Is Style In Worship Really The Issue?
Recently Glenn Packiam cut through the noise and nailed the heart of the issue regarding style in worship.
If you read this space with any regularity you know I have a great deal of respect for Glenn. He is someone who is absolutely brilliant yet does not live on another planet. Glenn has the unique ability to speak to issues from a place of experience and integrity.
A couple of days ago I had a conversation with a friend about style in worship. He and a friend were discussing how our contemporary worship style has led to a flippant attitude toward God. I immediately dismissed the idea that our style, necessarily, leads to a flippant, casual, or “Jesus is my homeboy” attitude.
Then Glenn, as he often does, shook me awake.
Glenn asks the question: Do the words we use in worship and prayer really matter?
The very first shot out of the gate redirected my attention:
“Worship songs” are not just “expressions of our hearts to God”, they shape what we believe about God.
He is absolutely right. When I do retreats I teach this. We often forget much of the message we heard by Sunday afternoon but were still singing the songs we sang in worship on Wednesday. We as worship leaders hold a very powerful and potentially dangerous tool in our hands. We can use it to build up or tear down. And dare I say your intentions are not the issue. God is very specific about how we should approach Him. As Glenn points out in his response to the statement “its the heart that counts”:
Tell that to Nadab and Abihu– you know, the guys who offered a “strange fire” and got struck down in Numbers 3. Or Uzzah, the guy who struck dead for touching the Ark that was sliding off a cart it should never have been on because David did not “seek the Lord about the prescribed manner.” Where did we arrive at the notion that God does not care about the way that we worship? Or that all that matters is our heart?
Glenn asked the question in a video response to questions asked through “The Worship Community Blog“:
If someone were to get their view of God solely from the songs you’re singing this weekend, what would that “God” look like?
This question should challenge us right down to our shoes. What are we teaching those entrusted to us in the songs we sing and the prayers we pray? I make the case in my retreats that we have more influence over the congregation as worship leaders than the Pastor on Sunday morning.
Its way past time to stop arguing over style. Don’t misunderstand me; style matters but only to those God has called us to reach. It’s not about my preference. It’s about speaking to those God has called us to reach while being unapologetic about proclaiming the truths of God the church has been declaring for two thousand years.
It’s about learning to worship in “spirit and in truth.” The uncomfortable truth is that “the way we worship and pray is the way we believe is the way we live” (or, in Latin, if you prefer: Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi.)
If we will stand on truth and proclaim it loud and proud. God will build His church. When Jesus said in John 12:32 “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me”. He was talking about His death and if we will lift Him up in praise, in Spirit and in Truth, He would draw all men to Himself.
Let us never get so caught up in anything that we miss proclaiming the truth of God, which is the power of God for righteousness.
Click through and read the whole thing: Do the words we use in worship and prayer really matter?
Also check out: Video response to Worship Community questions and On the Theology of our worship services.
He Chose To Go
Happy Good Friday,
The pinnacle of Holy week is just three days away and today we remember what Jesus endured for us over two thousand years ago.
So many thoughts run through my mind. Messianic prophecy for one. The fact that without God the odds of all the prophesies about Jesus coming true are 1038 (1 in a 100 billion, billion, billion, billion).
But what is taking up most of my headspace today is the fact that Roman soldiers did not put Jesus on the cross and it wasn’t the nails that held Him there.
Over the last several years I have been engaged in conversations with those in and outside the Church who tell me its barbaric to believe a loving Father would send His son to be brutally beaten and murdered in the most horrific way to glorify Himself. This line of thinking is based on a faulty premise. Which is the case most of the time in these conversations. We need to be careful not to accept a premise without consideration. Most of the time the question is irrelevant because the understanding behind it is flawed, as in this case.
The Father and the Son are not separate but with the Spirit are one in essence. Essence is the attribute or set of attributes that make an object or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. They are three in one.
God chose, by Himself, to pay the penalty for sin so we can come boldly into His presence. Ephesians 2 explains that because of Jesus sacrifice we are seated in heavenly places with Him so that for all eternity He can point to us as an example of His goodness, grace, and mercy. God made a good world, we rebelled, but God had a plan. He chose to go the the cross and endure what He endured on Good Friday because He loves us.
It was sin that put Jesus on the cross. Not an angry Father or Roman soldiers and it was love that held Him there.
The mystery kept hidden for generations is now made known to the saints and the mystery is this; Christ in me the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:26-27)
See you Sunday. He is Risen!
A Spirit of Power, Love, and Sound Mind
I’ve never seen 2 Timothy 1:7-8 in context before.
It says:
7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.
I know I’ve read this passage dozens of times but I’ve never seen it this way before.
God has given us a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind so we would not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. In other words. We should not be fearful of sharing the gospel.
It is the proclaiming of the Word of God that, protects the truth, drives out heresy, and disciples believers.
Don’t be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Declare it boldly. God has equipped you to do it.
Christianity and “The American Dream”
This morning my friend ElijahPaul pointed me to an interesting article at CNN from David Platt, P.h. D., senior pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. It’s an interesting take on how he sees the church rejecting “The American Dream“.
Much of what I see written about this topic is about “Social Justice” and how the church should embrace government meeting needs as a Christian virtue. It’s refreshing to see a church take the responsibility on themselves.
Dr. Platt finishes the article with this idea:
I believe God is saying to us that real success is found in radical sacrifice. That ultimate satisfaction is found not in making much of ourselves but in making much of him. That the purpose of our lives transcends the country and culture in which we live. That meaning is found in community, not individualism. That joy is found in generosity, not materialism. And that Jesus is a reward worth risking everything for.
Click through and read the whole thing, I would love your thoughts.
Are Christian values and the American Dream mutually exclusive? Is materialism keeping us from being the hands and feet of Jesus?
H.T. ElijahPaul
To All People and For You
Two years ago almost to the day I had a small post entitled “To You“. Those words come back to me again this year.
The word “people” literally means “a people” which differentiates it from the word meaning “one’s own populace”. Jesus was born for everyone not just the Jewish Nation. He was born to be King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Savior of the whole world. And He was born
“To You”
I think of the scene in Aladdin toward the end when the villain is gaining power and Genie reminds him he still doesn’t have the power of a genie. He realizes this to be true and for his final wish he wishes to be an “All Powerful Genie!”. Instantly as he feels the power well up inside him he is sucked into a bottle. To which Genie states.
“Phenomenal Cosmic Power!! itty bitty living space”.
Jesus is the creator of the Universe yet He chose to leave the splendor and 24/7 365 worship directed at Him to be born in a manger. The manger speaks of the very purpose He came. To be the lamb of God. He was born to die. Simply because of His love for you. There was absolutely nothing in it for Him but relationship with you.
Tomorrow as we begin to wind down from the hectic pace of Christmas and look towards the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day activities remember. Jesus was born for all people. But most importantly He was born to you.
Merry Christmas.
The Love of God
Recently I’ve been struck by the love of God.
I’ve always known He loves me but the last couple of weeks as I’ve meditated on it I realize not only that He loves me but how much He loves you.
Again not that this is a great revelation it’s just that I’ve been thinking about how much He loves you and what that should mean for me.
I can get so frustrated with people. There are times when I’m behind someone on the on ramp to I-25 and they’re trying to merge with 75 mph traffic at 45 mph while talking on their cell phone and I just want to scream. Sorry if that shatters your opinion of me it’s just the truth.
However as I’ve been thinking about how much God loves all people and how He longs for everyone to know Him and walk in close intimate fellowship with Him it changes my reaction. I also realize He is my rear guard and I don’t have to worry about being crushed by the 75 mph traffic coming behind me.
C.S. Lewis in his sermon “The Weight of Glory” says we have never met a mere mortal. It is impossible to think too much about the potential glory of our neighbor and the weight of their glory should be placed upon my back. A load so heavy only humility can carry it and the backs of the proud will be broken. Everyone on earth is either an everlasting splendor or an immortal horror and all day long we are helping each other to become one or the other of these.
Everyone has a story. They are coming from somewhere and going somewhere. Before we make any judgments we need to understand their story and make sure we are helping everyone become and everlasting splendor not an immortal horror.
Healthy Things Grow
This morning I ran across an article in response to the question “What do you think of the Purpose Driven model?”.
To their credit they didn’t attack Rick Warren or Saddleback rather they chose to outline from their perspective what a “Biblical local church” looks like. Here it is in part:
First and foremost, a Biblically successful church has zero to do with the size or growth of the congregation. The Bible does not implore pastors to grow their churches. Rather, it is God who adds to the Body of Christ (Acts 2:47). If a pastor waters down what he teaches, or avoids teaching certain things like sin and repentance, regardless of his sincerity or motivation, it is called “tickling the ears” and is wrong (2Tim. 4:3). It would be far better for a Believer to attend a small church where a humble pastor knows everyone’s name and spiritual gifts while making it his priority to nurture individual’s spiritual growth and formation. On Judgment Day (Rom. 14:11) pastors will not be judged according to how large their churches were, but for how well they Biblically armored His flock for service (2Tim. 4:2)
Therefore, regardless of the size, the purpose of the local Church is:
To equip Believers for service (2Tim. 3:16; Eph. 4:12)
Armoring Believers, not evangelism of non-believers, is to be the focal point of the local church. Individual Believers are instructed to exhibit God’s love and be used by the Holy Spirit to evangelize the community (2Tim. 4:5 ). All examples of early church activities have believers doing the evangelizing (Acts 4:1-2, 13:5, 17:2). Therefore, the focus of the pastor and his number one priority should be the equipping of those the Lord has put under his ministry. From the Sunday sermon, youth activities, home Bible studies, to miscellaneous activities, ALL should be focused on the Believer and his/her spiritual armor and growth in God’s love. It is not the church’s purpose to attract non-Believers for evangelism and growth.
It’s a fairly lengthy post. I don’t disagree with all of it. Mostly the foundational premise that “a Biblically successful church has zero to do with the size or growth of the congregation.” and how that translates into Sunday morning should be “focused on the Believer and his/her spiritual armor and growth in God’s love.”
I’ll post a rebuttal in the comments later but wanted to hear your thoughts on the bit above. You can tell by the title of the post a little bit about my response and the angle I’m coming from.
Thanks for commenting, I appreciate this community.
The Prodigal
This morning I ran across a video written by the brother/sister team of Ryan and Meghan Baird on Bob Kauflin’s blog Worship Matters. As I watched I was reminded of something God showed me last year.
Before you watch the video let me share some thoughts:
We’ve all read the story of the prodigal son and heard it preached many times. When I was first walking with the Father it was easy to identify with the story. Even though I hadn’t said to my father “I wish you were dead, now give me my inheritance” it was easy to see how God had been reaching out to me and how I had, many times, walked away.
Having walked with the Father for over 25 years it became harder to identify with the story and I tended to listen passively and move on. But a truth remains in the story for we who have been walking with the Father a long time.
We all have seasons of spending our inheritance outside of relationship with the Father.
If you have applied, by faith, Jesus sacrifice for your sin you are, by grace through faith, made righteous and a child of God. Ephesians tells us it was the Fathers idea from the very beginning to adopt us as sons (inheritors) and give us an inheritance. To the extent we spend that inheritance outside of relationship with the Father we are prodigals. With that in mind watch the video:
Here are the lyrics:
You held out Your arms, I walked away
Insolent I spurned Your face
Squandering the gifts You gave to me
Holding close forbidden things
Destitute a rebel still, a fool in all my pride
The world I once enjoyed is death to me
No joy, no hope, no life
Where now are the friends, that I had bought
Gone with every penny lost
What hope could there be for such as I
Sold out to a world of lies
Oh, to see Your face again, it seems so distant now
Could it be that You would take me back
A servant in Your house
You held out Your arms, I see them still
You never left, You never will
Running to embrace me, now I know
Your cords of love will always hold
Mercy’s robe, a ring of grace
Such favor undeserved
You sing over me and celebrate
The rebel now Your child
© 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP).
Deuteronomy 30:2-3 promises us if we will:
return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you. Deut 30:2-3
The Robe speaks of welcoming into the family and removing sin. We are clothed with His righteousness, made righteous. The ring is a sign of sonship (inheritors) being sealed by the Holy Spirit with second inheritance of wealth, dominion, and rulership. Sandals differentiate us from a servant. The feast declares to the world the Joy of the Father. Freedom and honor are restored in perfect reconciliation and all the son did was return.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:10-14
Don’t wait. Relationship with the Father is to be valued more than our inheritance from Him. He wants to spend it with us. Wherever you are right now be purposeful. Don’t rehearse a speech. Just return, I’m going to do that right now.
20 Years Ago Today…
It’s been over 90 days since my last post. It’s been a season of busyness and reflection, in that order. My focus has been to try to evaluate fruit and determine where I need to focus going forward. I have much to say on the subject but today I have a bigger purpose.
20 years ago today, 6:00 Central time to be exact, Kimberly Burger and I started a new life together.
As I sit here it seems amazing to me that it’s been 20 years. So much has happened not all of it good but all of it profitable because in the midst of it all we have followed the one who designed marriage. We haven’t always done it well but we have always done it.
Many men say “I am married to the most amazing woman on earth” I’m sure they are sincere but I really am, let me explain.
Our first date never happened.
It was my Sr. year and just prior to the Sadie Hawkins dance my long term girlfriend and I had “broken up”. I decided I would not go to the dance and had already declined a couple invitations. Then along comes Kim. She was, and is, always so full of life and joy and is impossible to ignore, why would I try anyway 
. After a school function the two of us were cruising main and talking and when I dropped her off at her house the conversation continued sitting on the trunk of my 1970 Pontiac LeMans leaning on the back glass which curved in like a lounge chair.
It was, and is, comfortable to be with her she made me laugh but was never “silly” or “a dumb girl”. There was, and is, substance to her something that draws you in. She still possesses that today and is one of the reasons she is so successful at everything she does. During the conversation she asked me to go with her to the dance and I accepted.
Later that week my old girlfriend came to me and said she had decided not to go to the dance with someone else and asked me to go with her. Being the loyal golden retriever that I am I went to Kim as she was on the stairs on her way to class and told her the situation. I went to the dance and Kim stayed home. I know what your thinking, what a jerk, and you would be right.
We remained friends and I still always loved being around her. After graduation I was home for the weekend we drove to the Pepper Mill steak house in a neighboring town about an hour away. We had a great time but I never called her again.
Fast forward a couple of Christmases. I ran into her again in our hometown and invited her to my parents house to catch up. When she arrived she knocked my socks off. It was the late 80′s and she was wearing a sweater dress looking like a million bucks. I had never looked at her that way before but suddenly I had a completely different view and it was good. So why didn’t I call her later? I don’t know.
The next summer was my parents 25 year anniversary I was playing in the band at the reception and Kim came and sat there the whole night so she could talk to me at the breaks between sets. I was still oblivious. On the way home my cousin said “You better call that girl”. I said “you think so”. I know I’m a slow learner. I did call and she came to the state fair where we saw Clint Black, Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Joe Diffy and again had a great time. We continued to talk, a lot, on the phone and I would make the trip home as often as possible. One night sitting on her back porch she said to me “you know I really like you” I think in the back of my mind I knew and hoped that was the case but in my zeal to not come on too strong I didn’t come on at all. I still do that a bit today.
Sorry to ramble so much but this is my blog Back to the title of the post:
20 years ago today at about this time my dad and I were standing in my back yard in the rain wondering what to do. It was an outside wedding and we needed to make a decision. The rehearsal had been rained out and our family’s ended up in different places not doing what normally happens at a wedding rehearsal.
We woke to more rain, cloudy skies, and dim weather forecasts. My dad who I love dearly would not be described as a church person said to me. “If God gave you the girl, the date, and the place, what makes you think he will rain you out. So off we went to the city hall to pick up folding chairs and set them up in the rain having faith God would work it out.
That night was absolutely beautiful. Thunderstorms, tornado warnings, and rain all around us but in Ainsworth Nebraska on the corner of North Osborne and 3rd street was absolutely perfect.
Kim has always been my greatest cheerleader, always believed in me, even when I haven’t believed in myself, and has always been my closest and best friend. I would not be the man I am today without her and I don’t want to do the next 50 or more without her.
Kimberly as long as I live I will always remember you this way. I love you.
I love my life
When I was in college a friend of mine would always pray, “God You are so big”, I remember thinking “That is the understatement of all understatements” however; I often find myself at a loss for words explaining what He is doing.
I find myself in that situation today.
Last weekend I had the privilege of being with some great people in Limon Colorado leading a worship retreat for Life in Christ Church. This is the first time a church has invited the community to join them. As a result we were blessed to have three churches represented. What a blessing to have different levels of musicians, different places in their walk with the Lord, and different traditions of worship. It created a different but very good environment.
We started on Friday night with Repentance and Dieing to self. It set the tone for the whole weekend. God was faithful and set a tone of reverence and expectation.
Saturday morning we began with Real worship, went into the rewards of loyalty by teaching through the book of Ruth, after which we were prepared to go to the centerpiece of the whole weekend, “walking in intimacy with God”. What does it mean practically to walk in intimacy with God? I know I’m supposed to read my bible and pray but there has to be more, and there is. We finished the morning answering the question “why music?”. If worship isn’t about music then why music?
After lunch we began by explaining what it means to be a “worship leader” and what is potentially wrong with the titles of “lead worshiper” or “lead follower”. We finished the heart portion of the day talking about excellence. What is it and can we offer it?
The practical “how to” portion began at about 2:00 with the purpose and elements of a worship team. What is the purpose of the choir and each individual element of the team. Where does each instrument fit into the sonic space. My friend Andrew did an excellent job with practical music theory. He starts with where we are rather than taking us back to theory 101 it was great.
After supper we went into planning and delivering a worship set and an actual rehearsal for Sunday morning.
I came home exhausted but energized. Seeing the fruit of God’s word and some practical application is always amazing.
If you were going to have a retreat what things would you add or subtract? What did I miss?
My Songs
