Forgiving Grace

I'm sure some of you that have read my posts regularly have wondered where I went for 3 1/2 months.
Well .....
I had a wild ride and then took some time off. I'll start with the wild ride first.
It's no secret that I have been open to pastoring a church again, and in the February/March/April range there were several churches that had contacted me about taking on the senior position of either music minister or pastor. One seemed very promising and it came down to the time of the trial sermon to be given. Then BAM!
Out of nowhere I was blindsided.
I've never hid my feelings and beliefs on the Holy Spirit (and many other topics) in this blog and on my webpage, http://www.upsidedownchristianity.com. Yes, I have served in some conservative churches, and yes I have served in some that were more open to the Holy Spirits leading.
See this previous Post (I want order in this house)
Well, for those of you who have never been through the search committee process, I'll give you a bit of the process. Applications are accepted and reviewed. Interviews are given, sometimes over the phone if long distance. Research is done by interviewing/questioning people who have served with the pastor and with people who have been a regular part of the congregation of his former church. (It is a little different for recent graduates of seminaries.) The list is narrowed down and questionnaires are sent out to the few pastors remaining as possibilities. People that they don't like then are ruled out, leaving hopefully only one or two for the final process, the trial sermon and vote by the congregation.
Well, one church in a northern state (they are known for their cheese) contacted me. They had found my website, read quite a bit of it, read part of the blog site, and wanted me to consider coming and taking over for their pastor who was leaving.
I researched the area, asked questions that were pertinent to our moving so far away, and decided that the church would be a good fit. It would be a bit of a rebuild since there had been some strife with the previous pastor, but I love challenges and have some knowledge and experience to tackle the job.
Well all of the above happened and then it was time to bring me in for the trial sermon. (they had already heard a pre-recorded one earlier.) A week or so before I would have gone, I was notified that they weren't interested in me anymore.
Now, they had gotten the questionnaire, had a VERY lengthy talk over the phone, and they knew pretty much every belief that I hold, especially in worship.
Then they started wanting to add more and more from me and previous congregations. I put my foot down and said it's either do or die, but this is enough.
A day or so later I get the email that they are not considering me because they do not want anything to do with speaking in tongues in their service, and I had stated a few months back on the questionnaire that I would allow it under certain circumstances. (See previous post link again if you haven't read it yet.)
You know what I said.
BS. (yep, that is what I told them, BS.)
It had become a game of find the dirt on me because the committee vote was 4-3 to bring me and they wanted a 7-0 vote (never EVER heard of that one before) from the search committee. So the 3 nays/borderline yes's tried to find something to rule me out.
After having a similar experience with a church that wanted me to rebuild their music program not too long before that, this was the last straw.
I've never seen committees act like that before, but then again, I've never dealt with long distance churches until the past year. (always local ones that welcomed me.)
Well, I pulled my resume' from all of the pastoral search sites and told God that I simply couldn't take it anymore.
Hmmmmmm ...... Silence........ (though it wasn't golden I don't think.)
A month passed and my nerves had started to come back to normal. Then something happened that caught me off guard.
Craigslist.
Most people either love it or hate it. My son spends some time on there surfing the ads and so I had started checking it out. I found the "Musicians" page and one day when I pulled it up, there was an ad for a bass player for a new group that was forming. The plan for the group was to do Christian Contemporary music, mainly their own songs with a few covers thrown in from time to time.
I sent an email saying that I was interested and a reply came back that same day.
I met with the man who was forming the group and we clicked instantly. We talked a little about our pasts and neither one found judgement with the other. Finally, a true Christian exists. (was beginning to wonder for awhile.)
Soon the group met at an outing to get to know one another and then we went back to a building that had been secured for us to be able to practice in each week and not have to tear down the equipment after every practice.
Everyone hit it off with each other. This was in the latter part of May '12 and with one addition and one subtraction, we're moving along at a pretty good pace. We have already put together a half dozen songs with some more in the works and hope to have a demo CD available soon, with a full release to follow.
Finally, I feel like I can minister again. No one is trying to trick anyone (Monroe neighborhood, you know who you are!) or dig up their pasts. We all have a past, but thank God, with Him we have a wonderful future with Him for eternity if you have been saved.
Well, all this said, now you kinda know what has been going on in my life. The hurt is still there (though weakening from day to day) from everything that I experienced with the committees, and I've pretty much decided that if/when I do have a church, it will probably be one that I have started. No BS, no back stabbing (Monroe, you poor terrible people). A church that is run with God as the figurehead. A TRUE Christian church where no one is judged, everyone is welcomed into His house and worship can take place without many restrictions.

**** NOTE TO ANY SEARCH COMMITTEES****
I am not saying I won't consider your church, but it is like this.
Read my blog. Read my site www.upsidedownchristianity.com
If you have a questionnaire that you would like me to fill out, then send it and I'll gladly return it to you when I've completed it, usually within 24 hours, unless it's the weekend.
If you would like to meet with me to see if we're compatible, fine.
But you either want me or you don't. No games. No trying to make buddy-buddy and then stab me in the back with your lies that you told me and twisted facts that you've given.
I'll do a trial sermon and I'll be glad to send you a .wav file of me giving a sermon.
But don't play games and drag me and my family down to the mire.
I won't tolerate it!
****END NOTE****

So until that happens, I'll continue to worship, fellowship and minister to others through the talents my Lord and Savior has given me through music, using my voice, my bass guitar and any keyboards when called upon..
Oh yeah, one irony to all this is the name of the group: Forgiving Grace (site is still being developed, so it's still in it's raw stage at the moment, the facebook page is more current right now https://www.facebook.com/pages/Forgiving-Grace/184059025055793)
Forgiving Grace. Think about those words. Forgiving ... to hold nothing of ill towards another person, Grace ... only something that God can bring upon His people that can lead to any hope of an eternal life in Heaven through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son.
Forgiving Grace ... something I have yet to see out of a search committee. (Sometimes I think they would find something wrong with Jesus if He was a candidate for their leadership. (read a funny email on that years ago.)
I do look forward to what God will do in my life and in the life of my wife. We have some ministries that we are still praying about that we would like to be able to do one day if the funds become available.
Several people have told me in the last few months that I'll still be a pastor one day (one person I had just met) so I know that God is still reassuring me that there is a plan that I can't see but that He has control over.
But for now I have made some wonderful Christian friends with the band members and their families.
And I am keeping up the faith that my God shall supply all my needs, that He shall watch over me, and that one day this will all be over and I'll finally be with Him and all my friends and loved ones that have gone before me.
Thanks for being a faithful reader of this blog, and I plan to start to post more regularly from now on.
Love in Christ,
Rev. Keith

(13) High notes on the organ set dogs in the parking lot to howling.

(13) High notes on the organ set dogs in the parking lot to howling.

Luke 19: 37-40

³⁷ When he (Jesus) came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

 ³⁸ “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”^[b]

   “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

 ³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

   ⁴⁰ “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

I remember when “pet rocks” were the latest trend. Everyone had to have one. Some painted them, put clothes on them, hung signs around them and too many other crazy things to mention. The one thing that I liked about the rock as a pet was it didn’t poop or pee on the floor. It never barked incessantly while I was watching TV or talking on the phone. If it had “cried out,” it probably would have been my poop that needed to be cleaned up.

The Psalms reveals that all God's creation have contact with God (Psalm 93). All God's creatures praise Him (Psalm 145:10). It is only mankind who needs forgiving and saving and teaching as to how to worship (Psalm 36 & 51), the animal kingdom worships God continually and naturally.

"Praise Him, hills and mountains, fruit trees and forests; all animals, tame and wild, reptiles and birds." Psalm 148:9, 10.

So I ask you, next time the dogs start to howl outside the church doors, are you going to let them do the worshipping for you? I have talked in previous blogs about our role in worship. Let’s start worshipping now, before the dogs start to drown us out and our voices of praise aren’t heard at all.

Starting Over

On a recent trip I met someone who I hit it off with immediately. We were talking about churches and he mentioned about starting a church, and some of the local denominations. His next sentence caught my ears. “Why not start over? It has to be better than what we have now.”

Wow, what a statement. Starting over. That tells us a lot about how denominations are perceived. And also one other thing. Long established churches. It is not uncommon to wind up with a lot of clic’s and groups that can quickly make anyone start to feel like an outsider if they are new. I addressed this in a previous blog, so I won’t go into this again.

But I do want to address the idea of starting over. Starting over in many ways can be a path to a better life.

Christianity. When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you start a new life (hopefully), leaving behind the things that caused you to stumble in your life. Some people try to pin down exactly what actions are a sin. The bible is explicit on a few, but in a world that is rapidly changing, the list can grow quite quickly. So here is the simplest way to decide if you are in doubt.

(1) If you do something that makes other people look at you as a non-believer

(2) If you say something that makes other people look at you as a non-believer

(3) If you do something that makes you feel guilty

(4) If you do or say something that makes you wonder if it is right or wrong

Well, then it’s wrong.

Problem comes in what a lot of people do next, they listen to the words of an old popular song:

“If it feels good, do it.”

You cannot always substitute the “feel good” into the above to determine if it is the right thing to do. The only checkpoint for that is the bible. There are so many things that tell you what to do and how to do in the bible.

What? You don’t know what those are? Read the bible.

“But it’s too hard. I don’t understand it.” This day and age you can find all kinds of versions of the bible. Some versions stray from the original content, but the King James Version, New King James Version, and the New International Version are the ones who track the closest to the original document.

“But Keith, you just listed the King James as a version.” Yes, it is a translation, so it is a version. It is not the original document. Unless you are fluent in Greek and Hebrew, the documents that we have from that age would be “greek” to you. (haha, I couldn’t resist!). I personally prefer the NIV translation. The writers have gone back to the original document and they have tried to keep the translation current to the meaning of the language of today.

Find a version that you can read and start reading. Some of the items that are mentioned are hard to understand, especially in the Old Testament. My suggestion is to start with the New Testament and read one of the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the first four books that start off the New Testament. Pick one and read it, then skip to Acts and read until you get to Revelations. Stop. Go back to the Old Testament and read it carefully. If you don’t understand a term, go to Wikipedia.org or go to www.biblegateway.com and look it up. These two sites are free, and they have a ton of resources for you to read. I use both of them for my biblical studies. Plus, if you cannot afford a bible or another translation of a bible, biblegateway has many different translations for you to read. Then go back and read the rest of the gospels, and finally Revelations. Revelations can be a tricky book to read and grasp. I highly recommend a study series by Dr. David Jeremiah, “Escape The Coming Night”, which will help you understand Revelations, as well as apply it to modern times. I have attended several of his seminars, and listened to him on the radio, and he is “spot on” with his teachings and preaching.

So start over in your life.

Start over by reading the bible.

“But I’ve read it already.” Well, I don’t doubt you, but did you absorb anything that you read? Read it this time, even a chapter at a time, and then ask God to reveal to you what He wants you to learn from it.

Start over by being a “new you.”

Be someone that even you wouldn’t recognize. When you get to church and the same group gathers to start their gossip. Stand up and tell them they shouldn’t. If they still continue, walk away. Leave the room. Make a statement by doing so that you won’t be a part that does not fit with the Christian lifestyle.

Start worshipping while in church. (I’ve covered quite a bit about this in previous blogs)

Quit checking out who is doing what in the sanctuary. Shut your eyes and start your private prayer time. Start by asking God to work in your life. Ask God to help you clear your mind of everything else that is going on around you, and start praying for yourself, your family, your friends, the people who are currently in your church, the people who can’t be in your church, and the people who should be in your church.

Start to be a new employee/manager/owner

If you’re employed, go to work and be different. No gossiping. No backbiting. Start by telling someone thank you when they help, help someone when they need it, and start to be someone that others come up to you wanting to know what is different about you. PERFECT opportunity to be a witness for God in this situation.

If you do wind up in a place where you can’t be the Christian that you’re supposed to be, find a place where you can. Not all churches are Christian, though the name or denomination on the sign might indicate differently. If they need another book in addition to the bible, nope, not a Christian group. Resources that help you to understand what the bible is telling you are wonderful. But if someone wants you to study something instead of the bible, RUN FORREST RUN! Not all employers welcome a Christian environment. Employers are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion. Just be the example, and pray for God to change their hearts.

Start to be the spouse/(g)(b)friend that you need to be. If your “significant other” isn’t a Christian, rethink your relationship.

2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV) says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

I’ll go more into this in a later blog series where I tackle relationships.

Be the “S O” that you need to be. Show them that you love them. Kiss them, hold their hands, do special things that cause you to have to go out of the way for them. Guys, hold the doors for the girls. And guys and girls, initiate bible study together. Have devotional time. There are plenty of resources for different types of devotions, based on what you enjoying doing and reading.

Start over in your mind. Quit being negative. God is not negative. Start to believe in what you pray for, and in what you do in your daily life so that others can be reached for Christ.

In other words, START OVER!

Order! I want order in this house!

I talked about worship in blogs before this one. Now I want to continue to talk about worship, only as commanded by God.

God has never been about chaos. There has always been dominion over everything. When there was nothing, God ruled in Heaven. Then He created the universe. He still ruled. Then he created earth, and created man. He gave dominion (rule) over everything on earth to man. He even gave man the opportunity to name each animal. (see Genesis for details.)

God always laid out how worship and sacrifice was to be practiced in the Old Testament. But when Jesus came to earth and then died on the cross for our sins, the old ways were no longer necessary. We no longer had to sacrifice animals. Jesus was our sacrifice. So God would not leave us hanging either on how to continue our worship. He used Paul to give us instructions on how the church should continue after Jesus went back to Heaven.

1 Corinthians 14: 26-40 NIV

Good Order in Worship

 ²⁶ What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come

together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a

revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸ If there is no interpreter, the

speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

 ²⁹ Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. ³⁰ And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. ³¹ For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. ³² The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

vs. 33-35 omitted on purpose (I'll tackle that one later in another blog)

 ³⁶ Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. ³⁸ But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.^[h]

 ³⁹ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Note verse 40. EVERYTHING should be done in a fitting and orderly way. God’s way. Orderly.

In an earlier blog, I talked about my first experience in an Assembly of God church. There was a lot of talking in tongues, and it caused confusion for me, and I’m sure others. I want to point out something.

²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸ If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

Note what it says in the middle of the 27^th verse. One At A Time. How many times have you ever been to a church where unknown tongues are spoken, and there are multiple people carrying on. Have you ever wondered if this was of God? Well, next time it happens, now you know. And notice something else. “Someone must interpret, or shut up!” (paraphrased) It doesn’t get any plainer than that. See, I’m not against speaking in tongues. I believe in it. I’ve done it. But don’t try to be heard (and maybe seen) when you should stay in the background. (Read the whole chapter for a lot more about speaking in tongues)

Next, things that happen in church and we wonder why:

 ²⁶ What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

Hymns. See, songs are the first things mentioned. Now, does that mean it’s the most important? No, but it is important.

Next, “a word of instruction” is mentioned. What is that? We use the word “sermon” nowadays to indicate the same thing. But I like the phrase “word of instruction” better. Know why? Because a lot sermons are just a bunch of words. Everyone walks out of the service and no one understands how to use the words that the preacher spoke for any part of their life. It was like that for me growing up. Remember when I said growing up it seemed like a history lesson? (see much earlier blog) It’s because that was what it was. The (teacher, preacher, evangelist) told what happened, and then you were told to believe in Jesus and be saved or go to hell. So read the bible, believe in Jesus or go to hell. That is why you can’t tell the Christians from the Pagans in the world today. Christians have not tried to become “Christ-like” as we are to be.

Preachers, teachers, and evangelists! Start instructing. Quit teaching a history lesson, and teach us how to be a part of history. People talk about the great revival of the early 1900’s.  What about the Great Revival that we NEED to happen NOW?

Churches are suffering some of the lowest levels of attendance and membership in the history of the church. The way we’ve taken Christianity and made it the church only lends to make this trend continue. Let’s reverse the trend. Let’s turn the church upside down, shake out all of what is not biblical, and insert GOD and CHRISTIANITY back into our lives. Let’s start to worship, and quit meeting to be a part of a clic, or to clear our conscience. Let’s give instruction so that people can start to be Christ Like!

Next blog I’ll look at “revelations” and how they can happen now, and not just be a part of the end of the bible.

Pharisee, Sadducee, Denominationee

Copied from Pharisee page on Wikipedia.org

The Pharisees (lat. pharisæ|us, -i; from heb. פרושים perushim/פרוש parush, meaning "set apart")^[1] were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period under the Hasmonean dynasty (140–37 BCE) in the wake of the Maccabean Revolt.

A political party, a social movement and a “school of thought among Jews”. Wow, they couldn’t make up their minds huh?

More copied:

Conflicts between the Pharisees and the Sadducees took place in the context of much broader and longstanding social and religious conflicts among Jews dating back to the Babylonian captivity and exacerbated by the Roman conquest. One conflict was class, between the wealthy and the poor, as the Sadducees included mainly the priestly and aristocratic families.^[2][2] Another conflict was cultural, between those who favored hellenization and those who resisted it. A third was juridico-religious, between those who emphasized the importance of the Temple, and those who emphasized the importance of other Mosaic laws and prophetic values. A fourth, specifically religious, involved different interpretations of the Bible (or Tanakh), and how to apply the Torah to Jewish life, with the Sadducees recognizing only the written letter of the Tanakh or Torah and rejecting life after death, while the Pharisees held to Rabbinic interpretations additional to the written texts. Josephus indicates that the Pharisees received the backing and goodwill of the common people, apparently in contrast to the more elite Sadducees. Pharisees claimed prophetic or Mosaic authority for their interpretation^[3] of Jewish laws, while the Sadducees represented the authority of the priestly privileges and prerogatives established since the days of Solomon, when Zadok, their ancestor, officiated as High Priest.

Sadducees: Wealthy, arrogant. Pharisees: Poorer, more blue collar crowd, most likely. Fighting over what to believe in. What interpretations of the writings to believe, what to throw out.

Read the above paragraph again. Did you notice one word that was omitted? GOD. They are trying to figure out what to believe, and God is not even in the equation. Each one claiming that they are right, or have the right because of their ancestors.

I’ve seen churches like this. A small number of families that have been in the one church since it opened its doors, sometimes a hundred years ago. Each family thinking that they are privileged and should hold the highest offices because of who their great grandparents were.

Praise God that they had great grandparents who were bold enough to start the church, and then to keep it going. But just because you are of a family doesn’t give you the right to hold office or any position of authority. Even public office holders are elected, their offices are not passed down to their siblings.

And I’ve seen denominations do the very same thing. Claiming to be better or more spiritual because they speak in tongues, and the others don’t, and many other reasons. Some denominations even draw the more aristocratic and wealthy. Some try to distinguish themselves in how they dress. Growing up, you could always tell when someone went to a “Church of God” or Pentecostal denomination, especially the women. Always long dresses, beehive or extremely long hairdo’s. No makeup. Etc. etc etc.

But take away that, and could you have been able to distinguish that they were a Christian? Except for a lot of uppidiness (is that even a word, well, it oughtta be!), No.

Jesus was confronted by the Sadducees and Pharisees many times. I won’t try to list them all, but the book of Matthew records a lot of the incidences where the confrontations took place. Jesus could be rather blunt. He didn’t pull any punches. He often times scolded them for even thinking in their traditions. Many times he tried to reverse their way of thinking and get them to realize that they had things totally reversed. They never got it. It just made them madder.

Just like the guy who was hung up on denominations at my pastoral committee hearing. (see last blog). Why are denominations important? They are only important to us. There were people who tried to be “followers of John the Baptist” and some who were “followers of Jesus.” John told them upfront that Jesus was greater, and that they should be following Him. Jesus never split His followers up into groups. Or classes. Or denominations. And when you read the bible, denominations are not even mentioned. Pharisees and Sadducees are about the closest thing to a denomination that is mentioned, where they are arguing over interpretation and beliefs. As denominations, do we want to be classified with them? I DON'T THINK SO!

The book of Revelations can be a hard and tricky book to understand. Lots of events and happenings. But when you read it, look at the most important part. The groups of people and animals and other beings that are gathered in Heaven and around the throne are not divided up in any way. They are worshipping together in unison.

If we can’t worship together in unison on earth, what makes us think we’re going to be able to do it in Heaven. What are you going to do when you stand before God and the multitudes are worshipping and bowing before Him?

Will this be you:

“God, will you make them quiet down a little bit. I can’t even think. I’m trying to remember what I’m supposed to do today at my mansion. And will you make them stand up? Do you know how hard it is to get the dirt off of these robes when they have been all over this floor? I’m tired of scrubbing clothes while I do the laundry. Lord, these people beside me are too happy when they are singing. Will you make them chill out and sing in a more somber tone?”

I have news for you. If you see yourself in that paragraph above, chances are you may not even get the chance to talk to Him. He may have already told you by that time, “Depart from me.” OUCH. That one is gonna hurt, and for eternity. In Hell.

You want to be around other people who are wailing and gnashing their teeth the way you did while in church? Go to Hell. I guarantee you’ll find that and worse.

You want to find people who truly love God. Go to Heaven. I’m sure there will be many people doing many different motions and saying different things when they are around the throne. But the one thing that will be different will be that no one is noticing what anyone else is doing. Their focus will be on God, and not the people around them.

Why can’t we do that now? Shouldn’t we practice what we’re going to be doing for eternity? There are sometimes when my humility causes me to be in a somber mood when I come to Him in prayer or worship. There are sometimes when I want to dance, sing and shout. There are times when I pray, and things come out of my mouth that I have no idea where they come from, or what language it was. And I’ve had it happen around me in a church service, but I hardly noticed, as I was focused on my worship at the time.

I believe that is what Heaven will be like. No one will care who you are, what you were, how prestigious and/or rich you were. God is all that matters when we get to Heaven, so we had better start thinking that way now. If you can’t put forth the effort to do it here, why should you get a chance to do it up there? But, God is a loving God, and He will decide who truly became His disciple, and who was faking it like a catfish out of water flopping about, that can only squeak out sounds that are not understood by man.

Church, let’s become Christian again. Let’s turn Christianity upside down from what it has become, and back to what it should have been in the first place. Let’s get to where we can worship together all the time, and not just on special occasions where communities will have a joint service. Let’s get to the point where the only reason we may have more than one building in a community is because of lack of land to build a bigger one, so they are all on the same page, worshipping God. People may have to be redirected to another building in town only due to local fire codes and limits on occupancy. Let’s start now what we’ll spend a lifetime doing in Heaven.

I know this has been a lot to take in. And there are many who will still read this, get mad, and probably will not have reached this point in the blog. To those of you that did, reach out to them. Let’s all work to get on the same page. Let’s all become Christians again. Not denominations. Let’s learn to worship beside our brethren, no matter if their hands are raised and they forgot to use deodorant. Don’t let their loudness bother you. Wear earplugs. Don’t let their quiet hushed tones disturb you, take those earplugs back out. Don’t let their dancing disturb you. Wear steel toe shoes/boots.

Or just worship, and it won’t be a problem!

Sing! Sing a Song!

I have a blog earlier that I talk about listening to Christian radio and the impact that it made on me. I hope that you have read all of these blogs in order so far, because if you haven’t, you may be scratching your head or a few other places, wondering how this all fits. So if you need to, go back and review the entire blogs that I have posted. If you’re up to date, come on, let’s go explore more about music and song.

There is a book in the bible called “Psalms” that has the most chapters in it of any book in the bible. I would think that tells us that music and singing are pretty important to God. And not the same old music over and over either. Some churches get caught up in singing 20-30 hymns that they are comfortable with, and everyone can sing them from memory. Here’s where a big problem lies. The words become just that. Words. People sing them as they always have, without any enthusiasm, just hoping that the song leader will skip one of the verses. My grandfather used to tell me, “Boy, be glad you are not the third verse in a song, because most churches will skip right over you!” Sadly in our Baptist church where I was raised, this was the truth. Never figured that one out. People just wanted to sing and get it over with. Problem being, I don’t think God ever heard a word we sang. Why should He? We were bored with it, so you know He wasn’t too thrilled either.

God wants us to sing praises to Him. (see earlier blog for background). We should lift up our voices as though it was God standing in the pulpit, telling Him in our sincere voices how much we love Him, honor Him and glorify Him. It doesn’t matter if the only way you can sing on key is to stand on the set of keys that you brought with you. God listens to your heart. He listens to how you sing. Do you mean it? Are you serious in the words that are spilling forth?

I love Praise and Worship music. I also love some of the old hymns, except for one “Give me that old time religion” ([that’s the problem, some people only have religion] another blog, or maybe this one later on). I had a person tell me when I started out leading music in church that the only songs we should sing were from the Hymnal. Anything else couldn’t be from God. I opened up the bible, turned to Psalms, and told him, “If you only want songs that we know are ordained by God, I don’t think you’ll find any of those in your hymnal listed here.” He never brought that one up again. Maybe that is one thing I like about P&W. Most are Psalms that are put to music. We don’t know what music was used in the singing of the Psalms originally. And it doesn’t matter. What matters are the words! So SING! If the others around you don’t like it, bring them earplugs next Sunday. They’re cheap! Pour your heart out with a melody, or harmony, or whatever flies out between the lips.

We’ve looked at what it takes to worship, and how we can do it in our churches and our lives today. Will it be awkward at first? Probably. Will others possibly stare at you? Probably. But are you there to worship them, or are you there to worship God? If you’re there to worship God, it won’t matter what the others think. You won’t even realize anyone else is around you.

Start to worship! Start to praise! Start to pray! Let’s get back to Christianity, instead of just having church. Let’s have Christ. Let’s have ourselves be Christ like.

One thing I want to take a minute and say before I continue. Do you know the God that I have talked about? Have you ever asked God to forgive you of your sins? Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins? If not, a lot of what you have read is probably foreign to you right now. But if you feel something inside of you, tugging on you, maybe even making your tummy draw up in knots, it’s the Holy Spirit telling you it’s time. Quit trying to live life on your own. You’ve got someone who can guide you, protect you, comfort you, and give you a reason to live, not just in this world, but in the next one to come in Heaven! Do you want this for your life?

Say this prayer: (and mean what you say!)

God, I understand that I am a sinner. I want to have You in my life. I thank You for sending your only Son to die for me on the cross. I want to surrender my life to you. Please come into my life, forgive my sins, and make me a new person. I love you Lord, and I promise to praise your name forever. Amen

There. You did it. Is this the first time that you have ever prayed this? If so, you are now a Christian. See, not a church member. Church membership doesn’t have anything to do with being a Christian. As a matter of a fact, a lot of church members will never even see the Kingdom of Heaven. They have to be saved, just like what you did. Now, find a church where you can learn more about God. Make sure that it is a Christian church. Denominational or not, that is your choice. Find one where you are comfortable worshipping. There are a lot of styles out there, so keep searching until you are where you are supposed to be. And ask God to guide you to the church where you belong! That will be your first step towards learning to work with God, and not against Him. (trust me, you’ll get more accomplished.)

If I can ever be of help in any way, please feel free to contact me @ moreland.keith@yahoo.com and I will be glad to answer any of your questions, or help guide you in your journey.

God bless and until the next blog, Shalom!

Worshipping in Spirit

We are called to worship in spirit and in truth.  Worshiping in spirit is based on the nature of God.  Since God is spirit, His worshipers must worship in spirit.  As spirit, God is not confined to a particular location, such as a church building or temple.  The place where true worship occurs is in the heart of man.

Matthew 15:8-9/Isaiah 29:13

          'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.  BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"

1 Samuel 16:7

          …God sees not as mans sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

1 Kings 8:39

          …for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men, that they may fear You…

Jeremiah 17:9-10

          "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?  I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”

Proverbs 15:11

          Sheol and Abbadon lie open before the LORD, how much more the hearts of men?

Psalms 44:20-21

          If we had forgotten the name of our God, or extended our hands to a strange god;

Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.

Worship of the heart and spirit is contrasted with “formal worship”, with its emphasis being on the outward forms of worship without the heart of worship.

Genesis 4- Cain and Abel’s sacrifices

Isaiah 1:11-16

          "What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, And the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats.  When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?  Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies-- I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.  I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them.  So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.  Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil,”

Luke 11:39-44

          But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.  You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.  But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.  Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the front seats in the synagogues, and the respectful greetings in the market places.  Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it."

Formal worship ought to express our hearts response to the character of God.  The forms of worship are not intended to make us look good or feel good.  They are intended to express our hearts as we honor the Lord.  All our singing, clapping, raising our hands, bowing our heads, praying, and sharing are empty and worthless to God unless our hearts are worshiping Him.

Don’t let our worship be a nuisance to God because of our arrogant “going through the motions” of formal worship.  Spend time to reflect and meditate on His revelations of Himself and His works.  When God reveals more of who He is or what He has done for you don’t hold back!!  Proclaim His worthiness to Him and honor Him with your worship from you heart.  Wherever you are you can worship Him in spirit.  So do it!!

Why should I spend my time worshipping?

Why Worship?

Worship is always a response to the revelation of God’s character and/or His works.  When God reveals His compassion, salvation, His holiness, etc. our appropriate response is to worship Him.

Revelation 4:8-11 

          And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS  THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, who was and is and who is to come.”  And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne saying, “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created.”

What caused the twenty-four elders to worship here?

Revelation 5:8-14

          And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.  "And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."  And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,  saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."  And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, " To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."  And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Revelation 7:10-12

          and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,  saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

Revelation 11:15-18

          And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."  And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign.  "And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy bond-servants the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

God’s power (THE Almighty), sovereignty, and eternality is cause for us to worship Him.

Revelation 14:7b

          “…and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”

God’s creation screams out of His power and greatness.  The command here is to worship Him for this.  Cross-reference Romans 1:19,20,25.

Revelation 19:1-4

          After these things I heard, as it were, a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER."  And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER."  And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!"

The character of God (His salvation, glory, power, truth, and righteousness) as well as His works (avenging the blood of His bond-servants) causes the elders to fall down and worship.

Too often we come into a worship service, or worship setting, expecting to receive from God; for Him to give to us.  Worship is not an act of receiving.  It is an act of giving.  Look at the above Revelation passages again.  After every declaration of God’s worthiness there is a phrase that shows His worthiness to receive, i.e. “to receive blessing, glory, honor, etc.” or “We give Thee thanks…” We give, He receives in worship.  That is what worship involves, a giving of our adoration, an acknowledgment of our unworthiness in  our humanity, and His worthiness because of His perfect character and works.

We will worship that which we hold in the highest reverence.  Whatever is most important to us is what we worship.  In all truth and reality the only object worthy of our worship is the one and only God.  He alone is worthy.

Exodus 20:2-5

          "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  "You shall have no other gods before Me.  "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.  "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Deuteronomy 6:13

          "You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him, and swear by His name.”

Matthew 4:10

          Then Jesus said^ to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"

Revelation 4-5/John 9

          Jesus is repeatedly worshiped by the angels as well as by men.

I figure that it's like this. If Worship is going to be a main theme in Heaven, though not the only one in Heaven, (there are plenty more things that we will do!), shouldn't we learn how to worship. Shouldn't we learn why we need to worship.
And lastly, shouldn't we know HOW to worship. The next few blogs I will dig deeply into this.

What is Worship?

“Histachevah” The Hebrew term translated worship means ‘to bow down, prostrate oneself.’

Genesis 24:26

          Then the man bowed low and worshiped the LORD.

Genesis 18:1-2

          Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.  And when he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth,

Exodus 34:8

          And Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.

          It was a common practice in the Ancient Near East to bow before guests, strangers, royalty, and deity in order to show respect.  This word, histachevah, is not really a definition of worship but more of an expression of it.  The worshiper portrays himself in a humbled and lowly position in order to portray the worshiped one as exalted and above him, in a pictorial sense.  There are many words used in conjunction with the word worship in the Old Testament:  to serve, sacrifice, bow, and others.  There are examples of bowing, or prostrating oneself, before others throughout the Old Testament.

Genesis 19:1

          Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

Genesis 42:6

          Now Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

The Greek word, proskuneo, means ‘to kiss toward, kiss.’  The idea behind this is that one would prostrate themselves before the feet of another and kiss their feet or the ground before them.  The New Testament uses this word only with God the Father or the Son as the sole object of worship. 

Luke 7:37-38

          And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume.

The English word for worship is simply “worth-ship” and means ‘to honor, revere, esteem as one worthy of the highest respect.’  The object worshiped should be the object that has the greatest value, importance, and goodness.

Next Blog: Why Worship?