The Hour of truth: When and Why of Worship October 11, 2009
Posted by searchtech in Bible, God, John, Praise and Worship, scripture.Tags: Bible, John 4:23, scripture, worship
1 comment so far
Joh 4:23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
This week I will be looking to deepen my understanding of this verse, and what it means. Now it seems to be pretty straight forward, but I feel as if sometimes it’s easy to look at the surface of a scripture and accept that quick glimpse as insight.
Section one in depth
I will start by taking a look at the beginning of this scripture
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers…”
John Wesley Study notes has this entry:
“The true worshippers shall worship the Father – Not here or there only, but at all times and in all places.”
Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament says this:
“The true worshippers. All who truly and sincerely worship God. They who do it with the heart, and not merely in form.”
This means not just in church or at a predetermined place, but everywhere such as;
- In your car
- At a Restaurant
- At Work
- Every where
This comes to me today while I was with the worship team and the Lord was working through out our service, we heard the testimony of a group of men who meet regularly to pray in a restaurant nearby. These men recently had a prayer meeting in which they prayed in tongues, and people were touched by the spirit,right in the middle of the restaurant.
Take away
It strikes me that this is what Jesus was referring to. Men who are not afraid to praise God in public, and to worship Him in prayer and with tongues, not stifled by the constraints of what we sometimes call worship.
I will wrap this up by adding in an additional observation of my own. I have read messages from people on other forums speaking of the proper to way to worship, the proper way to write a song to the Lord, even as far as how many Holy’s must be used. I think this passage pretty much clears it up. It doesn’t matter. It’s the willingness to worship at all times, from your heart sincerely, with love and awe that matters.
Forgiveness : The Ultimate Worship Expression. October 7, 2009
Posted by searchtech in Praise and Worship.2 comments
When I play with the worship team, I close my eyes and just reach out to God with my heart. This to me was my greatest act of worship, giving Him everything when I played.
Because I felt that way, I found myself only able to connect with Him when I played, or when I read the Bible. Otherwise, I didn’t have that knowledge that I was was communing with God. I knew that this was an issue,but I didn’t know what it was causing it.
I prayed a lot about this and finally, after a few weeks of inner turmoil, He revealed it to me. I was not as forgiving as I need to be.God forgave us our sins. He forgives us our trespasses,if we forgive others who trespass against us. (Mark 11:20)
He showed me that I wouldn’t be able to truly worship unless I forgave as it shows that we honor God in our hearts as well as with our mouths,guitars, drums etc.. and thats where true worship is. It’s the actions in our hearts. So by forgiving others as he forgives us,we are honoring God in the highest form,showing we want to be Like our Father.
So I am making it a practice to forgive when I wake, when I am at work, and when I go to bed.In this way I truly Honor and Worship God.
Relationships : With God and Each Other October 4, 2009
Posted by searchtech in Praise and Worship, Team Dynamics.1 comment so far
We know that God is a God of Relationships. He wants one with us, and He wants us to have positive relationships with each other.
So it comes a no surprise that the best worship times involve people who have a good relationship with God AND the others with whom they are playing.
Seems like an almost silly statement doesn’t it? But its true.Worship team members need to have good relationships with each other, and a genuine desire for the others on their team to reach their full potential. If your on a team and you have issues with others on your team, deal with it. don’t bury it. There are two problems with that.
1) God said if we have an issue with our brother,leave our offering there and go reconcile with our brother. You cannot worship God if your mind is on some offence that you’ve picked up, and if you try, your not giving it your all. Your praise offering becomes tainted and Malachi 14 will tell you how God feels about that!
2)The enemy LOVES when we are distracted during worship, and this is the BEST distraction for him. We can’t be focused on battle against the enemy if we are battling ourselves and each other.
Now you may be wondering what happened to make me focus on this? A very wonderful revelation. The revelation that our team members have good relations with each other ( and the sound team praise God), and that the few times something has come up,it has been dealt with in a positive way. It takes work to build relationships, and I thank God that we have taken the time to build them, and I thank God for the Relationship He has called me into with Him.
Worship and Praise : Too many roses not enough swords October 2, 2009
Posted by searchtech in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
I recall a conversation with Charles Ciepiel I had some time ago. We were discussing how often people walk out of a church without a sense of going into battle. I’ll be touching on how worship is figured into this.
It is true that worship services should help to bring the congregation to a place where the intimate Love of God is touched. But there are other aspects of God that we need to be intimate with, such as His righteousness in Battle. He is, after all, the Lamb AND the Lion. God is often spoken of as a bridegroom. What would a bridegroom do if his bride was in danger? He would defend her with every thing he has, that includes battle. How many men would be able to pull themselves even further into an intimate place with God if they could be exposed to these other (often neglected) aspects of God?
This isn’t necessarily limited to a male point of view either. Mandy Thompson mentions that many woman feel that worship is too centered on the “touchy feely” side, and she challenges men to “write some manly songs” to sing. You can hear the complete podcast athttp://allaboutworship.com/2009/10/show-notes-for-october-1-2009-manly-worship-round-table/.
Women aren’t excluded from touching this side of God’s character either. Woman have a very strong sense of protection for their family, friends, etc.. I can picture Sarah Renker (the worship leader of the team I am on) singing a song of God defeating our enemies in all of His glory and splendor just as easily as Charles Ciepiel.
The enemy loves when we are distracted, and only focus on one area of our relationship with God; however, when we touch on other areas (such as the Lion side) of God’s character, the enemy trembles.
I’m curious to hear what your thoughts are on this?
