Light and Life

We end the year by celebrating the coming of the King.  And at the beginning of a new year, we remember that the kings were guided by a light to the King of Kings for worship well after His birth.  May we also realize that as we have celebrated His coming at Christmas that as the kings, we are now guided by His light to a place of worship coming to know that He not only is the light, but He is our life.  If we come to understand fully the meaning of these things, it will change the way we worship both privately and with the gathered body in this new year.

The light of Jesus in us not only is a testimony of the power of the gospel to change lives, but is also a light to guide those around us to Him.  May we choose in His power to be that light, because then, others will come also to worship Him.  Even the way we worship leads others to worship Him.  

This is the season that the light of Christ and life in the Spirit becomes so important in illuminating and guiding us in our walk and worship.  And, if our walk and our worship are not intertwined we have missed authentic worship.

As we begin a new, may we emphasize the reality of Christ in our lives and His centrality in our worship.  Let's pray, anticipate, and expect Him to move in our lives individually and as the church during these days to accomplish His kingdom purpose in us.  Then, it will truly be a Happy New Year!  mjm

Christmas Joy and Worship

One of the most beloved Christmas Carols is "Joy to the World".  Joy is an important part of Christmas celebration and it is an important part of our worship according to scripture.  The word "joy" appears some 200 times in scripture and the verb "rejoice" another 200 times.  As early as Numbers 11, we see that joy is a result of redemption or salvation.  Joy is not something we create on our own.  It is the fruit of a right relationship with God.  

Happiness versus joy is an interesting study.  Happiness usually comes according to what is "happening" in our lives.  If our happenings are what we want, then we experience some form of happiness.  Happiness is self-indulgent pleasure, which doesn't lead to a true happiness or joy and fulfillment because it is always dependent on what is happening at any given moment in our lives.  

Joy, however emanates from our right relationship to God through the incarnate Word, Jesus.  Jesus spoke of His own joy as well as the full joy He came to bring to us in John 15 & 17.  Joy runs much deeper than happiness.  Joy depends not on our happenings or circumstances.  Our joy is not self created in our own attempt at controlling our circumstances.  Our joy is complete in the fullness of Christ and is not dependent on our surroundings or circumstances. 

The focus in our worship should always be on Jesus Christ.  Therefore, our worship should always be full of joy, because He is joy.  The joy of God came to focus in human history in the person of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, a note of joy runs through the entire accounts of the coming of Christ into the world.    Many of those references to joy in scripture have to do with shouting for joy, and singing for joy in our worship.  

Chuck Swindoll said, "When His joy invades our lives, it spills over into everything we do and onto everything we touch."  May we be reminded at this Christmas time that this should be so in our joy and worship.  When we spend time with Him in our private worship, then the natural result of His joy invasion is for it to spill out into everything we do and onto everything and every person we touch. Then we can really say and sing - Joy to the World!  mjm

Threefold Cord of Christmas Worship

Because of our Christmas Musical this year, I was reminded of not only the words of the Shepherds, but the words of Anna and Simeon as it impacts worship from then on.

First the Shepherds.  In Luke 2:20 we see them returning to their sheep "glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard."  As they went they were telling their story.  They literally became the first evangelists of the gospel age.  Their response to seeing the fulfillment  of the coming of the Messiah and therefore redemption, was glory and praise.  Should or would it be any different today as we tell the story of His coming?

Simeon had been given the assurance by God's Spirit that he would not die without seeing the Messiah come.  The Old Testament Jews revered the Scriptures; nevertheless, the Old Testament was full of unattainable precepts, unfulfilled promises, and unexplained procedures.

Old Simeon understood that these seeming deficiencies could be resolved only in the person of Christ (Dan. 9:24-26). Christ was the answer to his incomplete Bible. The Spirit of God made clear to him that he would see Him when He came.  Simeon gazed into the face of a Babe and and at the same time saw the face of God manifest in the flesh.  Simeon knew that Israel would reject the heaven-sent Savior when he told Mary that a sword would pierce her heart, a reference to Calvary - His purpose for coming.

When Anna saw Simeon holding the Babe and the light of glory in his face, she knew He had come. She knew Simeon's quest had come to an end and her ministry was to begin.  She immediately began her new ministry of thanksgiving to God, taking up her post in the temple and telling everyone the good news that the Messiah had come.  

The threefold cord of worship had been woven starting with the Shepherds, Old Simeon and finally Anna.  It is interesting that in Ecclesiastes 4:12 it states, "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.  Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." And then it is of interest that Paul states in 2 Corinthians 13:1, "This is the third time I am coming to visit you and as the Scriptures say, 'The facts of every case must be established by the testimony of  two or three witnesses.'"  This threefold cord of worship and testimony of redemption lays the foundation for worship until He returns.  mjm

God's Love Personified

The coming into the world of God's Son was the personification of God's love.  His love is beyond anything we can possibly describe or even fully understand as He sent His only Son for the specific purpose of eventual "Holy scars" that we might have life and life abundant.

Our world is full of fragile and even fickle loves - love that fades, love that abandons, love that divorces, love that is self-seeking.  All the more reason we as worshippers should have an inextinguishable love for Him within our amazed hearts, in seeing God's perfect love and wonders.  That kind of love and worship survives any circumstance or situation in our lives.  Our love and worship response will not allow itself to be quenched no matter what happens to us in the living of life.  The Bible is full of characters who loved Him in that way, who become examples for us.

Even non-Biblical characters give us hints.  Fanny Crosby was only eight years old when she penned the following words: "O what a happy soul am I!  Although I cannot see, I am resolved that in this world contented I will be.  How many blessings I enjoy, that other people don't.  To weep and sigh because I'm blind, I cannot, and I won't."  

This contented worshipper went on to write some 8,000 hymns of praise.  Those thousands of songs were the result of a heart that burned for Jesus and could not be put out.  She once told someone,  "The good thing about being blind is that the very first face I'll see will be the face of Jesus."  Some would have chosen a path of bitterness as their response to God; she chose love and worship. 

I love the Psalms.  The Psalms have been described as  both "praise in the presence and in the absence of God."  Our worship should survive every situation or circumstance in our lives.  Whatever trials await us, we should always have a song of undying, unquenchable worship on our lips. mjm 

Love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as

the grave.  It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty

flame.  Many waters cannot quench love; rivers can-

not wash it away.  (Song of Songs 8:6,7).

Worship in the Midst of Tragedy

Words matter in worship.  Whether they are the words of a sermon, scripture readings, hymns, Christmas carols or spiritual songs, the words matter.  I shared a couple of weeks ago about how many times we see the "peace" word used in Christmas carols and readings.  

In light of the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, I want to share about other words we see at Christmas.  The words or comfort, joy, hope, and peace.  It is interesting that "tidings of comfort and joy" are used in the same sentence in some of our carols with which we worship.  When we look at our world today we tend to think things are so much worse today than back in the day when the Son of God entered our world as Emmanuel, God with us.  We see the manger scene in our minds and forget that He burst forth onto the scene in a world that did not really receive Him well.  It also was a world of evil, hate, persecution, bigotry, and a sick society.  His coming was described as "tidings of comfort and joy" - seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet, into a world of fear and distrust enters comfort, joy, hope and yes, the Prince of Peace.  

In a very real sense, comfort in the midst of that kind of world leads us to joy, and hope leads us to peace.  That comfort, joy, hope, and peace is embodied in the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords and Prince of Peace. 

We grieve for those who have lost so tragically, but we don't grieve without hope...because of Him.  We need to pray for comfort that eventually will lead these loved ones to joy again in Him.  We need to pray that He will bring people around these folks to minister in the power of God's Spirit this comfort, hope, peace, and joy found only in the babe of Bethlehem.  Emmanuel - God with us - His presence among us even in tragedy and trials is a promise we must hold to in times like these, knowing that God in His providence will "work this to a greater good" in His time.  Parents and Grandparents, take time to love on and worship with your children this blessed Christmas Season.  mjm

Advent Worship

Since around the 4th century the church has observed advent in many different ways.  For some it is a family tradition done with their children.  Some churches observe it very strictly every year.  Our church has observed it in the past in a very organized fashion and many years in a less organized fashion.  In the past few years it has become much more of an observance among evangelicals, including Baptists.  

Theologically it has its foundation in Christian hope.  The basis of our hope being the coming among us of Jesus Christ. We are not saved and redeemed because we successfully came to Him,  but because He came to us.  

For centuries the people of Israel awaited their Anointed One, the Messiah.  They anxiously anticipated release from bondage and being displaced, and the hope of what the Messiah would bring to them.  

Honestly, for the church, the coming of Christ the Messiah means even more.  In the actual coming of Christ as "the Word made flesh," our hope is not diminished but actually intensified.  We don't become unengaged because of His presence, but instead we experience a holy joy, and a peace-filled excitement about God's presence in our lives and in our world.  Our lives are shaped by Advent hope.  Christ has come into our world; Christ comes into our lives as we invite Him in; Christ will come again in all His glory and in the meantime He continually comes into our lives confronting us with the challenge to follow Him completely.  

He came, He comes, He will come again!  We rejoice in this season of advent leading to Christmas, rejoicing for "our redemption draweth nigh"!  Hallelujah! mjm

And on Earth, Peace . . .

"And on Earth, Peace" is the title of the Christmas Musical we will be presenting next Sunday night.  The title led me to some thoughts for this worship blog having to do with peace.  I have noticed in Luke 2 where we find the Christmas story that we find some important "worship" words:  glory, joy, praising, and of course peace.  Another word I add is implied throughout this chapter . . . hope.  Hope runs through individuals and groups of people throughout chapter 2 of Luke.  When we gather as the body for worship, we find all of those words involved in our worship.  Every worship experience reminds us and others of the hope we have in Christ.  We are always interested in the glory of God and joy is a natural expression of what we know in Him.  That all leads us to praise, and as we are reminded of all He is and all we have in Him the final result is peace.  He is our peace.  Emmanuel, God with us, is peace because He lives in us.

There are several Christmas carols we sing as we gather together that remind us of that peace. Some of those lines are - "fill the whole world with heaven's peace",  "and peace on earth to men", "peace on earth and mercy mild",  "sleep in heavenly peace", "the words repeat of peace on earth, good will to men", "Everlasting Prince of Peace", "grant to us Thy heavenly peace", "our peace eternal making". And there are more.  

I remember struggling all my life with the theme of "peace on earth" at Christmas.  All my life I have seen a lack of peace in politics, a lack of peace among people groups, a lack of peace in families, a lack of peace between countries.  I have asked myself many times, "Where in our world is this peace?"  But when Jesus invaded the world He brought peace, because He is peace.  We who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior can experience complete peace because He lives in us.  So in the midst of a chaotic, peace-deprived world, we know perfect peace in Him.  When we gather reminding one another that he was "born to save", we are reminding one another and remembering in our own walk with Him that He IS our peace.  It is the kind of peace that passes all human understanding as expressed in Philippians and literally guards our hearts so we can experience joy and peace.  May we remember in the midst of chaos the wonderful gift of peace that has been given to us in Christ.  And on earth, peace . . . because He came.  mjm

Come and Worship . . .

In a very real sense when "the Word became flesh and dwelled among us" the invitation to the Shepherds, the wise men and yes, to all was to  . . . Come and Worship!  God sent His Son into the world to be worshipped.  As the carol says, "Come and worship the newborn King!"   

Hebrews 7:19 says, "For the law never made anything perfect.  But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God."  Our dilemma was how do we draw near to God.  God's answer to that question was first of all . . . the glorious arrival of His Son among us.  Then, the Bible makes it clear that in and through Him our own body is God's temple or dwelling place.  Our spirit needs, desires, and wants closeness to God.  We want to know Him personally, not as an idea, concept, principle or as some distant monarch or king.  

We are shown in scripture that we can draw near through prayer, worship, and reading and meditating on God's word.  We don't have to live like monks, but all of us could use more prayer in our lives.  In our culture even in Christian circles, the practice and habit of worship has become a convenience to be wedged between sports, the busyness of life and other recreations.  God calls us and challenges us, by His Spirit, to make worship our top priority.  That is . . . both our daily personal worship and the gathering of the Body on a regular basis worshipping together.  Bible meditation can include verse memory, songs, and personal reading in a quiet time.  The Bible is God's Word . . . Him speaking to us. 

 If we are faithful to have God's word dwelling in our lives every day we will draw nearer to Him.  So, as we begin the celebration of the coming of the King, let's . . . Come and Worship!   mjm

The Missionary Message - Joy to the World!

John's missionary message is found in 1 John 1:3: "that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."  Our first responsibility as a missionary, and all of us are missionaries, is to maintain an intimate relationship with Jesus that is so authentic and real in our lives that our Joy spills out in our living and our giving.  This intimate and abiding fellowship in Christ is foundational to missions whether at home or our involvement in praying, going and giving all around the world.

Paul's missionary message is found in Col. 4:2-4: "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison - that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak."  Paul sees the substance of what he preaches as being the indwelling Christ.  He spoke of joy and the riches of the glory of the mystery of Christ in us.  And yet, he emphasizes our very important part in praying that mystery be proclaimed in clarity.  Paul calls for the church to pray enabling the mission.  We are also called to pray and share in the blessing that "Christ is in you and He is your hope of glory".

Our missionary message is found in I Thessalonians 2:10: "You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.  Our missionary message is practicing what we preach and remembering that 'Christ . . . is your life.'"  Our mission is to allow Him to impart His life of joy, hope, and peace in such a way that it impacts the world in our sphere of influence.  He is our life, joy, peace, and hope.  Together, as we have been singing at the end of our worship, "I want to be Your hands and feet, I want to be Your voice every time I speak.  I want to run to the ones in need, in the name of Jesus.  I want to give my life away all for Your Kingdom's sake. Shine a light in the darkest place in the name of Jesus." 

That is why our church gave over $ 557,000.00 in one Sunday morning, today.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!

Music - Evangelism - Missions

As we approach our world missions offering this coming Sunday, I want to say a word about Evangelism and Missions and a little about music in that process.  

We as Baptists have sometimes thought of our goal of evangelism as decisions.  But, it is much more than just decisions.  Our goal must be disciples, not just decisions.  The complete work of evangelism and missions includes seeking, finding, folding, and feeding.
Some of the Evangelism/Missions principles are derived from Mark 4 and I Corinthians 3:5-10.  In these passages we see soil preparation, planting, watering, and increase (harvest).  That which we will be giving to world missions will be involved in all of these parts of mission and evangelism.  Also, I want to point out that many of our missionaries who are not necessarily appointed as music missionaries as I was, still use music in missions.
"Soil preparation" - This is the process of earning a hearing and creating an environment for the sowing of the seed of the gospel.  Music is a wonderful tool in breaking down cultural barriers and preparing hearts for the gospel.
"Planting" - This is the "sowing of the seed" of Christ's love -  communicating the love of Christ and our own compassion in Christ.
"Watering" - This is the nurturing in love the seed which has been planted.  God, many times, uses music to continue to communicate and soften hearts for the influence of the gospel.
"Increase" - This is the act of actually securing a decision to become a disciple of Jesus when the harvest is ripe and ready.  The Lord uses music many times to help encourage (by His Spirit) a person to that final point of decision to follow Jesus.
So, these different parts of the process of missions are not only impacted by our giving, but are also used by many of our missionaries with the tool of music.  By the way, the same principles work here at home.  As well it should, because our mission begins here at home and we can be involved all the way around the world through our going, giving, and praying.  In any culture, any given musical language, any mission for Christ, the ultimate goal is still the same - the glory of God!  mjm

Exaltation and Mission

In Revelation chapter 1, John gives us insight into exaltation and mission through his vision of Christ.  First we see the reality of Christ's majesty.  John saw Jesus majestic, exalted, enthroned King.  If the world is to see Jesus in us, we must see Him as He is, and in seeing Him "lift Him up" so that others may see Him in us.  We have been promised in John 12:32 that when He is lifted up from the earth, He will draw all people to Himself.  In exalting Him people see Him in us and we are a part of "lifting Him up" to the world through giving, sending, praying and going.  So first we must see the person of Jesus and then hear the voice of Jesus.  

The reality of Christ's authority is found in hearing the voice of Jesus as seen in John's vision.  Jesus spoke from His position as Lord of the church.  Jesus went on to confer that divine authority on us in Matthew 28.  "All authority is given unto Me . . . "  

Then, we also see the reality of Christ's power in John's vision.  His vision sees the consummate power of Christ through to the end of all things, showing Him as Lord and King, God triumphant.  Again in Matthew 28, after His authority is conferred upon us, His power comes upon us so that we can go in His name and send in His name.  Worshippers are made recipients of Kingdom authority and power that we might be equipped to fulfill His Majesty's call to extend His kingdom over all the earth - to every possible person - until His return.

If we see the reality of Christ's majesty, authority, and power, our worship will be re-fired.  It will bring us into His presence to witness His majesty - bring us to His feet to acknowledge His Lordship - and send us to every person and people group as we pray,  give, send, and go in the mind-boggling power of the Lord of All!  Our exaltation and worship will actually determine our sacrifice as we give together to our world mission offering during these days.  mjm

A Personal Thanksgiving

I wanted to take the blog this time and express my appreciation and thanks to those of you who have followed the worship blog the last two years.  This week we passed 10,000 hits or reads of the blog.  It has never been public but sent only to our choir members and worshipping prayer warriors, but you have shared it with others.  We have had hits not only from the United States but also: United Kingdom, Israel, France, Canada, Peru, Russia, India, Italy, Mexico, Germany, Australia, and Japan.  It has been a blessing to hear from both choir members and church members that the blog has been an encouragement and/or instructive at some point.  Thank you for following my thoughts on worship.

I also am so thankful for my Lord and salvation thru Jesus Christ.  I am thankful He has chosen to use me over the years in the kingdom in many different ways.  I am thankful for the support and encouragement from my parents and Fran's parents.  I am thankful for the one who has been beside me for 43 years in marriage.  I am thankful for our three wonderful children, two godly sons-in-law and seven awesome grandchildren.  We are also thankful for serving with a Bible-preaching Pastor like Steve Swofford for almost 27 years in two different churches.  We are so thankful for the place of service at First Baptist these almost 23 years with the First Family and Staff.  It has been a wonderful time together.  And, I am so thankful that there are so many from our church who are faithful to pray for our church and who pray specifically for our worship as a church.  

Giving Thanks to Him!

Michael J

A Thanksgiving Psalm

Psalm 100 has been called the Thanksgiving Psalm or the Thanksgiving Song.  There are important words found in this Psalm that have important connections.

In the first two verses we are immediately made aware of the importance of joy and gladness in a thankful life.  Because of God's steadfastness and faithfulness our approach to Him should be one that brings out our happiness in Him.  We are encouraged to sing our way into His presence.  And, guess what?  It is not just for a select few, but for the whole earth.

In v. 3 we are told exactly what singing our way into His presence will lead us to.  It leads us to the perception, recognition, and assurance that the Lord is Sovereign God.  Not only did He make us, but because He made us and we are completely His through redemption, we are kept by Him even as a shepherd cares for and protects His sheep. Acknowledging that He is Lord and Shepherd circles us back around to praise and thanksgiving.

Then in v. 4 we are given the password which truly takes us through the gates into full worship.  That password is "thank you"!  It is only then that we can really make ourselves at home in worship and praise.  Think of it - completely at home with Him in praise with a word of thanksgiving.

In v. 5 we are reminded that "thanksgiving worship" is a family affair.  It is for all generations to remember that He is good and that His unfailing love and faithfulness are forever and for all generations.  Thanksgiving takes us to a whole different level of worship and . . . Thanksgiving takes us to another level of "thanks-living" that is to be passed on to each generation.  This is the true tradition that we must pass along to the next generation . . . our own monuments of thanksgiving and praise.  mjm

Is Jesus in the House?

Please read Mark 2:1-12 as background to this blog and have it open as you read the blog. 

We find in this passage Jesus is in the house.  If we are to be effective in getting the message of redemption to our world, Jesus has got to be in the house.  We see in this passage that when Jesus is in the house the following happens:

REVELATION - v.2 - When Jesus is in the house God's Word is preached faithfully, His power and glory, His nature and character, His will, ways, and plans are revealed. He reveals Himself through His Word.

COOPERATION - v. 4 -  The Bible is the text book on cooperation in all of its teachings on the Body of Christ and we see cooperation involved in this verse.  When someone is causing division in the work of God, it is sin no matter how noble we might think the motive.  Also, anytime we think we are so spiritual we don't need the rest of the body of Christ, it is contrary to New Testament teaching.  God's way is cooperation.

RECONCILIATION - v. 5 - There is no reconciliation until there has been cooperation.  When there is a lack of cooperation among the body of Christ, it becomes a distraction and the church fails to carry out its work of reconciling man back to God.  We can spend all our time and energy trying to establish cooperation.  But, if Jesus is in the house, cooperation is already there and an environment for reconciliation is already in place.

CONFRONTATION - v. 6-7 - When Jesus is in the house, you will face opposition.  Satan will be stirred and find someone to help him oppose.  If there is no confrontation or opposition, it probably means Jesus is not in the house. 

MANIFESTATION - v. 12 - God makes Himself known through His acts.  When we cooperate with God and each other - God shows Himself in His mighty works and we are able to see that it is God that has done it, not man.  Some people think emotion is equal to manifestation.  Emotion does not ever create manifestation, however at times emotion may be the result of spiritual manifestation.  

GLORIFICATION - v.12b - They praised God, not the house, not the teacher, not the preacher, not the worship leader.  They gave praise and glory to God.  Do we leave our worship on a regular basis giving glory to God for what He has done?  Do people see evidence of the manifest presence and glory of God when they worship with us?  When Jesus is in the house, there will be glory! mjm

A Missionary Psalm

I once heard or read that Praise is universal.  In a real sense, it is true.  In Psalm 96 we see that nations and nature praise His majesty . . .  It has been said that Psalm 96 is the Missionary Psalm.  We had the wonderful opportunity in God's will and plan to spend time as  missionaries to Zimbabwe from 1984 thru 1990.  I had the opportunity of worshipping with Africans in and from six different African countries.  I can still see and hear those wonderful congregations in whole hearted praise; every person participating in praise to the Lord.  I conducted a Seminary Choir that sang in six different languages,  plus English.  What a preview of the music of heaven.  

Philippians 2: 9-11 is a wonderful counterpart to Psalm 96.  The Apostle Paul tells us of a day when Christ will be exalted and every creature from every nation on earth will acknowledge Him.  On that great day, the curse on nature will be lifted, and God will pour out His blessing.  Harmony and balance will be restored, the heavens and earth will be glad and all of creation will shake with joy, music, and praise.  We are told in Scripture that even inanimate objects will be moved to praise.  How much more our tongues will be loosed as we join the great universal choir singing love in any and every language - Spanish, English, Shona, Ndebele, Russian, Chinese, Swahili . . . 

When the Lord made it clear I was to return to America, I had to say good-by to some of the dearest students and friends of my life, those whom I had joined in praise in some six different languages.  I told several of them that if I never got to see them again on this side, that some day I would see them, and join back together in His presence and we would use every language to exalt the name of Jesus to the glory of God the Father!  May we do everything we can to increase the number of those who will join us at the throne by praying, going, giving - being His heart, His hands, His voice. 

Is Your Worship Contagious?

During this time of emphasis on missions and evangelism, I wanted to think about the question - Is our worship contagious?  We find in scripture that our worship should affect and even infect others.  That was God's plan from the start.  Worship is the purpose of evangelism and missions.  When Jesus reached out to the woman at the well, He talked to her about what it meant to be a worshipper.  In worship we have talked about praise and worship being vertical, but it is also horizontal.  Throughout scripture it moves back and forth between praise being to God and about God.  The real question is -  Is it God-centered?  In a way, worship is vertical praise and missions and evangelism is horizontal praise as we share with people around us what God is doing.   

When Paul evangelized, his purpose was to produce worshippers.  Romans 15:16 tells us that when Paul preached the Gospel, it was "so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God."  In Exodus, the Lord said, "Let my people go so that they may worship me."  Peter said . . . "We were called out of darkness into His wonderful light" so that we can . . . "declare [His] praises" ( I Peter 2:9).

Not only is missions and evangelism the purpose of our worship, it is the outcome of our worship.  After Isaiah experiences heavenly worship in chapter 6 of Isaiah, he is sent to . . . "go and tell the people."  In reality the Great Commission was given in a time of worship:  "When they saw Him, they worshipped Him . . . then Jesus came to them and said, ' . . . go and make disciples of all nations.'"  Paul's first missionary journey was commissioned during a time of worship in Acts 13.  Paul and Silas were worshipping in jail and the outcome was evangelizing the jailer in Acts 16.  

It is clear in scripture that the most effective mission and outreach happens when there is a passion for authentic worship.  May the world be able to see Him in our praying, giving and going because of our passion for worship.  Then, truly our worship will be contagious, with many more joining us in worship of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  mjm

Missions Music Observation

I want to make some personal observations about music and missions over the years.  In our hymnals for about the last 100 years there was very little in the way of hymns that praised God directly or called us to be on mission with God.  The majority of the hymns were about God and our redemption.  

Initially the "modern worship movement" brought us a lot of praise songs that spoke or were addressed directly to God.  So more of those started showing up in our newer hymnals as well as our praise and worship songs and choruses.  But, we still were lacking the balance of being challenged by song to be on mission with God, emphasizing missions around the world.  

Then, modern worship leaders and worship bands began to really emphasize being a part of God's mission to a world in great need.  Knowing God's heart for His mission became a priority and challenge in many of the new songs.  And, in our newest hymnals we are seeing more "mission songs and hymns".   So there has been a movement to balance this.  

You can not read Scripture and not know God's heart for the world.  His mission is to redeem man back to Himself.  There is an emphasis throughout scripture on all peoples, all nations, all the world.  When I was an active international missionary, I used to tell folks that God is on mission and He will accomplish His mission.  The only question for us is . . . "Will we be a part of what our God is doing around the world today?"  We can... by challenging one another through these mission songs, by worshiping in a way that we sense and know God's heart for the world, and by praying, giving and going.  May we worship in such a way that we come to know His heart and His mission. mjm

The Gift of Worship

Have you ever thought . . . I don't know what gift to give that person; they have everything.   Well, what gift do we give God?  What can we give God that He doesn't already have?  In a word: worship.  It is the one thing we can do to express our love to God.

Loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength can be expressed in most anything we do that serves Christ and the kingdom of God.  It is not just what we do on Sunday morning.  It includes all and everything about our lives.  It includes both the simple and ordinary and the extravagant.  True authentic worship includes so much more than singing, programs, musical styles, or different kinds of worship expression.  This great commandment is something that goes far beyond these other things.  It is an intimate dialogue and two way relationship.  Put most simply, it is revelation and response.  God reveals Himself to us and we respond to Him in love and obedience to all He has revealed to us.  As said before, worship does not begin with us, but the source of worship is divine initiative.  It has to do with a divine encounter in which God loves us and we love Him with everything that we are.  

This moves us beyond just what we know as worship services into a complete holistic encounter with God that engages  every aspect of our human experience.  It includes everything we do in our weekly gatherings as the body and in our own private worship, both of which overflow into everything we do and become during the six days of the week of living.

Unfortunately in our day, people are more interested in seeking a particular experience rather than actually seeking God.  Authentic, Biblical worship calls us to focus on giving to God rather than getting from God.  The beautiful paradox is that while we seek to genuinely give to God in worship, we become recipients of all that God is in that two-way encounter with the living, holy, God.

Reflection of Life or Worship?

I have told choirs for years that nothing will happen in our performance on Sunday morning that doesn't first happen in rehearsal.  How we sing reflects how we have practiced.  Even professional football players say that their performance is in direct relationship and a reflection of how they have practiced.  Where this is true for some things, it is not true of worship.  With worship, it is the opposite.

In our worship we live all week in direct relationship or as a reflection of how we worship as the gathered body on Sunday and how we worship privately during the week. As we express our praise, thanksgiving, confession, and desire to obey Him, it paves the way for how we will live as a result of our worship.  

Romans 12:1 states "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."  The NIV version translates the last phrase, "your spiritual worship".  When we come before the Lord as a congregation or alone in worship and lay ourselves upon God's altar, we are saying to Him - "Here am I, Lord make me your instrument of glory.  Live your life through me all week long for your honor and your glory.  May everything I do, everything I say, every place I go, every thought I think,  and every relationship I have reflect my adoration and worship before you."

It has been interesting in studying the biographies of great musicians to find that Haydn, Handel, Bach, and even Beethoven knew that all the glorious soaring music, great harmony and transcendent joy of their music originated with the Master Creator and Composer.  Every good gift is from above and always points back to its source.  At our best, we are merely mirrors that reflect His divine light.  Everything about our lives should shout, "Don't look at me!  Turn to Him.  Look up, brother!"  

Could it be that if we would more faithfully turn our eyes toward the light of heaven, we would more quickly be molded into the image of our Lord Jesus?  Maybe if we simply place all that we have and all that we are on the altar of worship before God, He will be faithful to fill it with divine, holy light and we will be transformed by His glory!  Let us look up and celebrate all that we see.  Then, our lives will become a reflection of our worship.  Or, as our Pastor has said in his present series our walk will be affected by our worship.  Worship precedes our walk. Our life is a reflection of our worship.  mjm

The Best Worship Leader

Throw the question of the best worship leader you know out and see how many different answers you get.  But, I contend the best worship leader is the High Priest of Heaven, the Heavenly Liturgist, the Worship Leader of God, . . . Jesus!  

In a way when you look at the gospels and everything He did or was saying, it was all worship leading.    He was leading people into encounters with His Father.  He inspired praise and worship and was the very presence of God ministering constantly to His Father's heart and blessing people.  So, in reality, Jesus was the greatest worship leader ever.  

An example is the Triumphal Entry during the last week of His life.  He entered the gates with praise!  By entering with triumph and celebration, He was teaching us something about worship. 

He is the King of Kings - entering His kingdom with praise, honor, and celebration.  The same way He came into that city is the way He wants to come into our cities.  He wants to come the same way into our neighborhoods, our homes, our churches, our nation and of course, our hearts.

Jesus doesn't sneak into a city, church, or a heart.  He doesn't come into the midst of a dirge of non-participation and unengagement; and He will not be enthroned upon the half-hearted lip service of the people.  He is the King of all creation.  He comes as Majesty and Lord, or He won't come at all. 

We need to draw near unto Him.  Our families and churches are literally withering away from a lack of His manifest presence and power.  The question is . . . are we willing to do things God's way and therefore see His promises?  

May the rocks never have to praise because we have failed to do it!  mjm

Confession in Worship

Unfortunately as Baptists, we have allowed other denominations and traditions to make us shy away from confession and public confession by the body of Christ.  And yet we find that it is an important part of the believers' life and worship.

In Lev. 26:40: "But if they will confess their sins . . .; Num. 5:7: ". . . must confess the sin he has committed"; Ps. 38:18: "I confess my iniquity"; Ezra 10:11: "Now make confession to the Lord . . ."; Rom. 10:9: " . . . That if you confess with your mouth";  2 Cor. 9:13: " . . . obedience that accompanies your confession . . . "; James 5:16: "Therefore confess your sins to each other . . ."; I John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful . . . "   And on we could go with passages that deal with the act of confession.

When Isaiah saw the Lord in Isaiah 6, his first response is "Woe is me, for I am undone.  I am a man with unclean lips . . ."  We should approach our worship in humility, knowing that without Him, we are undone.  We should always be ready to confess how we have fallen short of His glory in our lives day by day and moment by moment and seek and know His forgiveness.  

When we see Him in all His glory and holiness, our response is praise of Who He is, immediately  confessing who we are.  And confession leads to thanksgiving for His redemption and forgiveness.  It is only then that we can continue to be ready to obey His call on our lives to carry out His purpose in and through our lives. 

Yes, confession needs to be a part of our private worship life and our corporate worship life when we gather as the forgiven.  May it be so.  mjm

Hearing God's Music

We will be singing an anthem on Sunday, Sometimes I Hear God's Music, text by the late J. Paul Williams.  It is a reminder that music was God's idea.  We see music in all of creation.  We see music in  life and worship.  In Psalm 40:1-3, we see that music is the new song of redemption, a hymn of praise to God.  We see that new song as the perpetual song of heaven where our purpose and occupation will be strictly the praise and worship of our Lord.  Rev. 5:9 - "And they sang a new song saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people, and nation, ...'"

This new song gives the meaning of continuous, unceasing music.  The theme of this song is redemption, just as in Psalm 40.  There would have never been a need for this song if man had not fallen and the Redeemer had not redeemed him.  Note also, the song says we were redeemed or ransomed by His blood.  We were purchased with His blood.  And that purchase was made for men and women, boys and girls, from everywhere.  He has no favorites.  He bought people from every "tribe, tongue, people and nation."  No one is excluded from the blessing of redemption.  It is extended to every part of the earth transcending all cultures, all racial and national boundaries and borders.  It reaches every strata of society to the outermost parts of the earth.  He purchased all that they might worship Him.

The Dead Sea Scrolls indicate that the earthly worshippers of the first century envisioned themselves participating with the angels in heavenly worship when they read and/or sang this song.  They considered themselves vertical, joining the crowd of witnesses, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, the one hundred and forty-four thousand and all the overcomers standing on the crystal sea with the harps of God.  

We see again, worship is all about Him, little about us.  He is the initiator, the giver of redemption and we are the recipients.  Therefore every tongue, tribe, people and nation will stand before Him and sing in worship to Him.  All races, peoples, nations, generations, cultures, and different denominations will stand before Him and sing the new song!  Yes, sometimes I hear God's music.  How about you?  mjm

Worship Evangelism

There was a book that came out years ago called Worship Evangelism.  It had some really great, thought provoking principles and concepts that we needed to hear in the worshipping community.  However, I want to enlarge a bit on it and maybe take things in a different direction.  These are my thoughts.  I want to touch on the intercultural part of our worship theme this year.

First of all, music in general is intercultural.  Music tends to bridge gaps between different cultures and different sub-cultures.  Music is one of the most obvious worship elements for most people.  It speaks across cultural lines, across music tastes, across preferences - if we allow it to.  

One reason we can't just sing all hymns in our churches today, even though that might be my own preference, is because we have people coming into our worship center who need to hear that, but also need to hear something that is more akin to their musical ear.  I am not getting into the weeds of "bringing the world's music into the church", and I do think we have to be very careful at that point; but I do think we have to give something that they are comfortable enough with that they leave singing a phrase or two from something they have heard in worship. God can use that in their lives throughout the next week. We must walk a fine line between being responsive to the culture around us without literally bringing the "world's" music into the church.   This would be something I would term a worship evangelism approach or principle.

Second, I still believe that the principle found in Psalm 40:1-3 still applies to our worship.  I think just as important as to style of music or kinds of sounds is what they see in the lives of believers when a seeker or non-believer comes into our worship services.  It very clearly states in this passage that the redemptive work of the Lord is seen in our lives as we sing to Him.  It also shows that we keep singing that song no matter what is going on in our lives, the good and the bad.  They need to see us faithfully singing because the verse says plainly that when they see us "sing the song" they will fear and put their trust in the Lord.  That is the bottom line to worship evangelism.  As I have said, in worship we are being watched by not only our children, generation to generation, but also we are being watched by the seeker who needs to find redemption through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Our responsibility in worship is to be faithful to sing to Him that all may know!  So, let's stretch and sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in many varied musical languages for His glory!  mjm

Faith, Prayer, and Worship

Our faith is built up by a two way conversation with our Lord.  We've talked about God speaking to us through His word in building our faith, but through prayer we speak to Him and in that conversation we come to know Him and therefore trust Him and are better able to faith Him in every circumstance.

I want to reiterate eleven things that the great R. A. Torrey listed as reasons for prayer:

  (1)  because there is a devil and prayer is the God-appointed means of resisting him;

  (2)  because prayer is God's way for us to obtain what we need from Him;

  (3)  because the apostles, whom God gave as our pattern, considered prayer to be the most important business of their lives;

  (4)  because prayer occupied a very prominent place and played a very important part in the earthly life of our Lord;

  (5) because prayer is the most important part of the present ministry of our Lord, since He is now interceding for us (Heb. 7:25);

  (6)  because prayer is the means God has appointed for our receiving mercy from Him and of obtaining grace to help in time of need;

   (7)  because prayer is the means of obtaining the fullness of God's joy;

  (8)  because prayer, with thanksgiving, is the means of obtaining freedom from anxiety and, in anxiety's place, the peace that passes all human understanding;

  (9)  because prayer is the method appointed for obtaining the control of God's Holy Spirit over us;

(10)  because prayer is the means by which we are to keep watchful and alert at Christ's return; and

(11)  because prayer is used by God to promote our spiritual growth, bring power into our work, lead others to faith in Christ and bring all other blessing to Christ's church. (How to Pray, by R. A. Torrey, 1900)

Our individual and corporate faith and worship is certainly impacted by how, and how faithfully we pray.  May we continue to be a people of the Book, but also a people on our knees.  We will see and experience results in both our worship and our faith living. mjm

Center of Worship

Jesus Christ is always to be at the very center of our worship, both our private and public worship.  When the Church gathers for worship we remember and rehearse the redemptive gospel and all its fulfillment in Christ.

When Jesus speaks of satan's fall, He is saying that evil itself has been overthrown.   When we see Him cast out demons, we see the authority given by God and God's sovereignty.  When we see Jesus healing the sick, He is demonstrating the doing away with physical defectiveness.  When we see Jesus feed the five thousand we are reminded of God's great abundant giving to a hungry world.  When we see Jesus calm the storm we are reminded of His lordship over all of chaotic, fallen creation.  When we see Him stand up to religious leaders and stand silent before political leaders, we remember that the gospel has great affect on all our world systems.  When we see Jesus forgive sin and raise the dead, we remember that the gospel is about each person being born again, and that He has conquered sin and death.  

The work of Christ,  the work of the gospel, is central to our worship.  When we gather, we celebrate all that He has done and is doing among us as worshippers. We remember and remind each other, edifying one another in Him.  He is the centrality of all our worship.  mjm

Don't Be Anxious . . . Worship

We live in a world full of anxiety and unfortunately, sometimes we can't tell the difference between a believer and a non-believer when it comes to anxiety and worry.  If we are believers in Jesus Christ who fulfill His purpose in us, then we should worship, not worry.

Beginning in verse 25 of Matthew 6, we are challenged to not worry about or give thought to the needs of our lives and are assured that God will take care of it all.  He says rather than our worrying about all these things, we are to, "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

This means we have to fully trust Him, put our confidence in Him, give glory to Him because He is calling us to rest in Him---in all essence worship Him and the truths of His righteousness and we will have no worries, only worship.  

Are you anxious about things, or tomorrow?  Worship.  Every time we gather as the body to worship, we are reminding one another that He is trustworthy, that He is sovereign, that He is worthy of our worship.  We gather, trusting in Him and seeking His righteousness in obedience.  Proclaiming our trust and obedience pretty well sums up our worship of Him.  mjm

Have You Sacrificed Today?

Jesus put an end to God's requirement for sacrifices to cover sin which were seen in the Old Testament.  He offered one sacrifice for sins forever and put an end to the daily sacrifices at the temple.  However, the New Testament teaches us that God still expects us to offer sacrifices that please Him in New Testament worship.  He gives us some specific sacrifices to demonstrate His glory to the world.

First is Body Sacrifice - "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (worship)" (Romans 12:1).  How and when do we sacrifice our bodies to the Lord?  We do it daily as we take up our cross, die to self and choose to follow Jesus.  We can do it with a simple prayer daily and it happens wherever we take the temple.

Second is Praise Sacrifice -  "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name, . . . for with such sacrifices God is well pleased"     (Hebrews 13:15,16b).  The sacrifice of praise is a continuous offering of both prayer and song involving the confession of God's name and glory to show forth our thankfulness to Him.  We can pray and sing our praise anywhere, anytime, and yet when we gather as the body of Christ in public worship, we are encouraged in the faith as we bring our sacrifices of praise together.

Third is Koinonia Sacrifice - "But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:16).  The word "koinonia" literally means to share.  This was demonstrated in the early church.  They were a very giving fellowship.  They provided support for one another and built unity and fellowship in the church.  Koinonia Sacrifice replaced the Old Testament sacrificial system of bringing physical and material goods for worship.  Instead, the New Testament Christian is to worship by giving to the needs of others. We are challenged to see needs and meet needs as an act of worship.  We give tithes and offerings as a part of this meeting needs of others and meeting the needs of mission and ministry to those in need. 

We can not worship God effectively apart from sacrifice.  Someone has said, "This is the work of worship".  What have you sacrificed today?  mjm

The Temple of Worship

No, it is not the beautiful worship buildings that we build.  It is described in I Corinthians 3: 16-17: "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.  for God's temple is holy, and you are that temple."

First of all, we need to be fully aware that the word you in the original Greek language is plural.  It is talking about those who are a part of the body of Christ.

Paul is wanting the Corinthians to understand that they are a unified assembly of believers.  They were not to look at themselves as a collection of competing interests, personal preferences, or independent individuals.  Those who make up the temple of God are to be interdependent, not independent.  Paul is reminding us of the intent of Jesus' prayer in John 17: 21-13 that believers are unified in our Lord.

When we gather together at the church building we are not coming to the temple.  We are bringing the temple where God dwells to the building where we join in unity in praise, honor, and the glory of His name through worship.  This is where God dwells.

At the beginning of this chapter it talks about divisions in the church.  In this passage, Paul warns that anyone who sets out to destroy the union of God's dwelling will be destroyed by God.  Why?  Because God's temple (body of Christ) is holy, and you all are the temple.  Those are strong words.  May we be committed to keeping God's temple holy and one in Him.  mjm

"The Word became . . . and We Worship"

"The Word became flesh". . . and we worship Him!  A. W. Tozer, 20th century Pastor and Theologian once said, "The whole import and substance of the Bible teaches us that the God who does not need any thing nevertheless desires the adoration and worship of His created children."  We have passed through a time in our own lives where there has been a lot of talk about the "battle for the Bible" or talk of the Word being supreme, etc.  I have no argument with any of that as long as we don't begin to perceive that the Word of God is strictly a rule book and guide for life only.  Is it those things? Of course, but we must never forget that the Word of God is living, breathing, . . . God of the universe speaking truth to our hearts every time we pick it up.  It isn't just a book.  It is the Word of God speaking directly to us.  And, as our Pastor showed us today, it is trustworthy. 

Now, I have actually heard some say, "Well, the Bible really doesn't say all that much about worship."  Are you kidding, it is all about worship.  As Tozer said, the whole import and substance of the Bible is instructive and inspiring us to worship Him.  As we are called to worship Him we see the following in His Word:

We find the person of God revealed, the presence of God revealed, the power of God revealed, the plan of God revealed and the purpose of God revealed illustrating to us that man's main, single purpose is to glorify God.  Our chief end is His glory!  He speaks it so in His Word to us.  We don't just worship a book, we worship the Living Word.  "Letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly . . . ".  May we ever have a listening ear as the Spirit of God leads us through scripture, breathing out God's truth, enriching and changing our lives for His glory.  Knowing Him through His Word to us is foundational to our worship.  "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy Name." mjm

Psalm 138

Besides reading through the Bible every year, I read through the Psalms and Proverbs every month in a different translation each month.  I was reading Psalm 138 this morning and it spoke to me in an unusual way and I was prompted to share it in the blog today.  (Scripture quotes are from the ESV.)

"I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.  On Thee I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased."

In the first three verses of this Psalm, David again talks about the whole heart, everything we are giving praise and thanks to God with, the posture of worship being kneeling down or bowing down.  Both important principles in our worship.  He declares also the importance of the Lord's Name and the Lord's Word.  In all of our worship, we must always emphasize the Name of the Lord and the Word of the Lord supreme.  Then again we see prayer - calling out to the Lord, a part of worship seeing that God intervenes and strengthens us in Him.

"All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.  For though the Lord is high He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar."

David says in vv. 4-6 that when the kings of the earth hear what God has to say, they will say, "thank you."  They will sing about what He has done.  Our singing is always a testimony of what God has done and is doing.  And we see in this part of the passage that the "glory of God" is shown to be great in our singing.  Why? - because even though God is high above, He sees far below and knows everything about us.  Praise be to Him!

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life: you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.  Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.  Do not forsake the work of your hands."

We see in the last verses of this Psalm that even when we walk into the thick of trouble, that He is with us in the turmoil.  And basically, David says, "Lord, please finish what you started in me; your faithfulness and your love are eternal - please don't quit on me now."  These words should be our prayer also.  mjm

Feast of Trumpets

"But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."  (Ezekiel 33:6)

The shofar, horns, trumpets are all through the Old Testament and Jewish tradition.  Today happens to be Rosh Hoshanah, a Jewish holy day referred to by Biblical Christians as the Feast of Trumpets.

We see the trumpet being used as a warning of judgement.  We see it used to call the people to worship in the Old Testament.  We are commanded in scripture to praise Him with the sound of the trumpet. We see it used as announcing a new year.  We see it announcing a coming suffering servant.  And one day, at the last trumpet sound, the Conquering King will return.  

The fall feasts usher in the coming Kingdom Messiah.  The Feast of Trumpets is the first of those fall feasts.  God's kingdom is announced with the blowing of the trumpets.  It is always an announcement of something to come.

So, the sound of the trumpet should stir our hearts into expectation and anticipation that God is moving and about to do something. He is fulfilling His kingdom purpose.  We should desire to be a part of fulfilling His kingdom in and through our worship when we gather to worship Him.

Sound the trumpet, the Lord is here and accomplishing all He purposes. Glory to God! We are so thankful for those who come and use their gifts in our orchestra to enhance worship and glorify God as we worship together.  

Just a small side note...I get so amused sometimes.  With all of God's plan involving the trumpet in so many different ways in scripture and worship, I sometimes get amused at those who complain about how loud the instruments are.  Can you even imagine the trumpeters and singers who will announce the Lord God in our perfect praise in heaven?  I sometimes chuckle thinking I sure hope that person goes to heaven without ears.  Oh, well - even the trumpet - is about Him!  Yes, in our worship it is always about Him!  Hallelujah, what a Savior!  mjm

The Great War

There is a battle for the souls of men and the glory of God.  This war started before creation.  It is a spiritual war and difficult for us to understand.  Scripture shows us glimpses of this war and scripture also says, "My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)  Many believers and church families are vulnerable because of their lack of awareness that we are in spiritual warfare.  Now, we should not ever get out of balance with this subject to where we are over emphasizing satan and his demons. We know the Victor and the Victory is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Hallelujah!

Worship is the point at which this great battle began.  The worship theme continues throughout all of Scripture and according to Revelation 5:11-14 is the culmination of God's great work throughout all history.  All of history will end in Worship!

The issue of worship is the great battle between good and evil being waged,  because worship is all about giving God the glory and honor due His name.  We read in the Word that satan has always been jealous of God being worshipped.  He felt he deserved to be worshipped even as God.  Satan became so self-deceived that he decided to wage war against God's glory.  

The prophet Isaiah speaks of the reasons behind satan's ejection from heaven:  "You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High'".  (Isaiah 14:13-14)  He even went so far as to ask Jesus to bow down and worship him in Matthew 4.  This is why God hates pride.  It is the ultimate arrogance that he demanded the Son of God to worship him.  

With lies and deceptions, false gods and idols, satan will lead people to worship any and everything except the Most High God. 

We must exalt God and proclaim the truth.  We are on offense, not defense.  We don't need to pursue some mystical experience, we just need to stand on the truth.  I Cor. 10: 4-5 states, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strong-holds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

When we pray for our church's worship and when we come together and praise and exalt His name we are in complete offense against satan.  Therefore, don't be surprised when he seeks to do everything he can to keep us from praying and praising.  

I love the way the Message puts Luke 11:23, "This is war, and there is no neutral ground.  If you're not on My side, you're the enemy;  if you're not helping, you're making things worse."  JESUS  mjm

Worship Leader Commitment

When Jesus calls us to follow Him and serve Him, He makes it very clear that we are to be fully committed to Him.  Now, I know that word, "committed", is not a popular word in the 21st century, but Jesus' expectation hasn't changed.  I literally sometimes get amused at people who have committed to serve by leading worship as they say, "Well, too much is expected of us".  Sometimes, I kind of smile inside and think; "What is too much?".  For the same people, what the civic club, the band boosters,  or the sports teams demand or expect is not too much. It is amazing how quickly we can become more committed to other things which will pass, as opposed to serving in the kingdom, which will not pass.

I am truly thankful we have so many in our worship leading choir, worship teams, worship band, worship orchestra and our worship support team who take their commitment seriously, as to what they have been called to do.  It makes all the difference in our worship as a church. Want to share some spiritual principles from Mark Epperson's book that give guidance to our commitment. Because of space, I pray you will look up the passages.

1.  We are not singing and playing because we are good. (Eph. 2:4-10; Titus 3:5-6) It's God's goodness and grace that allows us to represent Him in spite of our imperfections.

2.  Being seen or recognized is not our goal. (John 3:30; Psalm 40:3) Our goal is for Christ to be seen.

3.  We are not the stars. (II Cor. 4:5; Col. 1:18) The star is Christ Jesus; He has first place in all of it.

4.  Confess our faults. (James 5:16)  As the sign in the choir room says, Pobody is nerfect. We don't need to make lame excuses if failing in our commitment, we ask God to give us the strength to follow through.  We need to keep one another informed when there is a problem to overcome.  We are in this together and grow in grace together.

5.  Our music doesn't determine our success.  (I John 3:23; Phil. 1:9--11) Millions of folks can produce music.  Our success is dependent on our love and commitment to Him and directing people to Him in worship.  That is servanthood.

6.  God is a God of order, not confusion.  (I Cor 14:40; John 4:24)  We should be accountable to one another in being faithful, punctual, dependable, and flexible.  Structure and order are important in our personal lives and our worship within Biblical guidelines.

7.  God deserves our best. (Matt. 5:16)  God gave His best in Christ; He deserves our best.  We should not offer Him anything that costs us nothing.  Rehearsing faithfully and joyfully in preparation for what He has called us to is a must.

8.  Our participation in this ministry makes us ministers; we will be the recipients of God's goodness, but also Satan's attacks.  ( II Cor. 4:1-6; E[he. 6:12; John 10:10)  As worship leaders - expect spiritual warfare. 

9.  Participation in the ministry of worship and music is not a substitute for Bible study, tithing, or serving as God leads in other functions of the church.  (Heb. 10:24-25)  Personal spiritual growth and service is so important to our worship leading.

10.  Support your leaders.  (I Tim 2:1-3; Heb. 13:17)  We should be faithful to pray for and support those who lead us.  When we have concerns, we should go and communicate maturely and honestly at an appropriate time.  

Thanks to those who lead worship faithfully among the First Family!  "As for me and my house . . . we will serve the Lord!"  mjm

Healthy Church

In my readings this week I came across Acts 2: 46-47 again and was reminded of some things I want to share.  The passage says, "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

We see in this passage that a healthy Christian community attracts people to Christ.  I see two passions in this passage.  In the Jerusalem church there was:
1.  A zeal for worship.
2.  A zeal for love of the Christian family.

We see that they had a zeal for gathering and remembering through both the meal of remembrance and praising God together for redemption in Christ.  It indicates they did it with glad and joyful hearts.  

We also see that they joined together in homes and fellowshipped around the table together.  

In the Jewish tradition this would have been all the family and all the people.  I think we find here that their zeal for worship and for brotherly love was contagious, intergenerational, and healthy in a way that attracted others to Christ.  

May we show a zeal for intergenerational worship, with appreciation for all generations and the ways each prefers to worship, growing together in Him.  And may we do it with brotherly love, as opposed to selfish attitudes of "only my way".  For us to approach our worship and fellowship together as all age groups is to show the world Christ-kind of love, that is contagious to others.  May we continue to learn and grow together in Him. That is a sign of a healthy church.  mjm

Obedience . . . the Essence of Worship

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.  No matter how you slice it, our love is equal only to our obedience.  To truly "take up the cross and follow Him" is to love and obey Him which is our "reasonable service of worship."  Our obedience has to do with Lordship.  Is He truly Lord?  If so, our obedience becomes the essence of our worship.  

Ultimately, Lordship is the laying of crowns at His feet which is a picture of our obedience to His Lordship.  Revelation 4:10 states, "The four and twenty elders fall down before Him who sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, . . ."

Our response to the gospel is grace-driven.  He who understands that Gospel knows that as a new creation, his nature is now in opposition to dis-obedience.  Therefore, he seeks to not just weaken sin, but to destroy it.  Out of a worshipping love for the Lord, he wants the power of sin to die.  This is different than just wanting to be better or do good.  

When God's overwhelming love takes complete control of us, it pushes out our love for self, for other gods, and for the things of this world.  It releases our new and pure love to flow back to Him in authentic worship.  Simply put, when we love God, we obey Him.  mjm

Heaven Worship

I am going to re-visit a subject I touched on a couple of years ago as Fran's mom is now with the Lord. We are able to get little glimpses of Heaven in the book of Revelation.  Mom's object of worship all the years of her life as an accompanist and singer she now finds is with her for eternity and every possible need is completely satisfied in Him.

In Rev. 4 & 5 we see that God values the organization of praise and worship in Heaven.  Order is indicated and in Rev. 4:8-11 and 5:11-14, we see that worship is for all the people and that again, He is the all in all of the worship.  She sang for years that He was her all in all.  Now she is experiencing it.

In Rev. 5:9-10 and 14:2-3, we see there is congregational singing in Heaven.  In fact we will sing the song of redemption and the angels will just have to listen.  In Rev. 15: 3-4 we are told we will sing the Victory Song.  The congregation certainly sang the song of redemption and the victory song, "Victory in Jesus", in Mom's service yesterday.  They almost lifted the roof off.   Mom has seen the last of the enemy and is experiencing perfect worship in a perfect environment.  I'll guarantee you she is shouting - Hallelujah!

Rev. 19:6-9 shows us the Hallelujah Chorus of Heaven.  A multitude will gather, a choir from all nations and those in Christ qualify for the eternal Chorus.  Beth, Mom, Mammaw - sing on.  It will not be long 'till we will be joining you around the throne for perfect worship!  mjm

Another Church Musician Tribute - Beth Rock

I didn't know when I wrote the last blog having to do with passing on worship from one generation to the other and the importance of the example to our children among the body of Christ in worship that another church musician who did just that in her small way would go to be with the Lord today.

That church musician is my wife's mom, Beth Rock.  Beth grew up a Baptist pastor's daughter and accompanied worship on the piano at a very young age.  She continued to do so for the next some 70 years.  She was my first church pianist in the small rural church, Eula Baptist Church where Fran grew up.  She was faithful to that post until her illness took her off the bench serving as both pianist and organist all those years.  She was my first and one of my best.  I served churches much larger who were not as fortunate to have someone as gifted as Beth.  She also had a beautiful voice and played and sang very effectively.  When growing up, Fran and her sisters sang regularly with Beth in church.  There was a time when about half the choir in their church was made up of their family.  Fran's dad and siblings would be found singing in the choir.  

But, that is not the only legacy she leaves.  She taught many children through the years on both piano and organ.  Some of those are pianists and organists in their churches today.  She trained many to serve the Lord in supporting and enhancing congregational worship and praise at the keyboard.  She was one of those key church musicians out in a little rural Baptist church who not only made a difference in the life of that church and other churches, but also contributed to the worship of many others through those she taught and trained.

Yesterday, before Mammaw went to be with the Lord, I was sitting in her hospital room reading through her hand written instructions for her memorial service.  I found it interesting that at the beginning of the instructions, she printed boldly - "do not eulogize me, give glory to the Lord."  Then, at the end of the instructions - she said, "don't mourn for me, give praise and glory to the Lord."  What was her word to us?  It's about Him.  Her concern was His glory! What a lesson to leave for us all.

Bless you, Mrs. Rock, Beth, Mom, Mammaw for your years of faithful service unto the Lord and the legacy you leave us all.  mjm

Family/Community Worship

Authentic worshippers are built together with other worshippers.  The admonition from scripture as to our doing all we can do to build up one another in the faith has to do with our building up and edifying one another as worshippers.  We see phrases throughout scripture such as . . . "remind each new generation . . . must be observed from generation to generation . . . throughout  generations to come . . . the generations to come . . . generation to generation and celebrated by every family . . . I will bring honor to your name in every generation." On and on it goes reminding us of the responsibility we have to make sure our worship is Body worship and Intergenerational - building up every generation into worshippers.  

When I was in Zimbabwe, Africa as a music missionary it was almost impossible to be in the midst of a congregation of people worshipping and see even one person not participating wholeheartedly.  With our responsibility to edify one another and to pass on by modeling from generation to generation, it quite frankly puzzles me how there are so many in our congregations here who do not participate at all, much less with a whole-heart expression.

Have we become too sophisticated in our culture to do as Scripture indicates?  Or, have we become apathetic about the teachings of our Lord?  Or, are we just tuned out to what God is trying to do among us?  This is one reason why I request and ask worship choir members and worship leadership as well as our worshipping prayer warriors to constantly pray not only for our worship services,  but also for the worship life of each and every member of our church. 

It seems sometimes that we know the expressions of worship and even the importance of a lifestyle of worship.  But we need to also build worshippers together to become a community of worshippers.  Scripture shows us the importance of togetherness in the life of the church.  Peter and Paul both use the phrase "built together" to describe how God wants us to become a community of worshippers.  The whole idea of the kingdom of priests implies to us the importance of a community of worshippers.  When Jesus prayed that we would become unified as one, just like He and the Father, He was saying that the Father's love had to be demonstrated--not just explained.  In John 17:23, Jesus prayed, "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." Literally for Christ's sake, may we build one another old and young, different approaches, different tastes, different backgrounds . . . all into true, authentic worshippers; Intergenerational, Intercultural, and yes, International.  mjm

It's Not About the Music

There was a worship book written by a worship leader that was literally entitled - It's Not About the Music - The Journey into Worship.  I want to spin off of that from the last couple of  blogs.  

When I saw that title I was reminded of the story of how Matt Redman's church actually took a break from any music in their worship so they could find what it truly was that should be focused on in worship.  His song, The Heart of  Worship,  actually came out of that experience as a church. As that song says, "We need to come back to the heart of worship . . . and it's all about Him!"  It is not about music; it is about Him.  Also, it is not about music, it is about our hearts.  With what heart attitude do we approach worship?  The attitude of our heart is paramount in our approach to worship.  It's about our heart and about Him.

Is music one of the many tools of worship, yes.  Is it worship, yes.  But it is not ever the main thing.  Does God desire to hear the praise of His people?  Yes, the scripture says so.  But is it the main focus of our worship?  Never.  

We live in a day, when Bands have jumped on the worship wagon and sometimes, in a sense have tried to make worship about music.  We must be very careful of that enticement.  It is much easier to worship certain music, rather than worship Him.  I am afraid we have neglected other things in worship because of music:  prayer, the reading of God's Word, testimony of what God is doing in lives.  All of these are also important to worship.  Why do we not do more of some of these things in our worship?  I think it might be cultural as well as putting music ahead of other things.  People get restless when music is not happening in worship.  We have lost the understanding of power in prayer and the power of God's Word being read.  These are my thoughts.  May we continue to grow in our worship of Him.

Worship is not about music.  Worship is our life in Him - our obedience to Him - our surrender to Him!   As Martin said in the service today, "We were made (created) to worship. May we truly learn to worship Him with our lives. . . and then our music will be much more meaningful in our worship of Him  -  and be kept in its proper place.  mjm

Our Focus in Worship

Continuing with the thoughts about Christ-centric worship, I want to elaborate a little more on the focus of our worship.  Hear me.  The focus of our worship is not and should never be music.  Yes, that is coming from a musician who puts great emphasis on our giving our best offering to Him through music in worship.  However, music is never the goal.  I have to admit, I cringe inside just a bit when people come up to me after worship and say - "great music today!"  It is not about the music, it is about Him!

Our complete focus in worship is embodied in the Son of God, the person of Jesus, Lord of the Church.  He is to be central in our focus.  "For in Him all the fullness of God was placed to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross."  Col. 1:19 and Col. 2:9, "For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled  . . ." He is to be the central person and focus of our worship.  We should approach worship with a passion and desire for His manifest presence with us.  

We also see in the passage above that He is the center point of witness through the gospel, the Lord's table and the witness of the cross.  

Finally, we see that He is to be the center piece of our worship.  The Word of God, the Bible, and the Sword of the Spirit exist for one purpose: "These [Scriptures] are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39).  Either by type, foreshadowing, or direct mention, Messiah is the subject woven into every book of the Bible.  And its ultimate message is - He is the Incarnate Word.

Music is not the focus of our worship.  If so, it becomes an idol.  Growing in our intellectual knowledge to know "about" God is not the focus of our worship.  If so, that becomes an idol.  Truth is important, but HE IS THE TRUTH!  Our focus must be Him, our desire to love, adore, worship, sacrifice and serve Him.  We need to make the main thing the main thing.  Let's worship Him! mjm

The Pivot from Old to New . . . Testament

The Pivot from the Old Testament to the New Testament is well described in the book of Hebrews.  I am not qualified to get into the different interpretive approaches to Hebrews, but there are some observations I see in relation to worship.  It seems the writer of Hebrews understood the OT from a Christ-centric view - recognizing Christ Jesus as the fulfillment of all the redemptive promises of the OT. (Heb. 10:11-18).  The purpose of the book seems to be to demonstrate the superiority of Jesus and His new covenant over Moses.  The writer affirms Christianity as the consummation of the Mosaic covenant.  

Examples are: The priesthood of Melchizedek (Aaron and Levi) apparently correspond to the priesthood of Jesus (Heb. 4-7).  The Mosaic covenant of the OT corresponds to the better covenant of Jesus Christ in the NT.  The sanctuary of the Mosaic covenant (the tabernacle and temple) give way to the greater and perfect sanctuary, not made with hands, of the new covenant (Heb. 9:1-23) and the sacrificial worship of the Mosaic covenant corresponds to Christ's offering of His body as the single sacrifice for all time, beginning the new covenant (Heb. 9:23-10:18).  

An appreciation and understanding of the Old Testament as the promise Jesus Christ fulfilled permits the enrichment of worship by drawing attention to God's sovereignty and grace; His redemptive plan accomplished in the lives of many different OT characters throughout history.   He reveals that plan to humanity through Israel, and Jesus Christ as the ultimate and final Word from God (Heb. 1:1-4).  So, even as the Israelites sacrificed the Passover lamb prior to the exodus from Egypt (Exod. 12:21) Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us (I Cor. 5:7, John 1:14, 18,29).

Two principles for worship today:

1.  Every time we meet for worship, we remember and rehearse the fact of redemption.

2.  Our worship is to always be centered in Christ Jesus, our Lord!
     Our worship is Christ-centric! mjm

Style

It still amazes me after all this time that church members, church musicians and pastors almost always want to talk about music style when you bring up the subject of worship.  Because of our worship theme for the year - iworship - Intergenerational, Intercultural, and International, let's once again discuss style a bit.  

Mark Epperson in his book on worship says, "If the lifestyles of worship leaders are solid, fashioned with hearts for God; if the lyrics of the song are sound doctrinally and Biblically, and can be understood; and if the leading of worship is sanctified with a sense of holiness, reverence and praise; then style of music doesn't matter."  And yet, we still try today to define a church by the way in which they worship.  

Style is inconsequential; however, substance is very consequential.  In John 4:24, we find stated, "God is spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  This should be our  basis for true worship:  spirit and truth, not style and form.  Style is irrelevant; substance is relevant.  Let's revisit an old favorite, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."  (Col. 3:16)  

First, we see the variance of style indicated in this passage, "psalms, hymns, spiritual songs".   If we are to be intentionally intergenerational, intercultural, and international in our worship, the variance of style is a given.

Second, lives of worship leaders are solid, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom . . . ".  All of those who lead worship: worship choir, band, orchestra, worship teams, must have a heart for God with lifestyles pleasing to Him, allowing His word to be completely at home in their hearts.  If so, style doesn't matter.

Third, the lyrics must be sound, " . . . teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs . . ."  In any teaching and admonishing ministry of the church, we are always challenged by God's word to be Biblically accurate and doctrinally sound.  If so, style doesn't matter.

Fourth, the leading must be sanctified, "singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."  In our worship, the congregation are the participants, prompted by worship leaders and pastor, with God as the audience.  We lead our people in worship but singing to an audience of one always. If so, style doesn't matter.  Just a thought, style doesn't matter.   mjm