This is the day that the Lord has made!
This morning, I walked out on my front porch and saw this beautiful sunrise. What a gift from God! It reminded me that the troubles from yesterday are gone, and today is a fresh, new day. God gives us these reminders that he is on the throne and in control of our lives...

If you are having a bad day, just wait until tomorrow and watch the sunrise.

Does Worship Stop When the Music Does?

The following is the paper I wrote for the class Worship and Music through the School of Christian Studies:

I hope you enjoy.

I am a member of an online Christian community called Baptistboard. I have been a member of this community since October of 2003. We have discussed a lot of subjects, and worship and music are prominent in our discussions. Since this board is made up of all different stripes of Baptists (As well as other denominations), I have been challenged to redefine and/or provide support for my view of worship. The following is a post I made on 8/29/06 in the thread titled (Does Worship Stop when the music does):

Music is just a tool to use to worship... so is prayer, meditation, Bible Study, Preaching, etc.. A Christian should never quit worshipping... Even if there were no music we would still Worship our God for WHO He is... not what He does....but Who He is... But thank God for music... it is a gift to us, from Him, that aids in our worship of Him. No, Worship doesn't end when the music does, unless you are worshipping music...It doesn't start when music starts either...
For a Christian, worship is life.

Having read New Ways in Christian Worship by Robert W. Bailey, and Beyond the Worship Wars by Thomas G. Long, I am persuaded that my post on Baptistboard.com back in 2006 is still the correct way to view worship.

While talking to the woman at the well, Jesus said, “God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.” - John 4:24

Jesus was clear that worship must be done in spirit and in truth…
But what does this mean?
The phrase, “in spirit” strips away the belief that worship is tied to material things.
The woman had just mentioned two physical places that people went to worship. Jesus was pointing out Worship is not tied to Jerusalem or any other place. Worship can be done anywhere at any time, with or without physical elements to help us along.

The phrase, “in truth” applies to the fact that Jesus is God. He was God in the flesh talking to that woman. The woman had been use to worshipping in the shadows of the coming Messiah. The Pentateuch, which was the Samaritan’s scriptures, was full of shadows of the coming Messiah. The offerings and ceremonial rituals that Moses handed to the people were pictures of the coming Christ. But that woman had the privilege of looking into the eyes of the actual Messiah. She was staring truth in the face. And she realized it.

No longer would people be bound to a physical place to worship. No longer would people be limited to their preconceived ideas (based in the ceremonial rituals of the Pentateuch) of what the Messiah would be like. Now we can worship God any place at any time, knowing that Jesus is God. Jesus is the truth… For Jesus said himself, “… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

So how does this truth translate into today’s culture? How can we take this truth and apply it to us and our churches?

In today’s church when the word “Worship” is mentioned, it seems that people automatically think of music. Even job titles in churches point to this concept. We have Worship Leaders, Worship Pastors, Ministers of Worship, etc… but they all have one thing in common: music.

But music is only one aspect of worship.
Let’s define worship. The word worship comes from the old English term, “Worth ship” It means to apply worth to something. So when we “worship” God, we are applying worth to God. We are reflecting back to God the truths of who he is. He is Holy, Just, Righteous, and is worthy of our praise. Worship stems from who God is, not what he does for us.

Other ways to worship God is Bible reading, Praying, meditating, proclamation of God’s Word, giving of tithes and offerings. All of these say to God, “You are worthy of my praise, time, and resources. We say to God, here I am, I am completely yours, use me how you want. Romans 12:1 I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.


Worship means so much more than the 15 to 20 minutes we spend each Sunday morning right before the Pastor gives the sermon.

But because of this misunderstanding, we now have churches splitting over the right way to “worship”. There are many different music styles in American churches today.

• Ultra-traditional: Those like the Church of Christ, Primitive Baptist, or Old Regular Baptist teach that no instruments should be used with music.

• Traditional: Those that sing traditional hymns, and an occasional Southern Gospel, or Bluegrass song

• Contemporary: Those that use Contemporary or Praise and Worship music for their services. Opponents of praise and worship music often call the songs “7-11 songs” because they often use repetitive phrases that consist of only a few words. They sing the 7 word phrases 11 times.

• Blended: Those that blend the above styles in a service.

Again I believe that if God’s people would properly understand the meaning of worship, people would not be at odds with each other, but would appreciate the differences in the different styles.

Which is worse, an older person that has always been use to traditional worship refusing to allow the younger generation to use contemporary songs OR a younger person refusing to come to church because the church only sings hymns?

To me, both are sinfully wrong.
But I see it in both sets of people. When the older person refuses to allow the younger generation to worship using modern music, he is wrong, and it reflects that the older generation is worshipping a style of music, or culture instead of worshipping God.

When the younger person refuses to come to church, or join a church because the church only uses hymns, that person is wrong, and it also reflects that the younger person is worshipping a style of music instead of worshipping God.

Both sets of people are sinfully prideful in thinking that people should accommodate them by meeting their demands before they will worship God.

So in an effort to reconcile the differences of opinion, some churches give in to the demands of one side and alienate the other side. Some churches decide to pro-actively split the congregation offering two services, one a traditional service, the other a contemporary service. Still another option is blending the styles of music into one service, using some traditional elements and some contemporary elements

No matter what decision a church makes to reconcile these differences, the doctrine of worship must not be compromised. Jesus said we must worship him in spirit and truth.
We must be teaching our people that worship comes from the heart, and that music is just a tool that we use to accomplish worship. Music is not the goal, but the means to get to the goal. We should be able to worship God no matter in what circumstance we find ourselves. We should be able to worship God no matter what physical things are connected to our worship. We should be teaching our people to worship God in spirit.

I am also convinced that when people truly see the truth of Jesus, worship naturally flows. I believe that the person that is addicted to traditional worship will still be able to praise God even in contemporary settings. Also the person addicted to contemporary worship will not boycott the church if the church decides to stick with hymns.

It all comes down to an issue of the heart. Do Christians in today’s world truly love Jesus or are we so self-centered that unless the demands of our musical styles are met, we will not come to church to worship?

Maybe that is the problem; the modern American church believes it meets TO worship…
We are still steeped in the idea that we need to be in a particular place before we are worshipping. We don’t understand what worshipping God in Spirit is about.

Maybe if instead of people meeting TO worship on Sunday mornings, they would COME WORSHIPPING to the Sunday meeting. If we start teaching people to worship outside the church building we may cut down on worship wars. If we start teaching people to start Sunday worship the minute their eyes open on Sunday mornings, people will have the right attitude when they walk through the church doors. If people were worshipping on their way to the church building, then that worship would carry over into service, and the focus would be on God instead of what type of music is in the church, or what instruments are being used, or what sister Maggy So-n-so is wearing! Can you imagine a church filled with Christians that had been with Jesus that morning? What a Sunday that would be!

Worship is not something we watch, it is something we do. But it seems that more and more people are coming to church to just watch worship. Maybe it is a symptom of a generation grown up on television, internet, etc., but it seems that many just want to watch others worship God. But somehow we have to get back to true worship. Somehow we have to teach people that worshipping God in spirit and in truth is more important than if we sing, “It is well with my soul” or “In the Light” by DC Talk.

So to answer the title of this paper, Does Worship Stop When the Music Does?

No, Worship doesn't end when the music does, unless you are worshipping music...It doesn't start when music starts either...

For a Christian, worship is life.

And you think you had a bad day...

I saw this in a myspace bulletin...
Before you go out and condemn our troops because you are gullible enough to believe what the liberal left, and the liberal media present as News... (which is nothing more than socialist wannabe trash) Take a minute to read this, and look at the pictures... Then thank God that we live in a Country that has the best armed forces in the world!

So, here it is.. copied and pasted from the myspace bulletin, just as it asked people to do.








this is sad...






You stay up for 16 hours.

He stays up for days on end.





You take a warm shower to help you wake up.

He goes days or weeks without running water.





You complain of a "headache", and call in sick.

He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.





You put on your anti war/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.

He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.





You talk trash about your "buddies" that aren't with you.

He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.





You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.

He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.


..


You complain about how hot it is.

He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.







You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.

He doesn't get to eat today.





Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.

He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.





You go to the mall and get your hair redone.

He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.





You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.

He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.





You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.

He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.





You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.

He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.





You roll your eyes as a baby cries.

He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.





You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.

He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.





You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.

He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.





You see only what the media wants you to see.

He sees the broken bodies lying around him.





You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.

He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.





You stay at home and watch TV.

He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

Revival

What does the word "Revival" mean to you...

To me it means to renew that promise I made yrs ago to God.
Maybe you made the same promise..."If you save me, I will serve you no matter what."

Have you made that promise?
If so, do you keep it?

It is so easy for us to let our promises to God slide. But God expects you to keep them. Are you serving Faithfully? Or are you MIA... Missing In Action?

God needs us to fulfill our promises and duties...
When you are MIA you suffer...
Other Christians suffer...
Jobs go undone...
People are not helped...
Souls go to Hell...
Are you shirking your duties?
Do you make your other brothers and sisters pick up the slack because you are not fulfilling your promises?
Have you promised God something...

Maybe you bargained with God in prayer....

Maybe like this...

"Oh God, if you give me... ____________... I promise I will attend church more, pray more, be a better Christian, read your bible more, witness more, serve in church more, help others.......blah, blah, blah"

Then God answered your prayer....

Whatever it is you promised God you would do... God expects you to keep your promises..

If you don't keep your promise, can you really expect God to answer your prayers the next time you try to bargain with him?

Our church will be having Revival services the last part of the week.
A local pastor, John Vetter, will be preaching.

For me, these services are important, because it is a time for me to examine myself, and to make some changes in my life that reveal God's love in a more clear way to the world.

It is a time to allow God to clean my heart, get all the junk out, and renew my spirit.

Even as a Pastor, I make mistakes... and need to repent.

Is there something you need to repent of?
Is there a promise you are not keeping?

If so, talk honestly to God... He will forgive you.... then keep your promise.

Early Memory of Church

The following is one of my earliest memories of church..
This is the way I remembered it as a 6 yr old boy...

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, the sun was bright, flowers were just beginning to bloom, and birds were beginning to sing on the banks of Elk River. I was 6 years old, and was riding with my mom and dad and sister to church. Dad had just been called to preach the year before, and had only preached a few times. As a matter of fact, one of my earliest memories was in that church. My family was sitting in the back of the church, and I looked at dad and asked him if we could go home, I had already watched this service on TV! But that morning was different, I could tell something was wrong, but I didn’t know all the details. I overheard dad telling mom that, “If Gene thinks he is going to take the church from Pastor Ray, there will be a fight and a half.”
You see, Ray had been pastor for around 3 yrs, and the church had grown from around 15 in attendance to around 75 in attendance. Ray had worked hard building that little WVBC church at Falling Rock. Before Ray came to the church, Gene was pastor. Gene realized that the church wasn’t growing, so he resigned and brought in Ray to be pastor, but Gene still attended the church and had a lot of influence on the decisions of the church.
Rumors had been circulating that Gene wanted to be pastor again, and was going to take over the church. And it seemed that everything was coming to a head that Sunday morning.
We arrived at the church, and set in our usual seats. After Sunday School devotions, we went to our classes, my class was in the little building across the parking lot, and the Pastor’s wife was my teacher. At 11 O’clock, we crossed the parking lot to go to the worship service. I set down with my parents, and service began. There were about 60 in attendance that morning, and all seemed to be going well up until the time, Pastor Ray stood to take the pulpit.
He walked up behind the pulpit, and right behind him was Gene and one of the Deacons. Gene told Ray that he was not going to preach in that church again, and that he was now the pastor. Gene and the Deacon picked Ray up and threw him into the choir chairs. Some men started to come to Ray’s defense, but Ray stood up, and stopped them. Ray dusted himself off, and started walking down the aisle toward the entrance of the church. Ray’s wife, and children with tears in their eyes, followed him, and out the door they went along with the congregation. Only 8 people were left inside. On the outside, it seemed like total confusion to this 6 year old boy. What had just happened? I had never seen this on TV before! What do we do now? Ray invited us all to his house, and we had service in his front lawn. I remember watching for Gene to drive up. I was scared at that point, and thought that Gene would try to start something at Ray’s home. But he didn’t.
That was essentially the end of that church. My family started going to another church, other families just quit going. Ray started pastoring another church a year later. And by the time I was married, he was pastor of my wife’s home church. He was my pastor when I announced my calling to preach, and he was the one I chose to preach the Charge message at my ordination.
What happened to the church Gene took over? That little church beside the road has been shut down and re-opened many times since by other preachers, but it has never been a light in that community since then… Ironically, its name was New Light Baptist when we went there. Later in years, I asked Ray why he didn’t fight back, and he said that he felt that morning that God told him to be Christ-like, and that meant to him to be humble. That was one of my earliest memories of church.