The Sound of Sheer Silence
Silence is not something we are good at. We sleep with the TV on, the radio is always on in the car, and iTunes is constantly at work. Have you ever walked into a store and noticed that there is no music playing in the background? It is really uncomfortable! Why is that? It is because we are not good at silence. It is a rare moment in our lives when we let silence completely envelop us, but I'm guessing you remember those moments. It is often in those moments when we feel closest to God. For one thing we can hear Him more clearly when there are not 100 other things to drown Him out. Bill Hybels asks this question: "Is the ambient noise level of my life low enough for me to hear the whispers of the Lord?"
But some of us just can't keep quiet for anything. Maybe it is because we aren't spending enough time in the presence of God. Andrew Murray says, "The very thought of God in His majesty and holiness should silence us."
I know it is easier said than done. "There is so much to see and hear in this busy and media-flooded world of satellite television, home cinema and the internet. We need seasons of the soul in which we somehow find space away from the noises of everyday life and still our heart to perceive the intimate whispers of God." Why do you think people go on retreats into the woods or to a remote beach house? Is it because they hate indoor plumbing? I suppose some might. But for most people it is because they need to get away to 'clear their heads.' They will scale a mountain just to see the view. From the top they see things clearly, things they have never seen before. There is a reason they say it is breathtaking. It is because words won't do it justice, so the appropriate thing to do is keep quiet. They need time to sit in the silence and hear what God is saying to them. Many times people come back from retreats like that passionate about the calling God is placing in their lives. Why? Because they have taken the time to listen!
We need "to find moments and places where we may rise above the noise of twenty-first-century life and give ourselves space for reflection. As a general rule, too much time spend watching television or playing video games will not help us climb higher. If we want to scale greater heights and see further into God, we must find moments when we ascend above every distraction and find an unobstructed view of Him."
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Worship with a Price
When we see Christ for who He is, it demands a response from us. This response is so much more than just, 'hey that guys is pretty great!' It demands sacrifice on our part. When we see Christ, we gladly give Him all we have. We see this picture in Genesis when Abraham goes to sacrifice Isaac on the alter. Most of us have thought about how hard it must have been and how much faith it took for Abraham to take his only son, his son that God promised him, and sacrifice him. But when was the last time you took a look at Isaac's question when they got to the top of the mountain? He says, "The fire and the wood are here...but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" "In other words, 'Everything seems like it's in place, but where's the sacrifice?' That is always a key question when it comes to real and meaningful worship."
Worship always comes with a price. It requires us to give up ourselves and give all we have to God, otherwise we aren't really worshipping. Now that doesn't necessarily mean that we should be miserable during worship, in fact giving glory to God should be a joyous time! But I am saying that "there must be times in our worship services when we cease to say, 'Please give me more' and we start to say, 'It's time I gave You more.'"
Worship should propel us to action. We have a mission to accomplish! "The call on all of our lives is to journey beyond melodies and harmonies, beyond lyrics and poetry." While these are great tools of worship, we can't let our worship stop there. Worship is much more than the strumming of a guitar, the playing of an organ, or the singing of a choir. In 2 Samuel 24:24 David says that he will not sacrifice that which costs him nothing, and neither should we!
Christ's call on our lives is to "live a radical life of love and service-a life that leads to many costly acts of devotion, a life of intimacy with guts, passion with perseverance." William Barclay writes of the brothers James and John: "So then, both of the brothers drank the cup of Christ. Let us see what that cup was. John went to Ephesus; he lived for almost a hundred years; and died in peace full of years and honor. James's life was short, and came to an end swiftly and suddenly through martyrdom by the sword-and yet both drank the cup of Christ. There is a Roman coin, which has as its inscription the picture of an ox facing an altar and a plough, with the words: 'Ready for either.' The ox must be ready for the dramatic sacrifice of the altar or the long routine of the plough. The Christian who dies in one heroic moment, and the Christian who lives a long life of fidelity to Christ both drink the cup of Christ. The Christian...must be ready for either."
My question for you is are you ready for either? What is your worship costing you? Are you living a radical life of love and service? Abi and I just got back from Honduras where the Christians there live a radical life of love and service. They don't even have running water because the Catholic Church shut it off because they don't like the mission of the church in Honduras! You want to talk about what worship costs? It may cost you running water! It may put you in the path of people dealing with death, and it may put you in the lives of your neighbors that you don't really like. Our mission is to spread the love of Christ in every arena, and we can't do that without it costing us something.
"The most meaningful and powerful worship always comes at a price-the whole of our lives placed on His altar." What does worship cost? Everything.
Enjoy the Journey
When we see Christ for who He is, it demands a response from us. This response is so much more than just, 'hey that guys is pretty great!' It demands sacrifice on our part. When we see Christ, we gladly give Him all we have. We see this picture in Genesis when Abraham goes to sacrifice Isaac on the alter. Most of us have thought about how hard it must have been and how much faith it took for Abraham to take his only son, his son that God promised him, and sacrifice him. But when was the last time you took a look at Isaac's question when they got to the top of the mountain? He says, "The fire and the wood are here...but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" "In other words, 'Everything seems like it's in place, but where's the sacrifice?' That is always a key question when it comes to real and meaningful worship."
Worship always comes with a price. It requires us to give up ourselves and give all we have to God, otherwise we aren't really worshipping. Now that doesn't necessarily mean that we should be miserable during worship, in fact giving glory to God should be a joyous time! But I am saying that "there must be times in our worship services when we cease to say, 'Please give me more' and we start to say, 'It's time I gave You more.'"
Worship should propel us to action. We have a mission to accomplish! "The call on all of our lives is to journey beyond melodies and harmonies, beyond lyrics and poetry." While these are great tools of worship, we can't let our worship stop there. Worship is much more than the strumming of a guitar, the playing of an organ, or the singing of a choir. In 2 Samuel 24:24 David says that he will not sacrifice that which costs him nothing, and neither should we!
Christ's call on our lives is to "live a radical life of love and service-a life that leads to many costly acts of devotion, a life of intimacy with guts, passion with perseverance." William Barclay writes of the brothers James and John: "So then, both of the brothers drank the cup of Christ. Let us see what that cup was. John went to Ephesus; he lived for almost a hundred years; and died in peace full of years and honor. James's life was short, and came to an end swiftly and suddenly through martyrdom by the sword-and yet both drank the cup of Christ. There is a Roman coin, which has as its inscription the picture of an ox facing an altar and a plough, with the words: 'Ready for either.' The ox must be ready for the dramatic sacrifice of the altar or the long routine of the plough. The Christian who dies in one heroic moment, and the Christian who lives a long life of fidelity to Christ both drink the cup of Christ. The Christian...must be ready for either."
My question for you is are you ready for either? What is your worship costing you? Are you living a radical life of love and service? Abi and I just got back from Honduras where the Christians there live a radical life of love and service. They don't even have running water because the Catholic Church shut it off because they don't like the mission of the church in Honduras! You want to talk about what worship costs? It may cost you running water! It may put you in the path of people dealing with death, and it may put you in the lives of your neighbors that you don't really like. Our mission is to spread the love of Christ in every arena, and we can't do that without it costing us something.
"The most meaningful and powerful worship always comes at a price-the whole of our lives placed on His altar." What does worship cost? Everything.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Whole Christ
Many of us get stuck on one aspect of Christ, and that limits our worship of Him. Some like to focus on the mighty king, some on the gentle shepherd. Some focus on the conquering hero, some on the sacrificial lamb. To focus on only one aspect of who Jesus is makes our worship of Him too small. "Christian worship must contain both the cross and the crown." If we take a look at what the Bible says He is like we will find that our idea of who Christ is begins to expand rapidly.
"He is the light, the way, the truth and the life. He is the Word made flesh, Immanuel...God with us. He is the hope of glory, the Good Shepherd of our soul. When we start paying more attention to some of the names of Jesus, the eyes of our hearts are opened to an even deeper realization of His wonders."
We could do this all day. Words cannot express all that is Jesus. Many times we think that Jesus is just in the New Testament, but don't forget to look for Him in the Old Testament too!
"In Genesis Jesus is the Ram at Abraham's altar. In Exodus He's the Passover Lamb. In Leviticus He's the High Priest...In Job He's our Redeemer that ever lives. In Psalms He is my Shepherd and I shall not want...In Isaiah He's the Suffering Servant...And in Daniel He is the Fourth Man in the midst of a fiery furnace...In Zechariah He is our fountain. And in Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness with Healing in His wings...In 1st Corinthians our Resurrection. In 2nd Corinthians our Sin Bearer...In 1st and 2nd Thessalonians He is our Soon Coming King...In Titus He is our Blessed Hope...and in Revelation, lift up your eyes, church for your redemption draws near, He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords."
We worship a Savior King, a Sacrificial Lamb who will reign on high for all eternity. We would do well to never forget it.
Enjoy the Journey
Many of us get stuck on one aspect of Christ, and that limits our worship of Him. Some like to focus on the mighty king, some on the gentle shepherd. Some focus on the conquering hero, some on the sacrificial lamb. To focus on only one aspect of who Jesus is makes our worship of Him too small. "Christian worship must contain both the cross and the crown." If we take a look at what the Bible says He is like we will find that our idea of who Christ is begins to expand rapidly.
"He is the light, the way, the truth and the life. He is the Word made flesh, Immanuel...God with us. He is the hope of glory, the Good Shepherd of our soul. When we start paying more attention to some of the names of Jesus, the eyes of our hearts are opened to an even deeper realization of His wonders."
We could do this all day. Words cannot express all that is Jesus. Many times we think that Jesus is just in the New Testament, but don't forget to look for Him in the Old Testament too!
"In Genesis Jesus is the Ram at Abraham's altar. In Exodus He's the Passover Lamb. In Leviticus He's the High Priest...In Job He's our Redeemer that ever lives. In Psalms He is my Shepherd and I shall not want...In Isaiah He's the Suffering Servant...And in Daniel He is the Fourth Man in the midst of a fiery furnace...In Zechariah He is our fountain. And in Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness with Healing in His wings...In 1st Corinthians our Resurrection. In 2nd Corinthians our Sin Bearer...In 1st and 2nd Thessalonians He is our Soon Coming King...In Titus He is our Blessed Hope...and in Revelation, lift up your eyes, church for your redemption draws near, He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords."
We worship a Savior King, a Sacrificial Lamb who will reign on high for all eternity. We would do well to never forget it.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Mysteries So Bright
"The God we worship is clothed in mystery. He reveals and He conceals. He invites and He hides. He confounds and He confides. The God who rests but never sleeps. Who thunders and whispers, terrifies and befriends. Whose anger lasts only a moment, but whose favor lasts a lifetime. Who is all-consuming yet kind, all-knowing yet capable for forgetting the sins He forgives. The God who wounds and binds up, who injures and who heals. The King whose footstool is the Earth, yet humbly washed the earth from the feet of those He discipled. Who reigns in righteousness yet carried our shamefulness. Who walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, yet sweated drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane one agonizing night. The God of the smallest detail and the grandest design, who issued ornate designs for an extravagant temple yet found pleasure in the humblest offering of a widow's two tiny coins there. The suffering servant who commands the universe. The sinless friend of sinners. The Savior who hung in agony on beams of wood He Himself had called into being. He is fearsome yet welcoming, unfathomable yet knowable. The God of kings and beggars, presidents and paupers. Who fathers the fatherless and works through our weakness. Burning with holiness, yet refreshingly graceful. He who is worshipped by the multitudes of heaven yet rejoices over a single returning heart. Perfect in every way yet able to help those who are being tempted. He who is faithful even to the faithless, for He cannot disown Himself. This is the God we worship-the God of all mystery."
A.W. Tozer says, "No one who knows Him intimately can ever be flippant in His presence." Are you in awe?
Enjoy the Journey
"The God we worship is clothed in mystery. He reveals and He conceals. He invites and He hides. He confounds and He confides. The God who rests but never sleeps. Who thunders and whispers, terrifies and befriends. Whose anger lasts only a moment, but whose favor lasts a lifetime. Who is all-consuming yet kind, all-knowing yet capable for forgetting the sins He forgives. The God who wounds and binds up, who injures and who heals. The King whose footstool is the Earth, yet humbly washed the earth from the feet of those He discipled. Who reigns in righteousness yet carried our shamefulness. Who walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, yet sweated drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane one agonizing night. The God of the smallest detail and the grandest design, who issued ornate designs for an extravagant temple yet found pleasure in the humblest offering of a widow's two tiny coins there. The suffering servant who commands the universe. The sinless friend of sinners. The Savior who hung in agony on beams of wood He Himself had called into being. He is fearsome yet welcoming, unfathomable yet knowable. The God of kings and beggars, presidents and paupers. Who fathers the fatherless and works through our weakness. Burning with holiness, yet refreshingly graceful. He who is worshipped by the multitudes of heaven yet rejoices over a single returning heart. Perfect in every way yet able to help those who are being tempted. He who is faithful even to the faithless, for He cannot disown Himself. This is the God we worship-the God of all mystery."
A.W. Tozer says, "No one who knows Him intimately can ever be flippant in His presence." Are you in awe?
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Otherness of God
God is not like anyone or anything else in the universe. He is matchless, unique, and nothing or no one even comes close. It can become easy for us to lose sight of this today. Even in our churches we do roughly the same thing every week (give or take a few songs). We can easily lose sight of Who we are here for. We can take an extraordinary God and manage to make Him sound completely ordinary! That must be really frustrating for God! God defends His awesomeness throughout the scripture. He will "not be diluted, dumbed down or patronized. He rebukes worshippers in Psalm 50: 'You thought I was altogether like you.' But He is not like one of us. He is utterly incomparable-beyond the furthest horizon of our imaginations."
Sometimes our view of God vs the reality of God can be like a goldfish in a bowl vs the creatures of the deep. A goldfish can swim around and say hi to Scuba Steve before it whacks its face on the side of the bowl (again). A wild fish in the deep is untamed, mesmerizing in beauty. Sometimes we portray God as domesticated, but He is far from that! We will never be able to fully declare how awesome our God is, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try!
When it comes down to it, God knows that He is awesome. He doesn't need you or me to tell Him. What do we have to offer God anyway? "We cannot even offer a simple song of praise without using the breath God first gave to us." Talk about dependence. God does not depend on us, we are totally dependent on God. That being said, "one of the biggest mistakes a person can make in life is to think that God owes him or her something. It destroys faith and insults the sovereignty of God." God doesn't owe us anything, we owe Him everything. But the beauty of our relationship with God is that even though He doesn't need our worship, He loves it! He loves it so much that He paid the ultimate price for it, He gave up His Son's life so that we could be in His presence to worship Him! Is it arrogant for God to love worship? J.I. Packer puts it this way: "If it is right for man to have the glory of God as his goal, can it be wrong for God to have the same goal? If man can have no higher purpose than God's glory, how can God? The reason it cannot be right for man to live for himself, as if he were God, is because he is not God. However, it cannot be wrong for God to seek His own glory, simply because He is God." Did you catch that? Basically we have the same goal God does, to give God glory! It isn't arrogant for the greatest ever to be acknowledged as the greatest ever. He isn't like a boxer who will eventually get old and have someone else take His place. No, "He will never give up His title or yield His supremacy. He is untouchable, invincible and eternally glorious."
We need to step up our reverence for God. It needs to find its way into the tiniest details of our lives. How are you showing reverence for God in your life? How can you show more? He deserves it. He expects it.
Enjoy the Journey
God is not like anyone or anything else in the universe. He is matchless, unique, and nothing or no one even comes close. It can become easy for us to lose sight of this today. Even in our churches we do roughly the same thing every week (give or take a few songs). We can easily lose sight of Who we are here for. We can take an extraordinary God and manage to make Him sound completely ordinary! That must be really frustrating for God! God defends His awesomeness throughout the scripture. He will "not be diluted, dumbed down or patronized. He rebukes worshippers in Psalm 50: 'You thought I was altogether like you.' But He is not like one of us. He is utterly incomparable-beyond the furthest horizon of our imaginations."
Sometimes our view of God vs the reality of God can be like a goldfish in a bowl vs the creatures of the deep. A goldfish can swim around and say hi to Scuba Steve before it whacks its face on the side of the bowl (again). A wild fish in the deep is untamed, mesmerizing in beauty. Sometimes we portray God as domesticated, but He is far from that! We will never be able to fully declare how awesome our God is, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try!
When it comes down to it, God knows that He is awesome. He doesn't need you or me to tell Him. What do we have to offer God anyway? "We cannot even offer a simple song of praise without using the breath God first gave to us." Talk about dependence. God does not depend on us, we are totally dependent on God. That being said, "one of the biggest mistakes a person can make in life is to think that God owes him or her something. It destroys faith and insults the sovereignty of God." God doesn't owe us anything, we owe Him everything. But the beauty of our relationship with God is that even though He doesn't need our worship, He loves it! He loves it so much that He paid the ultimate price for it, He gave up His Son's life so that we could be in His presence to worship Him! Is it arrogant for God to love worship? J.I. Packer puts it this way: "If it is right for man to have the glory of God as his goal, can it be wrong for God to have the same goal? If man can have no higher purpose than God's glory, how can God? The reason it cannot be right for man to live for himself, as if he were God, is because he is not God. However, it cannot be wrong for God to seek His own glory, simply because He is God." Did you catch that? Basically we have the same goal God does, to give God glory! It isn't arrogant for the greatest ever to be acknowledged as the greatest ever. He isn't like a boxer who will eventually get old and have someone else take His place. No, "He will never give up His title or yield His supremacy. He is untouchable, invincible and eternally glorious."
We need to step up our reverence for God. It needs to find its way into the tiniest details of our lives. How are you showing reverence for God in your life? How can you show more? He deserves it. He expects it.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Facedown
It seems like I've been having many conversations about postures in worship lately. What is appropriate and what isn't? I think it can be summed up pretty simply by just saying that "when it comes to expressing our worship, what we do on the outside is a key reflection of what is taking place on the inside." I don't think that there are a set of "moves" that we need to learn to worship God. We should react in the way that we feel lead to react. If that means raising your hands or falling facedown, follow the Spirit's lead. We do see many more people raise their hands then fall facedown don't we? Maybe it is just because of the way we set up the rooms we "worship" in, but maybe it is because we really don't comprehend that we are coming into the presence of God. Throughout scripture when people come into the presence of God, they fall on their face! Ezekiel, Daniel, Peter, James, John, the elders in Revelation, this list goes on and on. Why the reaction? Because they understand one thing, "when it comes to worship, the throne sets the tone." When you fully grasp that you are in the presence of the Almighty God of the universe, there is only one response.
Falling facedown isn't just something that people who love God do. When the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, they put it in the temple of their false god Dagon. The next morning when they came in, the statue of Dagon was lying facedown before the Ark! They didn't get the message, so they put the statue back in it's place. The next morning they came in and it was facedown before the Ark again, but this time it had it's head and hands broken off! Seriously, if you find that your god is bowed down to God, you might want to rethink who you worship!
The presence of God is both exciting and terrifying. In Leviticus the glory of the Lord appeared and fire came out from His presence. The people responded with shouts of joy and they fell facedown! Again I can't help but notice that we have the shouting down but we really don't spend a lot of tine facedown these days. Sometimes it can be pretty wise to humble yourself this way before God. The truth of the matter is that one day everyone will find themselves facedown before God. When Christ returns no one will have a choice! We should choose to lie down before it becomes impossible to stand up! On that day everyone will confess that Jesus is Lord and it will be impossible to stand before Him.
Enjoy the Journey
It seems like I've been having many conversations about postures in worship lately. What is appropriate and what isn't? I think it can be summed up pretty simply by just saying that "when it comes to expressing our worship, what we do on the outside is a key reflection of what is taking place on the inside." I don't think that there are a set of "moves" that we need to learn to worship God. We should react in the way that we feel lead to react. If that means raising your hands or falling facedown, follow the Spirit's lead. We do see many more people raise their hands then fall facedown don't we? Maybe it is just because of the way we set up the rooms we "worship" in, but maybe it is because we really don't comprehend that we are coming into the presence of God. Throughout scripture when people come into the presence of God, they fall on their face! Ezekiel, Daniel, Peter, James, John, the elders in Revelation, this list goes on and on. Why the reaction? Because they understand one thing, "when it comes to worship, the throne sets the tone." When you fully grasp that you are in the presence of the Almighty God of the universe, there is only one response.
Falling facedown isn't just something that people who love God do. When the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, they put it in the temple of their false god Dagon. The next morning when they came in, the statue of Dagon was lying facedown before the Ark! They didn't get the message, so they put the statue back in it's place. The next morning they came in and it was facedown before the Ark again, but this time it had it's head and hands broken off! Seriously, if you find that your god is bowed down to God, you might want to rethink who you worship!
The presence of God is both exciting and terrifying. In Leviticus the glory of the Lord appeared and fire came out from His presence. The people responded with shouts of joy and they fell facedown! Again I can't help but notice that we have the shouting down but we really don't spend a lot of tine facedown these days. Sometimes it can be pretty wise to humble yourself this way before God. The truth of the matter is that one day everyone will find themselves facedown before God. When Christ returns no one will have a choice! We should choose to lie down before it becomes impossible to stand up! On that day everyone will confess that Jesus is Lord and it will be impossible to stand before Him.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Skilled and Authentic
I've seen amazing performances of "religious" songs in which the musicians couldn't care less about God. It was just another song to sing or play. But they were amazing, it gives me chills. I've also seen well intentioned people sing or play things that made my skin crawl, but they were genuine and their love for God was evident. As worship leaders, we need to strive to be a mix of these two kinds of people. God wants us to play skillfully, but He wants our hearts as well! An addiction to skill can quickly become an idol. It is easy to worship at the alter of rehearsal. Reggie Kidd wrote this: "In some churches the quest for 'excellence' is an idol, regardless of whether 'excellence' is defined by standards of so-called 'classical' culture or of 'pop' culture. Such 'excellentism' needs to be replaced with the quest to purse the likeness of Christ crucified and Him alone. As good as it gets this side of Christ's return, we're never going to get it completely right. There will always be a flat tenor, a broken guitar string, an overly loud organ, or a poorly placed hymn. But it's okay. The cross means we're covered."
All of that being said, God commends musical excellence. He wants us to use that excellence to focus people's attention on Him and His wondrous acts. Our goal should be to play in such a way as to add to, not distract from the worship we are leading. Sometimes that means that we won't play as many notes, sometimes it means that we won't play at all. "Musical excellence, understood correctly, is a worthy pursuit. But like all idols, it makes a terrible god."
Some people think that you can't lead and worship at the same time. It has been said that we should 'sacrifice our worship' for the sake of those we lead. I don't believe this. Congregational worship involves everyone, including those who lead it! That is where the skill comes in, we should be skilled enough to be able to direct people and still worship God ourselves. "Effective leadership and worshiping God are two sides of the same coin."
Clearly in worship, especially in our situation, we don't all play or sing the same amount of songs. The important thing to remember is that we need to play the songs we play to the very best of our abilities because they are part of our worship to God. We need to understand that our "gifts are from God, that gifts are different, and that they're all for God's glory." When we do, we will have an easier time understand why we don't all play or sing as often as someone else. "As we encourage and help people serve with 'the measure of faith God has assigned,' they'll be able to do so with joy, no matter what, where, or how."
Enjoy the Journey
I've seen amazing performances of "religious" songs in which the musicians couldn't care less about God. It was just another song to sing or play. But they were amazing, it gives me chills. I've also seen well intentioned people sing or play things that made my skin crawl, but they were genuine and their love for God was evident. As worship leaders, we need to strive to be a mix of these two kinds of people. God wants us to play skillfully, but He wants our hearts as well! An addiction to skill can quickly become an idol. It is easy to worship at the alter of rehearsal. Reggie Kidd wrote this: "In some churches the quest for 'excellence' is an idol, regardless of whether 'excellence' is defined by standards of so-called 'classical' culture or of 'pop' culture. Such 'excellentism' needs to be replaced with the quest to purse the likeness of Christ crucified and Him alone. As good as it gets this side of Christ's return, we're never going to get it completely right. There will always be a flat tenor, a broken guitar string, an overly loud organ, or a poorly placed hymn. But it's okay. The cross means we're covered."
All of that being said, God commends musical excellence. He wants us to use that excellence to focus people's attention on Him and His wondrous acts. Our goal should be to play in such a way as to add to, not distract from the worship we are leading. Sometimes that means that we won't play as many notes, sometimes it means that we won't play at all. "Musical excellence, understood correctly, is a worthy pursuit. But like all idols, it makes a terrible god."
Some people think that you can't lead and worship at the same time. It has been said that we should 'sacrifice our worship' for the sake of those we lead. I don't believe this. Congregational worship involves everyone, including those who lead it! That is where the skill comes in, we should be skilled enough to be able to direct people and still worship God ourselves. "Effective leadership and worshiping God are two sides of the same coin."
Clearly in worship, especially in our situation, we don't all play or sing the same amount of songs. The important thing to remember is that we need to play the songs we play to the very best of our abilities because they are part of our worship to God. We need to understand that our "gifts are from God, that gifts are different, and that they're all for God's glory." When we do, we will have an easier time understand why we don't all play or sing as often as someone else. "As we encourage and help people serve with 'the measure of faith God has assigned,' they'll be able to do so with joy, no matter what, where, or how."
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Rooted and Relevant
What does it mean to be rooted? In short, it means to know where you came from. We are not the first generation of people who have worshiped God through music, and we won't be the last either. We are at a unique time in history, where change is extremely rapid, but all of our technology doesn't change the gospel or our need to be humble. Some of us didn't grow up singing the classic hymns, in fact some of us are quite new to the faith. The hymns are full of rich theology and those of us who know them should be willing to gracisouly teach them to those that do not. They cover a broad range of topics that some of the songs written in the last twenty years just don't address, and that is not surprising given the fact that the hymns have been written over hundreds of years and the best of the best are still sung today! The reason we still use traditions such as hymns is that it shows that we follow in a long line of worshipers who have desired to bring glory to God just as we do. "That doesn't mean that hymn melodies are sacred, are the best they could ever be, or should never be altered. Most hymns were written as text without music. They were joined to various tunes until one became more popular than all the others. But we're just plain arrogant when we think that all the great melodies have been written in the last twenty years."
All of that being said, "too much emphasis in traditions and roots can cause us to depend on them. Many traditions began as an earnest attempt to to protect the faith, but over tine they became separated from faith, resulting in dead orthodoxy. They now practice a form of godliness but lack true spiritual power. There will never be a perfect liturgy or tradition that ensures the continued faith of future generations."
The greatest traditions in the world don't mean anything unless they help to effectively communicate the gospel to those we are trying to reach. That means that we have to evaluate everything that we do and see if the people are actually getting it. This is a constant within every organization, including the church. "We want to proclaim the unchanging gospel in ways our culture can comprehend, ways that will make it easy for people to perceive who Jesus Christ is and how he has changed us." That doesn't mean that we should expect everyone who walks in our doors on Sunday to understand everything that is going on, but we do have to make sure they don't feel like they are hearing a totally foreign language either.
That is why the church must have a healthy tension of relevance to balance out the roots that we hold so dear. That looks different in every church! For some churches that may mean adding a jazz band and webcasting, for others it may mean a banjo and a bulletin. "Every church should make sure that the story of God's redemption can be clearly understood and experienced by those they are seeking to reach with the gospel.
Just as with roots, clinging to relevance can be a bad thing. We can easily find ourselves looking for the latest gimmick and the message of the gospel can become lost in how 'cool and creative' we become. That is where staying rooted can help us. It reminds us that above all we are to remain faithful to the message, not the the culture around us.
The most important thing to remember is that "when it cones to forms of worship, any form that facilitates and encourages worship in spirit and truth by a particular gathering of people, at a particular tine in history, in the context of a particular culture is pleasing to God. That implies that no one form can fully express the vastness of God. No given time, culture, or generation can give God the honor He deserves. This understanding keeps first things first. Cultures change, styles change, traditions change, times change. God remains the same. Through wise leadership and a faithful example, let's draw upon the rich heritage of the past, while at the same time seeking to communicate the eternal gospel in ways our culture can understand."
Enjoy the Journey
What does it mean to be rooted? In short, it means to know where you came from. We are not the first generation of people who have worshiped God through music, and we won't be the last either. We are at a unique time in history, where change is extremely rapid, but all of our technology doesn't change the gospel or our need to be humble. Some of us didn't grow up singing the classic hymns, in fact some of us are quite new to the faith. The hymns are full of rich theology and those of us who know them should be willing to gracisouly teach them to those that do not. They cover a broad range of topics that some of the songs written in the last twenty years just don't address, and that is not surprising given the fact that the hymns have been written over hundreds of years and the best of the best are still sung today! The reason we still use traditions such as hymns is that it shows that we follow in a long line of worshipers who have desired to bring glory to God just as we do. "That doesn't mean that hymn melodies are sacred, are the best they could ever be, or should never be altered. Most hymns were written as text without music. They were joined to various tunes until one became more popular than all the others. But we're just plain arrogant when we think that all the great melodies have been written in the last twenty years."
All of that being said, "too much emphasis in traditions and roots can cause us to depend on them. Many traditions began as an earnest attempt to to protect the faith, but over tine they became separated from faith, resulting in dead orthodoxy. They now practice a form of godliness but lack true spiritual power. There will never be a perfect liturgy or tradition that ensures the continued faith of future generations."
The greatest traditions in the world don't mean anything unless they help to effectively communicate the gospel to those we are trying to reach. That means that we have to evaluate everything that we do and see if the people are actually getting it. This is a constant within every organization, including the church. "We want to proclaim the unchanging gospel in ways our culture can comprehend, ways that will make it easy for people to perceive who Jesus Christ is and how he has changed us." That doesn't mean that we should expect everyone who walks in our doors on Sunday to understand everything that is going on, but we do have to make sure they don't feel like they are hearing a totally foreign language either.
That is why the church must have a healthy tension of relevance to balance out the roots that we hold so dear. That looks different in every church! For some churches that may mean adding a jazz band and webcasting, for others it may mean a banjo and a bulletin. "Every church should make sure that the story of God's redemption can be clearly understood and experienced by those they are seeking to reach with the gospel.
Just as with roots, clinging to relevance can be a bad thing. We can easily find ourselves looking for the latest gimmick and the message of the gospel can become lost in how 'cool and creative' we become. That is where staying rooted can help us. It reminds us that above all we are to remain faithful to the message, not the the culture around us.
The most important thing to remember is that "when it cones to forms of worship, any form that facilitates and encourages worship in spirit and truth by a particular gathering of people, at a particular tine in history, in the context of a particular culture is pleasing to God. That implies that no one form can fully express the vastness of God. No given time, culture, or generation can give God the honor He deserves. This understanding keeps first things first. Cultures change, styles change, traditions change, times change. God remains the same. Through wise leadership and a faithful example, let's draw upon the rich heritage of the past, while at the same time seeking to communicate the eternal gospel in ways our culture can understand."
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Planned and Spontaneous
Most churches lean one way or the other. Things are planned out months in advance or they aren't planned out at all. I've worked with churches that you had to submit a request to have coffee after service 6 weeks in advance and I've been at a church on Sunday morning and been asked to lead the songs 10 minutes before service started because the worship minister didn't show up! Planning and spontenaity both have their strengths, but the best case scenario is when they are used with a healthy tension. You see, there are things that planning offers that spontenaity cannot, and the opposite is also true.
Planning can never replace dependence on the Holy Spirit. I don't know how many times we have had a great plan for worship and something happens mid-week or even Sunday morning that changes everything! Continuing with a celebratory service when a tragedy has just occurred may not make sense, and the opposite is true as well.
Planning also doesn't mean that everything will go right. Just because we plan something doesn't mean that everyone will follow it, that the sound system won't blow up, or keep some other disaster from happening in the middle of the sevice! What we need to realize is that having plans is a good thing, but there is nothing sacred about them. They are mean to serve us, not to rule us.
Planning does help us to utilize our time effectively. We have an hour and fifteen minutes to convince people who are hurting, confused, and empty that Jesus is bigger than all or the problems that are going on in their lives and that He loves them and came to earth to save them, and that is hard to communicate without a plan! Planning also helps us to use different ways of expressing the gospel each week, whether through different musical styles, preaching, testimony, or a variety of other ways.
Spontenaity is hard for me. I like the plan. God likes to step in and change the plan, sometimes it seems like every week He does...or maybe that is the pastor :) This gives us the freedom to address the needs that need to be addressed right then and there, such as last week when we took time to pray for the Kamara family. Spontenaity may look like that, or it may be as simple as repeating a chorus so that we can dwell on the truth we just sang a little longer. Either way, we must be open to following the Spirit whereve He leads.
The biggest takeaway is this: The Holh Spirit often guides us in spontaneous ways. "Of course, the Spirit can also use us in powerful ways as we play notes we've practiced for hours during months of rehearsals. But isn't it helpful to be able to do both?"
Enjoy the Journey
Most churches lean one way or the other. Things are planned out months in advance or they aren't planned out at all. I've worked with churches that you had to submit a request to have coffee after service 6 weeks in advance and I've been at a church on Sunday morning and been asked to lead the songs 10 minutes before service started because the worship minister didn't show up! Planning and spontenaity both have their strengths, but the best case scenario is when they are used with a healthy tension. You see, there are things that planning offers that spontenaity cannot, and the opposite is also true.
Planning can never replace dependence on the Holy Spirit. I don't know how many times we have had a great plan for worship and something happens mid-week or even Sunday morning that changes everything! Continuing with a celebratory service when a tragedy has just occurred may not make sense, and the opposite is true as well.
Planning also doesn't mean that everything will go right. Just because we plan something doesn't mean that everyone will follow it, that the sound system won't blow up, or keep some other disaster from happening in the middle of the sevice! What we need to realize is that having plans is a good thing, but there is nothing sacred about them. They are mean to serve us, not to rule us.
Planning does help us to utilize our time effectively. We have an hour and fifteen minutes to convince people who are hurting, confused, and empty that Jesus is bigger than all or the problems that are going on in their lives and that He loves them and came to earth to save them, and that is hard to communicate without a plan! Planning also helps us to use different ways of expressing the gospel each week, whether through different musical styles, preaching, testimony, or a variety of other ways.
Spontenaity is hard for me. I like the plan. God likes to step in and change the plan, sometimes it seems like every week He does...or maybe that is the pastor :) This gives us the freedom to address the needs that need to be addressed right then and there, such as last week when we took time to pray for the Kamara family. Spontenaity may look like that, or it may be as simple as repeating a chorus so that we can dwell on the truth we just sang a little longer. Either way, we must be open to following the Spirit whereve He leads.
The biggest takeaway is this: The Holh Spirit often guides us in spontaneous ways. "Of course, the Spirit can also use us in powerful ways as we play notes we've practiced for hours during months of rehearsals. But isn't it helpful to be able to do both?"
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Vertical and Horizontal
When we come together and worship God, we need to engage in two different types of worship: Vertical and Horizontal. Vertical worship is direct praise of God. After all, He is worthy of all praise. He created us so that we might know Him and love Him and give Him praise. When we give God glory, we are joining an activity that has been happening and will continue to happen for all eternity! You would think that we wouldn't need to be reminded that worship begins and ends with God, but sometimes we do. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we are doing or in what we like or don't like that we forget the entire reason we are doing what we are doing is to bring glory to God!
God's value doesn't increase or decrease because of anything that anyone does or says about Him. It's not like a public opinion poll of a politician. God is as glorious today as He has ever been and that will never diminish or fade. He doesn't command us to worship Him so that He can gain more status. He commands us to worship Him because we need to worship Him. As we've said before we are always worshiping something in our lives, and to worship something other than God is idolatrous, so we need to worship Him!
Worship is also not a 'means to an end.' Worship isn't something we do to help church growth, evangelism, or some other ministry. Worship, as many have said, is 'heaven practice,' we are getting ready to do what we will do forever in heaven! God's glory is the end of our worship, not the means to some other end.
But there is also a horizontal element to worship. Our worship builds our brothers and sisters up. Ephesians 5:19 says that we are to "admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs," while at the same time "singing and making melody to the Lord." Yes the entire point is to bring God glory, but we also reap the benefits of worshiping with a group of people! "We aren't having our own little worship experiences independent of each other."
"David Peterson (who wrote 'The Message') has helpfully pointed out that 'edification and worship are different sides of the same coin.' Then he adds, 'This does not mean that prayer or praise is a means to an end, namely edification. We worship God because of who He is and because of His grace towards us.'" The great thing is that when we worship God together, we are built up. He gets the glory, and we also get benefit out of it. There is a healthy tension that needs to be maintained: let us build each other up for the glory of God.
Enjoy the Journey
When we come together and worship God, we need to engage in two different types of worship: Vertical and Horizontal. Vertical worship is direct praise of God. After all, He is worthy of all praise. He created us so that we might know Him and love Him and give Him praise. When we give God glory, we are joining an activity that has been happening and will continue to happen for all eternity! You would think that we wouldn't need to be reminded that worship begins and ends with God, but sometimes we do. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we are doing or in what we like or don't like that we forget the entire reason we are doing what we are doing is to bring glory to God!
God's value doesn't increase or decrease because of anything that anyone does or says about Him. It's not like a public opinion poll of a politician. God is as glorious today as He has ever been and that will never diminish or fade. He doesn't command us to worship Him so that He can gain more status. He commands us to worship Him because we need to worship Him. As we've said before we are always worshiping something in our lives, and to worship something other than God is idolatrous, so we need to worship Him!
Worship is also not a 'means to an end.' Worship isn't something we do to help church growth, evangelism, or some other ministry. Worship, as many have said, is 'heaven practice,' we are getting ready to do what we will do forever in heaven! God's glory is the end of our worship, not the means to some other end.
But there is also a horizontal element to worship. Our worship builds our brothers and sisters up. Ephesians 5:19 says that we are to "admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs," while at the same time "singing and making melody to the Lord." Yes the entire point is to bring God glory, but we also reap the benefits of worshiping with a group of people! "We aren't having our own little worship experiences independent of each other."
"David Peterson (who wrote 'The Message') has helpfully pointed out that 'edification and worship are different sides of the same coin.' Then he adds, 'This does not mean that prayer or praise is a means to an end, namely edification. We worship God because of who He is and because of His grace towards us.'" The great thing is that when we worship God together, we are built up. He gets the glory, and we also get benefit out of it. There is a healthy tension that needs to be maintained: let us build each other up for the glory of God.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Internal and External
Usually when someone is describing someone else as a "real worshiper," what they mean is that they are very expressive when they sing. But truthfully that person may just be outgoing, they may be trying to draw attention to themselves, or they could be worshiping God biblically. We can't really tell if a person is worshiping just by looking at them from the outside, we have to know whets going on in their heart. We learn in 2 Samuel that God looks at the heart. God isn't looking for outward expression and inward coldness. God wants our hearts, and if He doesn't have them, then He isn't really interested in whether or not you raise your hands during the singing.
The heart is the most important thing. That being said, what we do with the rest of our body isn't irrelevant. Just saying, 'I'm worshiping God on the inside' isn't going to cut it! I can tell Abi that I love her all day long, but if I never do anything to show that love what good is it? She won't be too impressed if all I ever do is tell her I love her, but I never even give her a hug!
"Our bodies naturally respond to what affects our souls." In other words, there are not a set few things that you must physically do in order to have worshiped. I jump up and down when UK hits the winning shot as time expires, I spread my arms when my nieces and nephews come running in to greet us, I cry when someone we love has a major tragedy in their lives. No one has to teach us how to react to things, it comes naturally. When we are physically expressive in worship, it should be a natural response to what God is speaking into our lives during that time! That means that we won't be physically expressive all the time, and it means that sometimes we will react differently than other times. Like we've said many times, people can tell when you are putting on a show and when you are genuinely worshiping. Don't start trying to be physically expressive in worship just because others are doing it, it needs to be a response that is personal.
Some people are not physically responsive because they are afraid of what others will think of them. If that is you, remember that the only opinion that counts is God's. We are not worshiping to impress anyone, but to bring glory to God. Some people are not physically responsive because their view of worship is that it should be done with 'reverence and awe.' If that is you, remember that while those things are appropriate in worship, don't forget the numerous commands in scripture to celebrate, lift your hands, raise your voice, and dance! Still others are not physically responsive in worship because they do not want to distract others from worshiping God. This is a noble thing, and we never want to draw attention away from God and put it on us, so please be expressive, but do so with consideration of others in mind.
When we gather together to sing, we have to pursue "theological depth and passionate expression." God did not intend these to be separate! We want to worship with both our minds and our hearts. God is worthy of our deepest affection, and our bodies should show it.
Enjoy the Journey
Usually when someone is describing someone else as a "real worshiper," what they mean is that they are very expressive when they sing. But truthfully that person may just be outgoing, they may be trying to draw attention to themselves, or they could be worshiping God biblically. We can't really tell if a person is worshiping just by looking at them from the outside, we have to know whets going on in their heart. We learn in 2 Samuel that God looks at the heart. God isn't looking for outward expression and inward coldness. God wants our hearts, and if He doesn't have them, then He isn't really interested in whether or not you raise your hands during the singing.
The heart is the most important thing. That being said, what we do with the rest of our body isn't irrelevant. Just saying, 'I'm worshiping God on the inside' isn't going to cut it! I can tell Abi that I love her all day long, but if I never do anything to show that love what good is it? She won't be too impressed if all I ever do is tell her I love her, but I never even give her a hug!
"Our bodies naturally respond to what affects our souls." In other words, there are not a set few things that you must physically do in order to have worshiped. I jump up and down when UK hits the winning shot as time expires, I spread my arms when my nieces and nephews come running in to greet us, I cry when someone we love has a major tragedy in their lives. No one has to teach us how to react to things, it comes naturally. When we are physically expressive in worship, it should be a natural response to what God is speaking into our lives during that time! That means that we won't be physically expressive all the time, and it means that sometimes we will react differently than other times. Like we've said many times, people can tell when you are putting on a show and when you are genuinely worshiping. Don't start trying to be physically expressive in worship just because others are doing it, it needs to be a response that is personal.
Some people are not physically responsive because they are afraid of what others will think of them. If that is you, remember that the only opinion that counts is God's. We are not worshiping to impress anyone, but to bring glory to God. Some people are not physically responsive because their view of worship is that it should be done with 'reverence and awe.' If that is you, remember that while those things are appropriate in worship, don't forget the numerous commands in scripture to celebrate, lift your hands, raise your voice, and dance! Still others are not physically responsive in worship because they do not want to distract others from worshiping God. This is a noble thing, and we never want to draw attention away from God and put it on us, so please be expressive, but do so with consideration of others in mind.
When we gather together to sing, we have to pursue "theological depth and passionate expression." God did not intend these to be separate! We want to worship with both our minds and our hearts. God is worthy of our deepest affection, and our bodies should show it.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Head and Heart
When we lead others in worship, there is so much more than singing going on. There is a battle for truth that is raging. That is why we must be careful in choosing the songs that we sing. There needs to be a healthy tension between our minds and our emotions as we worship. God calls us in Colossians 3:2 to 'set our minds on things above.' We are doing so much more than helping people escape from their lives for an hour, therefore the things that we say and sing about God must be intelligent and informed. This is the reason that we select songs based on lyrical content, not style. However, as we do this, we also must be careful that we do not worship God in a way that makes Him appear dull, because He is anything but dull! It is not our creativity that that brings excitement about the Father, it is helping people understand the truth of who He is that will do that. The danger in focusing too much on our minds is that we can end up leading a theologically sound but emotionally dead church. That does not bring glory to God.
We do want to stir the emotions of those we lead in worship. However we aren't trying to get them excited just for the sake of getting them excited. We aren't aiming for emotions that are shallow and fading. We are trying to stir in them deep affection for God that will last a lifetime. These emotions come from focusing on who God is and what He has done and is doing in our lives. When we really see God, it moves our hearts. We feel awe, sorrow for sin, gratefulness for mercy, and peace knowing that He is in control. When we fail to show that we delight in God, we are disobeying Him! We have more reason to celebrate than anyone on the planet!
That being said, emotional engagement can be misplaced. Our goal is to have people's emotions moving as a result of God's power in their lives, not just because they like the song we sang. Experience alone is not the goal, experiencing God is the goal.
This is much more than a debate on hymns vs. choruses. Each group has songs that fall into both of these categories. It is our job as worship leaders to make sure that we keep a healthy tension between our heads and our hearts, to anything less would not be glorifying to God. "We have to remember that neither biblical truth or deep emotion is out of place when we worship God; they're meant to go together. Let's keep the healthy tension strong."
Enjoy the Journey
When we lead others in worship, there is so much more than singing going on. There is a battle for truth that is raging. That is why we must be careful in choosing the songs that we sing. There needs to be a healthy tension between our minds and our emotions as we worship. God calls us in Colossians 3:2 to 'set our minds on things above.' We are doing so much more than helping people escape from their lives for an hour, therefore the things that we say and sing about God must be intelligent and informed. This is the reason that we select songs based on lyrical content, not style. However, as we do this, we also must be careful that we do not worship God in a way that makes Him appear dull, because He is anything but dull! It is not our creativity that that brings excitement about the Father, it is helping people understand the truth of who He is that will do that. The danger in focusing too much on our minds is that we can end up leading a theologically sound but emotionally dead church. That does not bring glory to God.
We do want to stir the emotions of those we lead in worship. However we aren't trying to get them excited just for the sake of getting them excited. We aren't aiming for emotions that are shallow and fading. We are trying to stir in them deep affection for God that will last a lifetime. These emotions come from focusing on who God is and what He has done and is doing in our lives. When we really see God, it moves our hearts. We feel awe, sorrow for sin, gratefulness for mercy, and peace knowing that He is in control. When we fail to show that we delight in God, we are disobeying Him! We have more reason to celebrate than anyone on the planet!
That being said, emotional engagement can be misplaced. Our goal is to have people's emotions moving as a result of God's power in their lives, not just because they like the song we sang. Experience alone is not the goal, experiencing God is the goal.
This is much more than a debate on hymns vs. choruses. Each group has songs that fall into both of these categories. It is our job as worship leaders to make sure that we keep a healthy tension between our heads and our hearts, to anything less would not be glorifying to God. "We have to remember that neither biblical truth or deep emotion is out of place when we worship God; they're meant to go together. Let's keep the healthy tension strong."
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Transcendent and Immanent
Our God is both transcendent and immanent. Wow, now those are words we use everyday! "Transcendence means that God is independent from and superior to His creation." In other words, God is God, and we are not. It is helpful for us to remember that when we come together to worship. It takes our focus off of ourselves and places it where it belongs, on God. So how do we respond to a God that is independent from and superior to us? We should respond with reverence, honor, and respect. You see this throughout scripture, when people encounter God, they are stunned, they fall on their faces, some even pass out! Respect and awe are definitely part of the experience. That is why Cathedrals are built the way they are, the object is to inspire awe of our Creator. If you've visited one of these massive Cathedrals, you understand exactly what I am talking about. Hymns like Holy, Holy, Holy teach us about God's transcendence. "All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, in sky, in sea." Sometimes we come into worship too casually and we lose sight of this truth. Our goal is to make God approachable, which He is, but we must not forget that He is altogether unlike us. He is Holy, and He is to be respected. He says in Isaiah 46:9, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me."
God is transcendent, but He is also immanent. That means that He is near to us. Although He is superior to us, He doesn't leave us alone. Acts teaches us that 'in Him we live and move and have our being.' Jesus came to earth to dwell among us, how much more immanent can you get? I'll tell you, when Jesus left, He sent the Holy Spirit to come and dwell WITHIN us! Many praise choruses emphasize God's immanence. They help us to sing not just about God, but to Him.
So how do we maintain a healthy tension? We have to remember that different services will focus on different aspects of God. One may lean more towards His transcendence, while another to His immanence. As leaders, we have to learn when to be somber and when to be warm. The best way to maintain this healthy tension is to keep our focus on the gospel. God's transcendence demanded the death of His own Son for our sins! Yet through His immanence and Christ's death we are now adopted children of God!
Isaiah 57:15 says, "For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.'"
Charles Surgeon said, "I can admire the solemn and stately language of worship that recognizes the greatness of God, but it will not warm my heart or express my soul until it has also blended therewith the joyful nearness of that perfect love that casts out fear and ventures to speak with our Father in heaven as a child speaks with its father on earth. My brother, no veil remains."
Our God is a consuming fire. The Lord of all creation. But praise God, no veil remains, and we can approach the throne with confidence, as a child of God.
Enjoy the Journey
Our God is both transcendent and immanent. Wow, now those are words we use everyday! "Transcendence means that God is independent from and superior to His creation." In other words, God is God, and we are not. It is helpful for us to remember that when we come together to worship. It takes our focus off of ourselves and places it where it belongs, on God. So how do we respond to a God that is independent from and superior to us? We should respond with reverence, honor, and respect. You see this throughout scripture, when people encounter God, they are stunned, they fall on their faces, some even pass out! Respect and awe are definitely part of the experience. That is why Cathedrals are built the way they are, the object is to inspire awe of our Creator. If you've visited one of these massive Cathedrals, you understand exactly what I am talking about. Hymns like Holy, Holy, Holy teach us about God's transcendence. "All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, in sky, in sea." Sometimes we come into worship too casually and we lose sight of this truth. Our goal is to make God approachable, which He is, but we must not forget that He is altogether unlike us. He is Holy, and He is to be respected. He says in Isaiah 46:9, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me."
God is transcendent, but He is also immanent. That means that He is near to us. Although He is superior to us, He doesn't leave us alone. Acts teaches us that 'in Him we live and move and have our being.' Jesus came to earth to dwell among us, how much more immanent can you get? I'll tell you, when Jesus left, He sent the Holy Spirit to come and dwell WITHIN us! Many praise choruses emphasize God's immanence. They help us to sing not just about God, but to Him.
So how do we maintain a healthy tension? We have to remember that different services will focus on different aspects of God. One may lean more towards His transcendence, while another to His immanence. As leaders, we have to learn when to be somber and when to be warm. The best way to maintain this healthy tension is to keep our focus on the gospel. God's transcendence demanded the death of His own Son for our sins! Yet through His immanence and Christ's death we are now adopted children of God!
Isaiah 57:15 says, "For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.'"
Charles Surgeon said, "I can admire the solemn and stately language of worship that recognizes the greatness of God, but it will not warm my heart or express my soul until it has also blended therewith the joyful nearness of that perfect love that casts out fear and ventures to speak with our Father in heaven as a child speaks with its father on earth. My brother, no veil remains."
Our God is a consuming fire. The Lord of all creation. But praise God, no veil remains, and we can approach the throne with confidence, as a child of God.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Healthy Tensions: Guiding Principles
Every church has a liturgy. All that means is 'a public way of doing things.' The question often arises, 'how are we supposed to do church?' We have to ask ourselves if what we are doing is biblical or just a preference, just the way we've always done it? This is not a new question. John Calvin, when he separated himself from the Catholic Church, started following what became known as the 'regulative principle.' In a nutshell, that means that if scripture doesn't clearly command that we do it, it is forbidden in worship. Some churches who follow this do not use instruments or songs other than Psalms in worship. Martin Luther on the other hand, followed the thought that whatever scripture doesn't forbid is allowed. Over the years, the two schools of thought have produced split after split, denomination after denomination. So why is it so hard to figure out what God wants us to do?
One reason is that God hasn't been extremely specific in this area. There is no service order that we are to follow anywhere in the pages of scripture. In the Old Testament we see choirs, musicians, processions, priests, robes, annual celebrations, and instrumental praise. However the New Testament rarely mentions those things. Should we praise God with singing, dancing, and instruments (Psalm 149) or with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28)? That depends on who you ask.
Another reason is that we tend to read the Bible through the lens of what we like to do! Charismatics focus on singing and dancing, Presbyterians focus on doing everything 'decently and in order.' Various churches emphasize 'holistic worship, cultural relevance, and ministry to the poor.' "Whether a tradition is three hundred, thirty, or three years old, the danger is the same. We start with Scripture but eventually invest ultimate authority in our own traditions and views."
Still another reason is that some people claim God hasn't said anything about how we should worship Him, so anything goes! The fact of the matter is that is false. Scripture teaches us to pray together, to have pastors preach and explain God's Word, sing praises, and how to participate in the Lord's Supper! God hasn't given us a detailed outline, but He certainly hasn't left us in the dark either.
So how do we decide what we do in worship? We try to follow three rules: 1. Do what God clearly commands. 2. Don't do what god clearly forbids. 3. Use scriptural wisdom for everything else. Just because God didn't give us a service order doesn't mean that we don't filter everything we do through the lens of the Bible.
There are things that are not negotiable. "God alone determines how we approach Him, what we call Him, and how we relate to Him. Jesus is the only Savior, who died and rose for all who would ever turn from their sins and rust in His atoning sacrifice for forgiveness. Worshiping god is impossible without the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. These are nonnegotiable truths that aren't open to discussion." Just about everything else on the other hand...is open for discussion.
We should always be seeking to learn from other in this area of worship. We can't afford to become locked in to thinking that our way is the only way to worship. We have much to learn from each other. It is like setting up a volleyball net. The net can only be set up when there is a healthy tension between the two poles, if one pole is not providing tension, the whole thing will collapse. Rather than viewing those who have different opinions about how worship "should be" as opponents, we need to learn to appreciate other perspectives. As long as it is not unbiblical, we should think of other perspectives as both/and rather than either/or.
Over the next several weeks we will be taking a look at healthy tensions. By default, we will lean one way or the other on pretty much all of these subjects. Our challenge is to remain humbly obedient to the scripture, and not rely solely on our opinions. In this way we will help to ensure that both poles remain standing. The danger here is examining these tensions may reveal to us changes that we need to make both in our church and in our lives. We have all undergone some pretty drastic changes recently, and we have to remember that our church won't change overnight. Truth must be patiently and humbly taught, retaught, and modeled, and I thank all of you for the role that you are playing in accomplishing this.
As we work together to glorify God, "may our meetings and churches be places where God is truly worshiped in spirit and truth, where people exalt God without having to choose sides, and where the glory of Jesus Christ is clearly seen in all we do."
Enjoy the Journey
Every church has a liturgy. All that means is 'a public way of doing things.' The question often arises, 'how are we supposed to do church?' We have to ask ourselves if what we are doing is biblical or just a preference, just the way we've always done it? This is not a new question. John Calvin, when he separated himself from the Catholic Church, started following what became known as the 'regulative principle.' In a nutshell, that means that if scripture doesn't clearly command that we do it, it is forbidden in worship. Some churches who follow this do not use instruments or songs other than Psalms in worship. Martin Luther on the other hand, followed the thought that whatever scripture doesn't forbid is allowed. Over the years, the two schools of thought have produced split after split, denomination after denomination. So why is it so hard to figure out what God wants us to do?
One reason is that God hasn't been extremely specific in this area. There is no service order that we are to follow anywhere in the pages of scripture. In the Old Testament we see choirs, musicians, processions, priests, robes, annual celebrations, and instrumental praise. However the New Testament rarely mentions those things. Should we praise God with singing, dancing, and instruments (Psalm 149) or with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28)? That depends on who you ask.
Another reason is that we tend to read the Bible through the lens of what we like to do! Charismatics focus on singing and dancing, Presbyterians focus on doing everything 'decently and in order.' Various churches emphasize 'holistic worship, cultural relevance, and ministry to the poor.' "Whether a tradition is three hundred, thirty, or three years old, the danger is the same. We start with Scripture but eventually invest ultimate authority in our own traditions and views."
Still another reason is that some people claim God hasn't said anything about how we should worship Him, so anything goes! The fact of the matter is that is false. Scripture teaches us to pray together, to have pastors preach and explain God's Word, sing praises, and how to participate in the Lord's Supper! God hasn't given us a detailed outline, but He certainly hasn't left us in the dark either.
So how do we decide what we do in worship? We try to follow three rules: 1. Do what God clearly commands. 2. Don't do what god clearly forbids. 3. Use scriptural wisdom for everything else. Just because God didn't give us a service order doesn't mean that we don't filter everything we do through the lens of the Bible.
There are things that are not negotiable. "God alone determines how we approach Him, what we call Him, and how we relate to Him. Jesus is the only Savior, who died and rose for all who would ever turn from their sins and rust in His atoning sacrifice for forgiveness. Worshiping god is impossible without the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. These are nonnegotiable truths that aren't open to discussion." Just about everything else on the other hand...is open for discussion.
We should always be seeking to learn from other in this area of worship. We can't afford to become locked in to thinking that our way is the only way to worship. We have much to learn from each other. It is like setting up a volleyball net. The net can only be set up when there is a healthy tension between the two poles, if one pole is not providing tension, the whole thing will collapse. Rather than viewing those who have different opinions about how worship "should be" as opponents, we need to learn to appreciate other perspectives. As long as it is not unbiblical, we should think of other perspectives as both/and rather than either/or.
Over the next several weeks we will be taking a look at healthy tensions. By default, we will lean one way or the other on pretty much all of these subjects. Our challenge is to remain humbly obedient to the scripture, and not rely solely on our opinions. In this way we will help to ensure that both poles remain standing. The danger here is examining these tensions may reveal to us changes that we need to make both in our church and in our lives. We have all undergone some pretty drastic changes recently, and we have to remember that our church won't change overnight. Truth must be patiently and humbly taught, retaught, and modeled, and I thank all of you for the role that you are playing in accomplishing this.
As we work together to glorify God, "may our meetings and churches be places where God is truly worshiped in spirit and truth, where people exalt God without having to choose sides, and where the glory of Jesus Christ is clearly seen in all we do."
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
To Live for God's Glory
If we are truly worshiping God, we are in a constant state of change. We are constantly becoming more and more like Him! Encountering God changes people, and it changes them every time they encounter Him. Worshiping God should make us more humble. "If we see even a glimpse of the glory and splendor of God, it will produce a genuine humility in our hearts. There is nothing about encountering God that should exalt us." It is impossible to be prideful and worship God at the same time? Why? Because when we worship God we come face to face with the fact that God Himself paid the price for our rebellion against Him! How backwards is that? "I am a worshiper of God because Jesus died and rose to make me one, not because I earned the right to be one."
Worshiping God should make us secure. So many of us rely on ourselves for our security. We rely on our homes, our families, our jobs, you name it, it all comes back to us. But our ultimate security comes from the unchanging love of God, which we see most clearly at Calvary. When Calvary isn't at the center of our focus, we start to drift back to the same things we used to rely on before we came to know Christ. Calvary is the reminder that nothing will ever 'separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
Worshiping God should make us grateful. On his radio show, Dave Ramsey almost always responds to the question, 'How are you doing?' with 'Better than I deserve!' I used to think that was kind of weird. I mean the guy has worked hard his whole life and is now a multi-millionaire who helps people get control of their finances using the teachings of the Bible. I thought, he does deserve to be doing that well! But "the truth is, we're all doing better than we deserve! Because of our sin, we deserve hell!" Maybe we should all start saying 'better than I deserve.' When I think of it in those terms, it is hard to not be grateful for every breath I take that isn't in hell. "When we gaze on the cross of Christ and truly recognize that we should be hanging there instead, what response can there be but overflowing gratefulness?"
Worshiping God should make us holy. Being holy means to be 'set apart.' God asks us to be holy because He is holy. He is fiercely opposed to all evil and sin. If He wasn't, He wouldn't be good, and He wouldn't be who He is. Although few of us really talk about holiness and many in our culture either mock or don't understand it, we have to remember that it is precious in God's eyes. We as worship leaders need to remind the church of this when we gather to worship Him.
Worshiping God should make us loving. 1 John 4:20 says, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." Wow. Now that is a hard teaching. Because let's face it, there are some people who we just don't get along with at all. But God calls us to love those people. In fact, He says that if we don't love them, then we can't love Him! "It's inconsistent to profess that we love God while withholding love from those He came to save." We need to be reminded, and we need to remind others that if we are not displaying love to others, we cannot display love to God.
Worshiping God should make us mission minded. Jesus had one mission when He came to earth. To seek and to save the lost. When He left He gave His disciples one mission: to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything that He commanded them! God desires that all people come to know Him, and we are the instruments that He has chosen to fulfill that mission!
"If worshipers leave a service with no thought of becoming more godly in their lives, then the purpose of worship has not been achieved." Do you believe that? Do you come to worship each week seeking ways to become more godly? When you do, worship will be a joy. "The joy is ours. The glory is His."
Enjoy the Journey
If we are truly worshiping God, we are in a constant state of change. We are constantly becoming more and more like Him! Encountering God changes people, and it changes them every time they encounter Him. Worshiping God should make us more humble. "If we see even a glimpse of the glory and splendor of God, it will produce a genuine humility in our hearts. There is nothing about encountering God that should exalt us." It is impossible to be prideful and worship God at the same time? Why? Because when we worship God we come face to face with the fact that God Himself paid the price for our rebellion against Him! How backwards is that? "I am a worshiper of God because Jesus died and rose to make me one, not because I earned the right to be one."
Worshiping God should make us secure. So many of us rely on ourselves for our security. We rely on our homes, our families, our jobs, you name it, it all comes back to us. But our ultimate security comes from the unchanging love of God, which we see most clearly at Calvary. When Calvary isn't at the center of our focus, we start to drift back to the same things we used to rely on before we came to know Christ. Calvary is the reminder that nothing will ever 'separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
Worshiping God should make us grateful. On his radio show, Dave Ramsey almost always responds to the question, 'How are you doing?' with 'Better than I deserve!' I used to think that was kind of weird. I mean the guy has worked hard his whole life and is now a multi-millionaire who helps people get control of their finances using the teachings of the Bible. I thought, he does deserve to be doing that well! But "the truth is, we're all doing better than we deserve! Because of our sin, we deserve hell!" Maybe we should all start saying 'better than I deserve.' When I think of it in those terms, it is hard to not be grateful for every breath I take that isn't in hell. "When we gaze on the cross of Christ and truly recognize that we should be hanging there instead, what response can there be but overflowing gratefulness?"
Worshiping God should make us holy. Being holy means to be 'set apart.' God asks us to be holy because He is holy. He is fiercely opposed to all evil and sin. If He wasn't, He wouldn't be good, and He wouldn't be who He is. Although few of us really talk about holiness and many in our culture either mock or don't understand it, we have to remember that it is precious in God's eyes. We as worship leaders need to remind the church of this when we gather to worship Him.
Worshiping God should make us loving. 1 John 4:20 says, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." Wow. Now that is a hard teaching. Because let's face it, there are some people who we just don't get along with at all. But God calls us to love those people. In fact, He says that if we don't love them, then we can't love Him! "It's inconsistent to profess that we love God while withholding love from those He came to save." We need to be reminded, and we need to remind others that if we are not displaying love to others, we cannot display love to God.
Worshiping God should make us mission minded. Jesus had one mission when He came to earth. To seek and to save the lost. When He left He gave His disciples one mission: to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything that He commanded them! God desires that all people come to know Him, and we are the instruments that He has chosen to fulfill that mission!
"If worshipers leave a service with no thought of becoming more godly in their lives, then the purpose of worship has not been achieved." Do you believe that? Do you come to worship each week seeking ways to become more godly? When you do, worship will be a joy. "The joy is ours. The glory is His."
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Cherishing the Presence of God
Have you ever experienced the presence of God? Are you experiencing it on a daily basis? Psalm 139 tells us that there is nowhere we can go to flee from His presence, and that is both thrilling and terrifying isn't it? While God is present all the time, I think that sometimes He displays His presence more powerfully than other times (example: Moses and the burning bush). God promised us that He would be with us when we gather together with just 2 or 3 people. He is present when we sing, and He reveals Himself through the Word when it is preached. No doubt we have had experiences in worship when we have thought, 'no doubt about it, God is here.' Sometimes God reveals His presence in a powerful way when we are all alone. He does it through that unexplainable wave of peace or joy at just the moment we need it most.
We need to realize that God's presence is with us all the time. We need to realize this because it is easy to assume that since we often feel God's presence during music and worship, that it is those things that bring us into His presence. But this is not the case. The truth is, only the death and resurrection of Jesus has made it possible for us to come into God's presence! His presence is something that we can experience on a daily basis, not just for the 20 minutes or so that we sing together on a Sunday morning.
As we've said before, worship is something that we do every second of every day. We worship Him and thank Him for His awesome presence in our lives. How much time do you spend thinking about the fact that you are in the presence of the Creator of the universe? It's a pretty awesome thought. Everything we do as we worship Him with our lives is preparing us for the day when we get to be with Him in heaven. God is present with us now, in this room, but when we get there we will experience His presence as never before!
"Very soon you and I will be standing before the majesty and glory of God. We'll take our place among the throngs of heaven, made up of people from every tribe, language, people, and tongue who have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb. We'll understand that our lives on earth were on the cover and title page to what lies ahead. We'll begin, 'Chapter One of the great story,' as C.S. Lewis writes, 'which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.' We don't know when that day will come. It might be tomorrow. It might be decades from now. But it will come. We'll close our eyes momentarily-then open them up again, and we'll be home!"
Come quickly Lord Jesus.
Enjoy the Journey
Have you ever experienced the presence of God? Are you experiencing it on a daily basis? Psalm 139 tells us that there is nowhere we can go to flee from His presence, and that is both thrilling and terrifying isn't it? While God is present all the time, I think that sometimes He displays His presence more powerfully than other times (example: Moses and the burning bush). God promised us that He would be with us when we gather together with just 2 or 3 people. He is present when we sing, and He reveals Himself through the Word when it is preached. No doubt we have had experiences in worship when we have thought, 'no doubt about it, God is here.' Sometimes God reveals His presence in a powerful way when we are all alone. He does it through that unexplainable wave of peace or joy at just the moment we need it most.
We need to realize that God's presence is with us all the time. We need to realize this because it is easy to assume that since we often feel God's presence during music and worship, that it is those things that bring us into His presence. But this is not the case. The truth is, only the death and resurrection of Jesus has made it possible for us to come into God's presence! His presence is something that we can experience on a daily basis, not just for the 20 minutes or so that we sing together on a Sunday morning.
As we've said before, worship is something that we do every second of every day. We worship Him and thank Him for His awesome presence in our lives. How much time do you spend thinking about the fact that you are in the presence of the Creator of the universe? It's a pretty awesome thought. Everything we do as we worship Him with our lives is preparing us for the day when we get to be with Him in heaven. God is present with us now, in this room, but when we get there we will experience His presence as never before!
"Very soon you and I will be standing before the majesty and glory of God. We'll take our place among the throngs of heaven, made up of people from every tribe, language, people, and tongue who have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb. We'll understand that our lives on earth were on the cover and title page to what lies ahead. We'll begin, 'Chapter One of the great story,' as C.S. Lewis writes, 'which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.' We don't know when that day will come. It might be tomorrow. It might be decades from now. But it will come. We'll close our eyes momentarily-then open them up again, and we'll be home!"
Come quickly Lord Jesus.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
To Proclaim the Gospel
To proclaim means to declare what is true. What are you proclaiming with your life? What are we proclaiming in our church? "People come into our churches proclaiming all sorts of things with their words and actions. Through close-fisted giving, some are asserting how much their own personal wealth matters. Others, by their complaining, are declaring that personal comfort matters. Teens in the latest fashions may be proclaiming that being cool matters. Others confirm through their smiles or frowns that their musical preferences matter. But we want each of them to leave proclaiming this: the gospel of Jesus Christ matters."
The gospel is relevant to every area of our lives. It addresses the problem of sin in that Christ came and died so that our sin would be taken away! It addresses our suffering in that while we may suffer temporarily here on earth, our ultimate suffering has already been endured on the cross by Christ. The wrath of God no longer rests on us, we have been forgiven!
While we have been forgiven of our sin, sin still remains a part of our lives. Over the past few weeks we have been talking about relationships, and how to repair them when they break down. Sometimes a broken relationship can consume our thoughts, and we can't figure out how to forgive the one who has offended us. But "worshiping God together provides us with the opportunity to remember the One whom we ALL have offended." "We, the guilty ones, now stand forgiven through Christ's blood. How can we not forgive those who have sinned against us?"
Regardless of what is going on in our lives, when we come together on Sunday "we gather to declare-to ourselves, to each other, and to God-what we know to be eternal reality. There is one God, who is sovereign over the universe and every detail of our lives. We have rebelled against him. He sent His Son to die in our place for our sins. And through Jesus Christ we have forgiveness and peace with God."
As worship leaders, we need to remind ourselves daily of the beauty of the gospel. If we don't, we can forget, and how then can we expect to lead others in worship of the central figure of the gospel? "Nothing should ever displace or obscure the centrality of the gospel in our worship." What are you proclaiming?
Enjoy the Journey
To proclaim means to declare what is true. What are you proclaiming with your life? What are we proclaiming in our church? "People come into our churches proclaiming all sorts of things with their words and actions. Through close-fisted giving, some are asserting how much their own personal wealth matters. Others, by their complaining, are declaring that personal comfort matters. Teens in the latest fashions may be proclaiming that being cool matters. Others confirm through their smiles or frowns that their musical preferences matter. But we want each of them to leave proclaiming this: the gospel of Jesus Christ matters."
The gospel is relevant to every area of our lives. It addresses the problem of sin in that Christ came and died so that our sin would be taken away! It addresses our suffering in that while we may suffer temporarily here on earth, our ultimate suffering has already been endured on the cross by Christ. The wrath of God no longer rests on us, we have been forgiven!
While we have been forgiven of our sin, sin still remains a part of our lives. Over the past few weeks we have been talking about relationships, and how to repair them when they break down. Sometimes a broken relationship can consume our thoughts, and we can't figure out how to forgive the one who has offended us. But "worshiping God together provides us with the opportunity to remember the One whom we ALL have offended." "We, the guilty ones, now stand forgiven through Christ's blood. How can we not forgive those who have sinned against us?"
Regardless of what is going on in our lives, when we come together on Sunday "we gather to declare-to ourselves, to each other, and to God-what we know to be eternal reality. There is one God, who is sovereign over the universe and every detail of our lives. We have rebelled against him. He sent His Son to die in our place for our sins. And through Jesus Christ we have forgiveness and peace with God."
As worship leaders, we need to remind ourselves daily of the beauty of the gospel. If we don't, we can forget, and how then can we expect to lead others in worship of the central figure of the gospel? "Nothing should ever displace or obscure the centrality of the gospel in our worship." What are you proclaiming?
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Motivating the Gathered Church
Most of us have been leading worship for some time now, and I'm sure that we can remember a time when we were leading and people just weren't responding. They are sitting or standing there with a blank look on their face and it seems no matter what we try we just can't get them to join us in worship. So we start coming up with things for them to do: 'Lift your hands, sing louder!' The funny thing is, God never asks us to do those things without giving us a reason to do so. Psalm 117 says, "Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!" The writer gives us reasons to praise God, not just instructions to do so.
"When we're leading doctrinally rich, passionate songs, and people don't seem to be getting it, we need to hep them understand how these truths relate to their lives."
We need to do that by the example we set. People can tell by looking at you whether you are worshiping or thinking about where you are going for lunch. They can tell if you are too focused on the instrumental break coming up to catch the words of the song. It is obvious when we are looking to ourselves and not to Jesus. This doesn't just apply to those who are up front singing. It applies to everyone involved, from the choir to the instrumentalists to the vocal leaders. That is why I encourage all of you to sing as much as you can, even if you are not holding a microphone to your mouth. It allows you to be fully engaged in worship and it serves as an encouragement to the congregation. It helps them remember who we're focusing on. Again, please don't do this because you think it is what you are supposed to do, because people can tell if you're faking it. Our goal is to become a group of transparent worshipers, we need to be genuine examples of authentic worship.
When we are leading and people aren't responding, we have to remember that there are many things going on in the lives of the people in our church. Some were up until 3am, some had a fight with their spouse that morning, and others may have just found out that they are going to be losing their job. Our role is to remind them that God has saved them through Jesus, and that He is big enough to handle whatever situation they are facing right now. That kind of God inspires worship! Thank goodness this task doesn't only depend on you and me, but the Holy Spirit is already working on people!
Everything we do in worship has to be centered on God, that is the only way to inspire others to worship. We need to remind people that God is actively involved in their lives. What has He done in your life this week? The more we remind people that God is the center of our lives and He is active, the more apt they will be to worship Him.
"On Sundays God wants us to do more than sing songs together and have wonderful worship experiences. He wants to knit the fabric of our lives together. For many, church as become all about me-what I'm learning, what I'm seeking, what I'm desperate for, what I need, how I've been affected, what I can do. We see ourselves as isolated individuals all seeking personal encounters with God, wherever we can find them. Sadly, this reflects our individualistic, me-obsessed culture. Rather than seeing ourselves as part of a worship community, we become worship consumers. We want worship on demand, served up in our way, at our own time, and with our own music. How do we counter that?"
"David Peterson tells us: Vitality and meaning will not be restored to Christian gatherings until those who lead and those who participate can recover a biblical perspective on their meetings, seeing them in relation to God's total plan and purpose for His people."
Our goal here at FCC is not to attract an audience, but to build a worshiping community. "A worshiping community is made up of individuals whose lives are centered around the Savior they worship each week. A worshiping community expects to encounter God's presence not only on Sunday morning but every day. A worshiping community recognizes that passionate times of singing God's praise flow from and lead to passionate lives lived for the glory of Jesus Christ."
So as we interact with those in our church who lead in worship each week, let us impress on them the need we have to become a worshiping community.
Enjoy the Journey
Most of us have been leading worship for some time now, and I'm sure that we can remember a time when we were leading and people just weren't responding. They are sitting or standing there with a blank look on their face and it seems no matter what we try we just can't get them to join us in worship. So we start coming up with things for them to do: 'Lift your hands, sing louder!' The funny thing is, God never asks us to do those things without giving us a reason to do so. Psalm 117 says, "Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!" The writer gives us reasons to praise God, not just instructions to do so.
"When we're leading doctrinally rich, passionate songs, and people don't seem to be getting it, we need to hep them understand how these truths relate to their lives."
We need to do that by the example we set. People can tell by looking at you whether you are worshiping or thinking about where you are going for lunch. They can tell if you are too focused on the instrumental break coming up to catch the words of the song. It is obvious when we are looking to ourselves and not to Jesus. This doesn't just apply to those who are up front singing. It applies to everyone involved, from the choir to the instrumentalists to the vocal leaders. That is why I encourage all of you to sing as much as you can, even if you are not holding a microphone to your mouth. It allows you to be fully engaged in worship and it serves as an encouragement to the congregation. It helps them remember who we're focusing on. Again, please don't do this because you think it is what you are supposed to do, because people can tell if you're faking it. Our goal is to become a group of transparent worshipers, we need to be genuine examples of authentic worship.
When we are leading and people aren't responding, we have to remember that there are many things going on in the lives of the people in our church. Some were up until 3am, some had a fight with their spouse that morning, and others may have just found out that they are going to be losing their job. Our role is to remind them that God has saved them through Jesus, and that He is big enough to handle whatever situation they are facing right now. That kind of God inspires worship! Thank goodness this task doesn't only depend on you and me, but the Holy Spirit is already working on people!
Everything we do in worship has to be centered on God, that is the only way to inspire others to worship. We need to remind people that God is actively involved in their lives. What has He done in your life this week? The more we remind people that God is the center of our lives and He is active, the more apt they will be to worship Him.
"On Sundays God wants us to do more than sing songs together and have wonderful worship experiences. He wants to knit the fabric of our lives together. For many, church as become all about me-what I'm learning, what I'm seeking, what I'm desperate for, what I need, how I've been affected, what I can do. We see ourselves as isolated individuals all seeking personal encounters with God, wherever we can find them. Sadly, this reflects our individualistic, me-obsessed culture. Rather than seeing ourselves as part of a worship community, we become worship consumers. We want worship on demand, served up in our way, at our own time, and with our own music. How do we counter that?"
"David Peterson tells us: Vitality and meaning will not be restored to Christian gatherings until those who lead and those who participate can recover a biblical perspective on their meetings, seeing them in relation to God's total plan and purpose for His people."
Our goal here at FCC is not to attract an audience, but to build a worshiping community. "A worshiping community is made up of individuals whose lives are centered around the Savior they worship each week. A worshiping community expects to encounter God's presence not only on Sunday morning but every day. A worshiping community recognizes that passionate times of singing God's praise flow from and lead to passionate lives lived for the glory of Jesus Christ."
So as we interact with those in our church who lead in worship each week, let us impress on them the need we have to become a worshiping community.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
What Kind of Music?
"Being emotionally effected by music and actually worshipping God aren't the same thing, and no one should know this better than worship leaders. All by itself, music-even instrumental music-can make us cry, motivate us to cheer for our team, provoke us to protest, or fill us with joy."
Christians have a sad history of arguing about music and musical styles. Martin Luther said some pretty nasty things about people who didn't like the kind of music that he liked, and even 100 years after Isaac Watts died people would get up and walk out of a service if one of his songs were played. This was because back then the only thing that 'was fitting for church' was to sing Psalms set to music. This history continues and we see new chapters opening all the time, for various reasons and by various groups. But the Bible is clear that we should use music to praise God. Psalm 150 tells us to praise Him with music, and with all kinds of instruments! So we should use music to praise Him, "but if we don't understand God's purpose for music in worship, we can misuse it. Even worse, it can rob God of the glory we want to give Him."
Music accomplishes several things in worship.
Music stirs up and expresses God-glorifying emotions. There are two extremes when it comes to emotions in worship. There are those who seem to repress any emotion and think that feeling anything too strongly is a sign of immaturity. Then there are those who are over the top emotional and can miss the point because they are so overcome by their feelings. The latter is called emotionalism. People who embrace emotionalism see emotions as an end in themselves. It's all about that feeling, and sometimes God gets left out. However, music is meant to stir the emotions. Our goal is to combine a knowledge of God with a passion for Him. We want to engage both the mind and the heart.
Music helps us reflect the glory and activity of the triune God. Did you know that God sings? Zephaniah 3:17 says that God rejoices over us with singing. Jesus sang with His disciples before they went to the Mount of Olives. The Holy Spirit is with us now, inspiring the songs we sing. God sings, so how can we not sing?
Music helps us remember truth about God. There is no way around it. You will remember things that you sing far longer than things that you hear. Songs we sing stick with us longer (and more completely) than sermons. Not to say that sermons aren't important. But it is to say that what we sing must be chosen carefully, because that is what we will remember for years to come.
Music helps us express our unity in the gospel. Let's face it, there aren't too many things that a group of 400 people can actually do together. But singing is one of those things. It is a sign of unity. "Churches can potentially undermine this unity by offering different Sunday meetings based on musical preferences and styles. While it may mean numerical growth for the church in the short run, it can also separate families and tends to cultivate a consumer-based mind-set in the long run. There are other options. Diverse music teams can take turns leading on a Sunday morning. Different styles of music can be brought together in one meeting. More importantly, the church can be taught that setting aside their musical preferences for the sake of others is obeying Philippians 2:4 'Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.' Taking this path will probably require patient instruction, but over time the congregation will begin to see that the determining factor in our unity is not our musical styles-it's the gospel."
So what kind of music should we use? We have to use music that says something. It has been said: "Show me a churches songs and I'll show you their theology." "The words to our songs should be as strong and memorable as the tunes we put to them or the arrangements we put behind them." There are three basic types of lyrics to songs. Objective, Subjective, and Reflective. Objective lyrics tell us something about God. Subjective lyrics talk about our response to God. Reflective lyrics describe what we do as we worship God.
How we use instrumentation is also important. Dynamics are key. A reflective song is no longer reflective when there are 20 people playing as loudly as they can. By the same token a joyful song can lose its impact if it is too quiet. As we've said so many times, we are not here to put on a concert on Sunday, so must be sure that the way we play the songs we play engages the congregation in the way we want to engage them.
Musical diversity is a great tool. We serve a God who is infinitely creative, a God who created the sun and the ant. Take one look around and you can see His creative diversity. "How can anyone think that a single kind of music could adequately express the fulness of God's glory?" "Hymns are especially suited for innovated treatments that help us hear the words from a new perspective. Moving beyond traditional tunes and arrangements shouldn't bother us too much since most hymns were written without music, and a favorite tune only emerged over time. In the same way, sometimes old is new, sometimes old is better."
"Musical variety communicates God's heart for all generations, cultures, and races. We don't use different music because we want to keep everyone happy or because we're aiming for a 'blended' service. It's the gospel that blends us together, not music."
Ultimately, music should edify the church. No two churches will do the exact same things, because no two churches have the exact same people in them! A mix of traditions and innovation will always be needed within the church to bring people of all ages and cultures together in worship of God. "Artists will always be searching for new and fresh ways to express their gifts, but congregations must be able to hear the message without being distracted by the medium." We must always remember that we are here to glorify the Creator, not creativity.
Enjoy the Journey
"Being emotionally effected by music and actually worshipping God aren't the same thing, and no one should know this better than worship leaders. All by itself, music-even instrumental music-can make us cry, motivate us to cheer for our team, provoke us to protest, or fill us with joy."
Christians have a sad history of arguing about music and musical styles. Martin Luther said some pretty nasty things about people who didn't like the kind of music that he liked, and even 100 years after Isaac Watts died people would get up and walk out of a service if one of his songs were played. This was because back then the only thing that 'was fitting for church' was to sing Psalms set to music. This history continues and we see new chapters opening all the time, for various reasons and by various groups. But the Bible is clear that we should use music to praise God. Psalm 150 tells us to praise Him with music, and with all kinds of instruments! So we should use music to praise Him, "but if we don't understand God's purpose for music in worship, we can misuse it. Even worse, it can rob God of the glory we want to give Him."
Music accomplishes several things in worship.
Music stirs up and expresses God-glorifying emotions. There are two extremes when it comes to emotions in worship. There are those who seem to repress any emotion and think that feeling anything too strongly is a sign of immaturity. Then there are those who are over the top emotional and can miss the point because they are so overcome by their feelings. The latter is called emotionalism. People who embrace emotionalism see emotions as an end in themselves. It's all about that feeling, and sometimes God gets left out. However, music is meant to stir the emotions. Our goal is to combine a knowledge of God with a passion for Him. We want to engage both the mind and the heart.
Music helps us reflect the glory and activity of the triune God. Did you know that God sings? Zephaniah 3:17 says that God rejoices over us with singing. Jesus sang with His disciples before they went to the Mount of Olives. The Holy Spirit is with us now, inspiring the songs we sing. God sings, so how can we not sing?
Music helps us remember truth about God. There is no way around it. You will remember things that you sing far longer than things that you hear. Songs we sing stick with us longer (and more completely) than sermons. Not to say that sermons aren't important. But it is to say that what we sing must be chosen carefully, because that is what we will remember for years to come.
Music helps us express our unity in the gospel. Let's face it, there aren't too many things that a group of 400 people can actually do together. But singing is one of those things. It is a sign of unity. "Churches can potentially undermine this unity by offering different Sunday meetings based on musical preferences and styles. While it may mean numerical growth for the church in the short run, it can also separate families and tends to cultivate a consumer-based mind-set in the long run. There are other options. Diverse music teams can take turns leading on a Sunday morning. Different styles of music can be brought together in one meeting. More importantly, the church can be taught that setting aside their musical preferences for the sake of others is obeying Philippians 2:4 'Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.' Taking this path will probably require patient instruction, but over time the congregation will begin to see that the determining factor in our unity is not our musical styles-it's the gospel."
So what kind of music should we use? We have to use music that says something. It has been said: "Show me a churches songs and I'll show you their theology." "The words to our songs should be as strong and memorable as the tunes we put to them or the arrangements we put behind them." There are three basic types of lyrics to songs. Objective, Subjective, and Reflective. Objective lyrics tell us something about God. Subjective lyrics talk about our response to God. Reflective lyrics describe what we do as we worship God.
How we use instrumentation is also important. Dynamics are key. A reflective song is no longer reflective when there are 20 people playing as loudly as they can. By the same token a joyful song can lose its impact if it is too quiet. As we've said so many times, we are not here to put on a concert on Sunday, so must be sure that the way we play the songs we play engages the congregation in the way we want to engage them.
Musical diversity is a great tool. We serve a God who is infinitely creative, a God who created the sun and the ant. Take one look around and you can see His creative diversity. "How can anyone think that a single kind of music could adequately express the fulness of God's glory?" "Hymns are especially suited for innovated treatments that help us hear the words from a new perspective. Moving beyond traditional tunes and arrangements shouldn't bother us too much since most hymns were written without music, and a favorite tune only emerged over time. In the same way, sometimes old is new, sometimes old is better."
"Musical variety communicates God's heart for all generations, cultures, and races. We don't use different music because we want to keep everyone happy or because we're aiming for a 'blended' service. It's the gospel that blends us together, not music."
Ultimately, music should edify the church. No two churches will do the exact same things, because no two churches have the exact same people in them! A mix of traditions and innovation will always be needed within the church to bring people of all ages and cultures together in worship of God. "Artists will always be searching for new and fresh ways to express their gifts, but congregations must be able to hear the message without being distracted by the medium." We must always remember that we are here to glorify the Creator, not creativity.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Skillfully combining God's Word
Good music is important in a church, but it means nothing unless it is combined with God's word. You see our churches can't be led by the Holy Spirit unless they are grounded in the Word of God. When we are committed to the Bible we will study, proclaim, and apply God's truth both in our Sunday morning services and in our Monday-Saturday lives. Many people will go to one church because they like the music, and another because they like the teaching. They have separated 'Spirit-led worship' from 'Word-fed' preaching. But "The Word and the Spirit were never meant to be separated. In fact, God's Spirit is the one who inspired God's Word."
2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness."
Without God's word we can't know if what we are doing is inspired by God or if it is just something that makes us feel good about ourselves. Think about it, without the Bible, "we wouldn't know who to thank, who to obey, or who to serve. We wouldn't know how to worship Him. But God does reveal His character, nature, and promisees to us, and we respond with gratefulness and obedience. We respond with worship. At least that's the way it's supposed to work."
Throughout the Bible, worship is centered around God's word. So it is worth asking why worship today can be focused on "sensory experiences, inward feelings, and subjective encounters. True worship is always a response to God's Word."
So how can we makes sure that the Bible is central as we lead this church in worship?
By treasuring the Bible. Bible reading should be a highlight not just of our services, but of our everyday lives. Psalm 119:97 says, "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day." "When we treasure God's Word, others will know it. Visitors to our church won't have the impression that the Bible is an optional extra or simply a handy reference book. They'll hear in your voice and see in your eyes that God's Word is your joy."
By singing the Bible. It has been said that 'we are what we sing,' so we need to make sure that we sing God's word. One way of doing that is singing songs that directly quote the scripture. We did that just last week when we introduced the song, 'Your Love Oh Lord.' It also means that the songs that we sing that don't directly quote the scripture are in line with what the Bible has to say. They need to be 'substantive, theologically rich, and biblically faithful.' "A constant diet of shallow, subjective worship songs tends to produce shallow, subjective Christians." All of that being said, that doesn't mean that a simple song can't be profound. Every song we do doesn't need to require a theological degree to understand it, but it must proclaim the truth of the Bible. Another thing we have to be careful of is choosing songs based on the music instead of the lyrics. Great music can make terrible lyrics seem good. On the other hand, terrible music can make great lyrics seem bad. We must choose our songs based on the lyrics and make sure that the music supports it well enough that people will want to sing the truth of the Bible. The songs must be clear, and easily understood by people today.
Nick Page wrote this:
"Worship songs are not solely vehicles for personal expression, they're invitations to corporate worship. If you want to write stuff that only you can understand then keep a diary, otherwise you have to cut the rest of us some slack; you have to help us understand." "The bottom line is this: Sing God's word. Lyrics matter more than music. Truth transcends tune."
Read the Bible. As we plan our services, we have to make sure that God's word is being taught each week. Reading scripture corporately is a great way to reinforce what people are reading during the week, and for some of them, it may be the only scripture they get! It also shows that we are not just making up things and trying to tell them how to live their lives. "People should be aware that the words they are hearing from us aren't ours, but God's."
Show the Bible. We put scripture up on the screens so that people can read along with us as we read the Bible. Other times we ask them to read it out loud in a call and response. Again, this gives people the chance to understand the theme of the day and also realize that "everything we do is under the authority of God's word and is meant to draw attention to His revelation rather than to our creativity or efforts."
Pray the Bible. Spontaneous prayers are great. However praying and calling on promises that God has made to us in the Bible can transform our prayer life. What if we spent time praying through the Psalms rather than merely reading them. Take Psalm 23 and apply it to your life, and pray about it. Over time your prayer life will look much different, it will be much more in tune with the way God thinks. When we pray corporately and we pray using the Bible, it gives our congregation a good example of how to pray.
"A faithful worship leader combines the Word of God with music o magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ. We don't need music to hear God's Word. We don't need music to worship God. But the Bible connects music to worship often enough to persuade us that music might be an important aspect of our relationship with God." As we make music together, let's remember to combine it with His word, and let's remember who we are making music for.
Enjoy the Journey
Good music is important in a church, but it means nothing unless it is combined with God's word. You see our churches can't be led by the Holy Spirit unless they are grounded in the Word of God. When we are committed to the Bible we will study, proclaim, and apply God's truth both in our Sunday morning services and in our Monday-Saturday lives. Many people will go to one church because they like the music, and another because they like the teaching. They have separated 'Spirit-led worship' from 'Word-fed' preaching. But "The Word and the Spirit were never meant to be separated. In fact, God's Spirit is the one who inspired God's Word."
2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness."
Without God's word we can't know if what we are doing is inspired by God or if it is just something that makes us feel good about ourselves. Think about it, without the Bible, "we wouldn't know who to thank, who to obey, or who to serve. We wouldn't know how to worship Him. But God does reveal His character, nature, and promisees to us, and we respond with gratefulness and obedience. We respond with worship. At least that's the way it's supposed to work."
Throughout the Bible, worship is centered around God's word. So it is worth asking why worship today can be focused on "sensory experiences, inward feelings, and subjective encounters. True worship is always a response to God's Word."
So how can we makes sure that the Bible is central as we lead this church in worship?
By treasuring the Bible. Bible reading should be a highlight not just of our services, but of our everyday lives. Psalm 119:97 says, "Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day." "When we treasure God's Word, others will know it. Visitors to our church won't have the impression that the Bible is an optional extra or simply a handy reference book. They'll hear in your voice and see in your eyes that God's Word is your joy."
By singing the Bible. It has been said that 'we are what we sing,' so we need to make sure that we sing God's word. One way of doing that is singing songs that directly quote the scripture. We did that just last week when we introduced the song, 'Your Love Oh Lord.' It also means that the songs that we sing that don't directly quote the scripture are in line with what the Bible has to say. They need to be 'substantive, theologically rich, and biblically faithful.' "A constant diet of shallow, subjective worship songs tends to produce shallow, subjective Christians." All of that being said, that doesn't mean that a simple song can't be profound. Every song we do doesn't need to require a theological degree to understand it, but it must proclaim the truth of the Bible. Another thing we have to be careful of is choosing songs based on the music instead of the lyrics. Great music can make terrible lyrics seem good. On the other hand, terrible music can make great lyrics seem bad. We must choose our songs based on the lyrics and make sure that the music supports it well enough that people will want to sing the truth of the Bible. The songs must be clear, and easily understood by people today.
Nick Page wrote this:
"Worship songs are not solely vehicles for personal expression, they're invitations to corporate worship. If you want to write stuff that only you can understand then keep a diary, otherwise you have to cut the rest of us some slack; you have to help us understand." "The bottom line is this: Sing God's word. Lyrics matter more than music. Truth transcends tune."
Read the Bible. As we plan our services, we have to make sure that God's word is being taught each week. Reading scripture corporately is a great way to reinforce what people are reading during the week, and for some of them, it may be the only scripture they get! It also shows that we are not just making up things and trying to tell them how to live their lives. "People should be aware that the words they are hearing from us aren't ours, but God's."
Show the Bible. We put scripture up on the screens so that people can read along with us as we read the Bible. Other times we ask them to read it out loud in a call and response. Again, this gives people the chance to understand the theme of the day and also realize that "everything we do is under the authority of God's word and is meant to draw attention to His revelation rather than to our creativity or efforts."
Pray the Bible. Spontaneous prayers are great. However praying and calling on promises that God has made to us in the Bible can transform our prayer life. What if we spent time praying through the Psalms rather than merely reading them. Take Psalm 23 and apply it to your life, and pray about it. Over time your prayer life will look much different, it will be much more in tune with the way God thinks. When we pray corporately and we pray using the Bible, it gives our congregation a good example of how to pray.
"A faithful worship leader combines the Word of God with music o magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ. We don't need music to hear God's Word. We don't need music to worship God. But the Bible connects music to worship often enough to persuade us that music might be an important aspect of our relationship with God." As we make music together, let's remember to combine it with His word, and let's remember who we are making music for.
Enjoy the Journey
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