glorifying heart, and a Christ exalting heart. It is impossible to really worship without being thankful. Praise, real praise, flows out of  thanksgiving, and in praising God for all that He is and all that He does, He is glorified. Thankfulness is a hallmark of true Christianity, and is a key foundational element of worship. The more thankful we are the more sincere our praise, and the more sincere our praise the richer our worship.

When these six principles are followed, corporate worship can never be dull or boring, can never be rote; but will always minister to the Lord, and, in turn, bless us.

Feeling After God

In The Glory of Christ by John Owen he makes a statement about "feeling after God," and thinking about it crystallized for me some things I have been observing in the church. As we in the West have moved from the modern era to the post-modern era we have moved from a time of rationalism to a time of experientialism and emotionalism. This has been reflected in the church as we have seen an emphasis on experience as the primary means of "connecting" with God.

The prevailing thought seems to be that the way to find God is by experience, that the only way to truly know God is experientially and to know God more deeply requires more frequent or more intense experiences This is manifested in the "worship experience" in many churches. Pastors dress up as different bible characters or secular characters so the audience will feel more connected to the sermon or can more readily identify with the character. We see more stage production in the music portion of the service with brighter lights, louder music, more graphics, cutting edge technology, drama and dance, all designed to create and enhance the "worship experience." So for many churches the experience of the worship service has become primary and the message of the worship service has become secondary, or less. Even in the way the message is presented experience or feeling is emphasized over content.

Church members and attenders have become addicted to the experience much like the cocaine addict who keeps seeking the next high. Even those who sense or know something is wrong, or are abhorred by the theatrics and disgusted by the lack of content in the sermon can't leave, but keep coming back for the high of the experience, just like the cocaine addict who knows it isn't good for him but keeps chasing the next high.

This is also reflected in religious literature. In the book The Barbarian Way Erwin McManus touts experience and mysticism as the keys to a deeper spiritual life as if you can't have a deeper walk or deeper communion with God without them. It is one of the themes that flow through the books Wild at Heart and Blue Like Jazz. It is also seen in Dallas Willard's writings.

This emphasis on experience is becoming even more egregious in the Word of Faith arm of the Charismatic movement. Joyce Meyer has made the statement that we are not to teach or speak to the mind, but to the heart.  Graham Cooke takes it even further in this video:
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi6nZA2wUqo

Feeling and experience are touted as the way to know God instead of their rightful place as the result of knowing God. The deeper spiritual life, the deeper communion and fellowship with Christ is not  the result of checking our mind at the door of experience, but the result of our seeking after Him, of knowing Him more fully. The Christian life is not one that is dry and devoid of feeling or experience, but the experience is the result of knowing Him not vice versa. Paul talks about this in Philippians 3:8-12 and it is spoken to in Hosea 6:3,6. In fact, we should not try and manufacture the experience because that becomes a work of the flesh and is profitable only for the flesh.

So, my friends, are you truly seeking God or are you seeking an experience, or are you seeking God through an experience? Take a step back and look at yourself and your family. Are you addicted to the experience so much that you can't let go even though you know that what you are getting is not good for your soul and the souls of your family? The true experience comes from God by and through His Spirit and His Word, at His discretion; and is profitable for our spirit, and is rich, satisfying, and lasting. Those who truly encounter God must come to Him in Spirit and truth, and for such He is always seeking. 

Proverbs 16:25 tells us that there is a way which seems right to man, but it only leads to death. There is only one narrow well worn way to God and to intimacy with God, His word, which is truth; as it gives us the knowledge of the Son of God, who is the truth, and knowing Him is truly the greatest experience any of us can have.

Corporate Worship: Spirit Led, Truth Driven, and God Revering

There is a tension, even to the point of conflict, between many in the church as to what constitutes proper praise and worship. You could generally divide these folks into two camps, those who follow the regulative principle and those who follow the normative principle. The regulative folks prescribing that God has laid out in Scripture what He requires and will accept in worship, and everything that is not in Scripture is forbidden. The normative folks prescribe that whatever is not prohibited in Scripture is permissible in worship. The are extremists in both camps from those who will only sing acapella from the Psalter to those who have a solo guitar riff with strobe lights and smoke, singing the Doobie Brothers as part of their worship. You go from the legalists to the libertines with all staunchly defending their position. So how do you determine what is permissible, what is pleasing to God, what brings Him satisfaction?

First, I think we need to take a step back to look at the whole of the landscape to determine what is the proper attitude we should have about this. There is a principle regarding Christian liberty in the practice of our faith in Romans 14:1-15:6, that is summed up in Romans 14:23...and whatever is not from faith is sin. I believe that God gave us this principle because for all of us, our definition of correct, or right, or proper is the way that we would do it. So there is some leeway, some room, and some forbearance to be given to one another in worship styles, music, and methodology. A good example of this is my friend, pastor Andrei, of Vision of Christ Church in Lviv, Ukraine. I preached at his church twice, once for a week on Covenant, and again over a long weekend on The Spiritual Life of the Church. This is a Charismatic church, and they speak in tongues during the prayer time in the service, and I am anything but Charismatic. At the end of my second time with them, as we were having dinner together at his home, Andrei turned to me and asked, "Does it bother you that we speak in tongues?" And I told him no, it did not bother me. To which he replied, "Good, because it doesn't bother us that you don't." So let us not look with contempt at one another, or judge one another because of differences in worship styles or methodology (Romans 14:3).

Secondly, let us acknowledge that there are guidelines for our worship of God, and God has been consistent with those guidelines through the ages. We can find these guidelines summed up in John 4:23-24 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. (Italics mine) So we have defined for us who a true worshiper is, and how a true worshiper worships; and we see that God Himself seeks such people to be His worshipers. So worshiping in spirit and truth is how God wants us to worship and is His parameter of what He considers proper. 

In Isaiah 29:13 God condemns the Israelites for their rote reverence of Him.  They were going through the motions but were devoid of the Spirit.  So even though what they practiced was according to truth, it was spiritually empty.  In Job 42:8 we see that worship which is acceptable to God is based on saying what is true about Him.  So proper worship must be both from and through the Spirit, and must be based upon what is true and right.  There are many hymns and praise songs/choruses that are filled with incorrect theology that do not meet this criteria.

Thirdly, we see another guideline in Leviticus 10:1-4. God only accepts worship that treats Him as holy and honors Him as God.  Worshiping in Spirit and in truth will always approach God as holy and honor Him as God.  Proper worship always pictures God as set apart, as holy, and properly reveres Him as God.  We see how a cavalier attitude and lack of reverence towards God in the Corinthian church led to many being weak, sick, and number of them sleeping (dead).  Yes, I know it was for taking the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner, but the partaking of the Lord's Supper is part of our worship.  This shows us that God is just as serious about being treated as holy and being honored by the church as He was with the Jews in Leviticus 10.  This is what He expects from His people; and it makes me wonder if there are many in the church today who are weak, sick, or even sleeping because they worshiped (approached) God in an unworthy manner.

Fourthly, we see five principles at work in Colossians 3:16.  One, it should be word based.  Two, worship should be participatory.  Three, worship should be more than one dimensional, containing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Four, it should be jointly edifying.  Five, it should be God directed.

On being word based, the word of God is the truth, so if we want to worship God in truth, the foundation of our worship should be His word.  It should dwell richly in us and be sung in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

On being participatory, the pronouns you and your in this verse are plural, so this is something that all that are gathered together should be doing. So it should not be observatory, but participatory.  Any style or methodology of worship that prevents or hinders the joint participation of the gathered believers should be eliminated.  Now this does not rule out solos, etc., but corporate worship is just that, corporate worship; and the style and methodology should promote and encourage corporate participation.

On being more than one dimensional, there is a richness and balance in the types and styles of songs, and this balance should be part of the corporate worship experience.  It will cover all aspects from the richness of deep theology to soul stirring melodies.  It should take us from the depths of love to the heights of joy while covering everything in between. 

On being jointly edifying, as we sing His word together we are teaching and admonishing one another.  There is an edifying power, and edifying effect on each other as we sing together or are sung to by soloists, etc.  The word put to music will not return empty or void, without accomplishing all that God desires, and He desires for us to play our part in the dissemination of His word.

On being God directed, as this is the most important of all the principles.  All worship should be God directed.  It should be about God, focused on God, taking our attention away from ourselves and focusing it on God...His greatness, His majesty, His power, His love, His care, His grace, His provision, His faithfulness, His mercy,  and all that He is and all that He does.  I am reminded of the song, "It Is Well With My Soul", this song is so God focused and was written at a time of great tragedy in the life of the writer.  Much like the Psalms, in the middle of lament the focus is still on the Lord.  Our coming together for worship is a time for us to corporately present ourselves and our sacrifice of praise to God Himself before His throne in midst of what is happening in our life.  It should be a transcendent time in the presence of God for all who are gathered together no matter their circumstances.

We obviously have guidelines, but within the guidelines we have freedom, Spirit directed freedom which will always have the truth for both its anchor and its guide.

Preaching to Inspire Worship?

In our preaching, does the way we present

God and His Son show their worth so as

to inspire the people to get out of bed on

Sunday to come and worship them?

Do we present God as God Most High,

and do we present Christ as Lord of all?

Sunday and the Word of God

The Word of God is meant to be a blessing

to the people of God.  So, this Sunday, sing it,

read it, preach it, and pray it.

Psalm 89:6-7 and Our Worship

Psalm 89:6 For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord?

There is none like Him in heaven or on earth!

Psalm 89:7 A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all those who are around Him.

He is transcendent even above those in heaven so that all in heaven are in awe of Him and revere Him, which is why He is worshiped as He is in Isaiah 6, and Revelation 4. This also paints a picture for us that compliments Revelation 4:2...and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.

This, indeed, is the God whose very presence commands worship. Let our heart fall upon its knees and worship Him.

This, indeed, is the very God who humbled Himself and came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. He suffered unjustly at the hands of godless men, so that He could be the perfect, sinless, sacrifice for each and every sin we would ever commit as He took sin's penalty on our behalf.

This, indeed, was a majestic death. This should inform and inspire our worship each Lord's Day. So, let us gather together tomorrow and celebrate His resurrection, His victory over sin's penalty, which is death, and its claim on us.

Worship and Reverence

Then Moses said to Aaron, " It is what the Lord

spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me I 

will be treated as holy, and before all the people

I will be honored."

Leviticus 10:3

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before

Him with joyful singing...Enter His gates

with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.

Psalm 100:1-2, 4

Italics mine

At the heart of worship and its accompanying praise is the the requirement of reverence.  In fact, reverence is the foundation of true worship; and as we see from the verse above, it is so because it is expected and required by the Lord Himself.  After all, He is the Lord of all creation and should be regarded as such, not in a shallow flippant way, but with the gravitas that He alone deserves. Reverence is the basis of what the Lord considers acceptable worship.

In light of this, how much of what is labeled as praise and worship actually is such?  How much of what is considered praise and worship is acceptable to the Lord?  If there is no accompanying reverence, and if its foundation is not reverence, is it truly praise, is it truly worship?  It is important that what we sing about the Lord and what we sing to the Lord is true, but is also important that it be done with a spirit of reverence, and done in such a way that He is honored as He should be. 

So before we worry about lights, and volume, and set design, and innovation, and creativity, and energy, and being appealing and pleasing to the audience; we should be sure, very sure that what we are doing is pointed at treating the Holy One as holy, and honoring Him in front of all the people, and that our goal is to please Him first and foremost.   If our goal is to please the audience, then is it not the audience that we worship?  

Just a little food for thought.

A Prayer for Sunday...A Prayer for Worship

In the congregations I shall bless the Lord.

I will tell of Your name to my brethren;

In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that

is within me, bless His holy name.

Psalms 26:12b, 22:22, 103:1

Lord, cause us to ever be mindful of

why we are gathered here today.  May

You be blessed in our praying, in our 

praises, and in the preaching; and may

all of these bring blessing to Your holy name.

To You and You alone, as Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit belong blessing, honor, 

and glory.  May blessing and glory be

given to You through us this day.

Amen.

It's Easter, Sing and Shout the Victory!

There is a hymn titled "When We All get to Heaven," and the chorus is as follows:

When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory!

Honestly, that's too late. There is one mighty victory that overcame sin, death, hell, and Satan; and that is the resurrection.  This was God's victory in Christ, and it has become our victory.  His resurrection is our resurrection, His triumph our triumph, His power has become our power, His ascension will be our ascension, and His life is now our life; and all of this is our reality because He rose again.  He overcame the power of sin, He severed the hold of death, He blew open the gates of Hell, and took the keys of death and hell from Satan; and on that Great Day when Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, death and Hell will be thrown in with him. 

It's too late, too late, I say, to wait until we see Jesus, our Dread Champion, before we sing and shout the victory.  That victory is ours now, and forever.  Let's sing and shout that victory--His victory--our victory, as we celebrate it this Sunday.

Do I hear any Amens?

Fernando Ortega - Creation Song

Sing To Jesus- Fernando Ortega (Curb Records)

The Beauty of Holiness

One thing I have asked from the Lord that I shall seek;

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.

Psalm 27:4

What makes Christ so beautiful when His appearance was not such that we should be attracted to Him?  It is the beauty of His holiness, the perfections of His character.  It is His heavenly perfections on display as the glory of God is revealed through Him.  As we meditate on the person of Christ, we see more deeply and more clearly the beauty of His holiness and the sublimeness of His perfections.

Father, let us leave farther and farther behind the ugliness and reproaches of our sin as we are continually being transformed into His image, more and more.  May His beauty and His perfections become ours until the day when we shall be as He is.  Amen.

Worshiping Today?

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of

the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God,

and that you are not your own?

I Corinthians 6:19

you also, as living stones, are being built up

as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood,

to offer up spiritual sacrifices

acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

...But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation, a people for God's own possession,

so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him

who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

I Peter 2:4,9

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God,

to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,

acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Romans 12:1

In the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, worship took place in the temple where the glory of God dwelled.  Sacrifice was the basis of the worship that occured and we see from Hebrews 9:6 that the priests were continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship as this was where the priests brought the animals to be sacrificed.

In the New Testament, under the New Covenant, each believer is a temple of God as His Holy Spirit indwells each one of us.  Sacrifice, which is still the basis of worship, occurs as we offer up ourselves to God each day.  This is what Christ meant when He said in Luke,  "Take up your cross daily and follow Me."  A life of sacrifice, self-sacrifice, is a life of worship.  Listen to what the Lord says in Isaiah 58:13-14b, "If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth."  It is this kind of self-sacrifice that proclaims His excellencies and shows His matchless worth to all the world around us, to both believers and non-believers alike.  It is a life that shouts, "Glory to the Lord, Glory to the Lord, Glory to the Lord." 

How is your worhip today?  Are you desisting from your own ways, seeking your own pleasure, and speaking your own word; and seeking His way, His pleasure, seasoning your speech with salt so that it may give grace to those who hear?  Are you sacrificing yourself for Him to day to show His matchless worth to you, His incomparable value to you, and your high estimation of Him?  This is presenting your bodies as a spiritual sacrifice well pleasing to God, and in this sacrifice, this worship, we will delight in our Lord; and He will make us ride on the heights of the earth.

The Deep Love of Jesus

In looking for some music to play for the time prior to the start of our church service I ran across a CD on Rhapsody that really blessed me. It is Sacred Space-The Songs of Penny Rodriguez. Many of the arrangements are modernized, but without taking away the classical richness of these great songs. I have included a link to one of my favorite songs, The Deep Deep Love of Jesus. It was written in 1890 by Samuel Francis and was recently popularized by Selah on their Hiding Place CD. Sacred Space has great arrangement of this song and captures all of its richness. Let the words speak to your mind and wash over your soul as it takes you before His throne.

The Deep Love of Jesus: "1. The Deep Love of Jesus - Penny Rodriguez "

Music in the Worship Service

Another book I am currently reading is on being a missional church (the term missional being the topic for another post). In reading through the book one of the author's quoted in the book was saying how much freedom we have to be creative in the music portion of the worship service (yes, I call it the music portion because the whole service is a worship service). It sparked the question in my mind as to how much freedom do we really have? Are there some guidelines that need be, must be followed in order for the music to be acceptable to God and spiritually effective for the people? I do believe that the regulative principle of worship gives us the guidelines of what is acceptable to God so what I am going to do is share what I believe makes it spiritually effective for the people. These are the questions that I ask of the music portion of the worship service. These questions apply whether you are participating in a traditional service or one that is considered contemporary.

Is it reverent? Does it create an atmosphere of reverence. The elements of reverence being:

Holiness
Respect
Awe
Transcendence
Majesty
Humility
Submission

Does it take us up to God or does it bring God down to us? Is it

God focused
God honoring
God exalting
God glorifying--defined as that which gives an accurate representation
of who God is, His nature and character?

Is it Scripturally true and accurate?

Does it present and teach right theology?

Does it add to and enhance our understanding and appreciation of God and Christ?

Does it spiritually inspire, not a rock concert high, but does it feed the
soul by engaging the mind, thereby taking the people to a higher and
deeper place than themselves?

Does it prepare the mind and heart, does it open them up to receive the
word that will be preached?

Does it minister to the people?

Does it teach?
Does it admonish?
Does it exhort?
Does it encourage?
Does it enlarge?
Does it take them to the throne of God?
Do they experience the presence of God as
part of the corporate communion?

Is it able to be sung congregationally?

Is it balanced through Psalms, Hymns, and spiritual songs?

Is it worship driven and ministry driven versus performance driven?

Does the instrumentation overpower the singing?

Is it transcendent versus being temporal?

Does it make people spectators rather than participants?

Does it occupy its proper place in the service, not as the focus of the service?