New Life

In 2 Corinthians 5:22 we read that, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Our God is a God of redemption, and a God of new beginnings. He is always at his work and He is working in us! 

We just celebrated Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ, who came to earth as a man in order to reconcile us to God. He did this through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. The Bible tells us that just as Christ lives, we too can live in newness of life. 

Romans 6:4, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” 

If we have given our lives over to Christ and made him the Lord of our life, then our old selves along with all our sin and wickedness have been nailed to the cross with Christ and we have been made new. This new life is worked out in us as we grow more and more to be like Christ. 

As we look forward to this New Year, remember that if you are in Christ you are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. We look forward to the opportunities we will have to grow in Christ likeness and we thank God for every day that we have to follow him and come to know him more. 

What is God planning to do in you, and through you this year?

Heart Deep

2 Peter 1:3-4 tells us, that by God’s power, we have “all things that pertain to life and godliness” and through His promises, we can “become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire”. The chapter goes on to say that because of these things we are to, “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” Sometimes when I think about this passage of scripture and the way that God desires to produce His character in me, I get caught thinking that it simply means changing my outward behavior. While it is true that God does want to change us on the outside, he also wants to change us much deeper than that.  

Jesus certainly is interested in much deeper things that outward actions. In Matthew 5:21-22 He says, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” He says a similar thing about the sin of adultery, “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Our human minds often think only on the surface level. Anger isn’t murder, and lust isn’t adultery – or is it? We tend to draw the line of sin at the physical actions, but Jesus draws it in the heart. He sees all, and he draws the line there. I think it is very interesting how much Christ is interested in what is going on inside of us rather than only considering what is going on outside of us. 

I had a great conversation with my dad recently. He told me that he was concerned about a situation involving some young people that felt it was ok to go to parties where their would be under-age drinking, as long as they didn’t drink any alcohol. This decision got them into some trouble (traffic accident) but since they weren’t the one’s drinking alcohol, they felt that it was ok to be a part of this party atmosphere. My dad and I talked about how there may be a deeper problem than drunkenness. There may be a problem with the heart. We realized that if someone goes to such a party with the same rebellious attitude as the person who attends the party to get drunk, then maybe the two actions aren’t that different after all.

Well, we might find this whole thought to be distressing, because we know that we are utterly sinful from birth. Even when we try to do right things it is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Our hearts are so often full of sinful motivations. The Bible says that there is no one righteous, “no, not one” (Romans 3:10). However, we can praise God that not only does he call us to holiness on a deep, heart level, but he actually works in us to accomplish this. We can’t do it on our own; we need to allow God to work in us from the inside out. It’s not just a behavioral change that we need; it’s a change of heart. 

So, when we look back at the passage in 1st Peter and see the things that God wants to accomplish in us: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love; we know that it isn’t just the appearance of these things that he desires us to have. Rather He wants them to run deep. He works them in us so we not only act them out, but we think them too. We live them in public and in private, even down the privacy of our own hearts. Thanks be to God that he doesn’t let us stay in our wretched state, or allow us to be only skin deep!

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The Tools of Worship

Sometimes, we feel like that dentist when we worship. We all have different worship tools that we have been trained to use, find comfortable or prefer more than others. These tools could be a number of different things ranging from a certain song choice or musical style to specific postures in worship, or even the order of a worship service. We get to be very comfortable and very good at using certain tools and if we are given a different set of tools we can feel frustrated just like that dentist would. However, if the tools we are given really are biblical and really are effective responses of worship (unlike the screw drivers, a calculator and WD-40 would be for a teeth cleaning) then we can learn to use these tools and benefit from them. 

There are a handful of Hebrew and Greek words that have to do with worship. One such Greek word is, proskuneo, which means to prostrate one’s self, or kiss towards, in order to pay homage and reverence. Proskuneo is the word translated as “worship” in Revelation 4:10 which says, “the twenty-four elders will fall downbefore Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who livesforever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne…” Therefore, an example of this might be when we sing songs full of adoration. In this instance we could say that we are worshiping with an attitude of proskuneo and during these times it would be fitting to bow down in reverence. 

A Hebrew word, yadah, is translated as the English word “praise” in Psalm 67:3 which says, “Let the peoples praise You, OGod; Let all the peoples praise You”. This same word is translated as “give thanks” in such places as Psalm 9:1 which says, “I will givethanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.” The definition of yadah has to do with throwing or casting, thanksgiving, laud and praise. Worshiping in an attitude of yadahmight be conducive to praising God with loud instruments and boisterous singing.

One last Hebrew word we will look at is abad. It is translated into the English word “worship” in such places as, Exodus 3:12 where God says to Moses, “when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain." The definition of abad has to do with working and laboring as servants. Our whole lives are to be service to God and we are to honor him with our work. This means that even church workdays are an act of worship. In fact, some people seem to be wired in such a way that they experience worshipful moments more often during a church workday than they might during a candlelight service!

Biblical worship has room for many different expressions. Each generation and culture seems to find its own unique expressions ofproskuneo, yadah, and abad. No matter what style of expression, let’s understand that biblical worship is deeper than music and broader than style. It is an everyday lifestyle! Though awkward at first, we can learn to appreciate each other’s preferences and worship together in love and unity. The body of Christ is so diverse, and that is a beautiful thing. 

Let’s make room in our toolboxes for more tools!

Why We Sing

I often find it a little bit odd that we get together and sing at the beginning of our worship services. Besides church, there aren’t a lot of other situations where people gather to sing, especially to sing to God. I mean, if an unbeliever comes to church, do they feel awkward that we are having a sing-a-long to express ourselves to someone we can’t see? Even though we know that our God is real and present among us, do we sometimes feel this awkwardness? We all know that singing in worship is a very Biblical idea. There is even an entire book of the Bible full of songs that were sung for worship. But, I still wonder: why do we sing?

I remember leading worship for a youth group once. I could tell that the students weren’t really joining in, so I stopped and asked them to think about why we sing. One girl spoke up and said, “because, it’s a cooler way to pray”. I think she might be on to something. 

What is singing anyway? Well, singing is just putting words in rhythm, and adding pitch. We put words in rhythm by elongating the vowels. Elongated vowels are often used in everyday language when we want to emphasize a point. A mother might call her son in an uneventful way, “Johnny it’s time for dinner”. But if Johnny is late and his mother is irritated she emphasizes it: “Joooohneeeee!” Elongated vowels were used. We use this tool whenever we are emphasizing a point. 

When we add pitch it becomes music. The melody that pitches create help to express emotions. For example, it could be triumphant, eerie or sweet. We don’t really use pitch in our everyday language very much (our lives aren’t a musical). But we do realize it’s importance, and we use it to mark special occasions or to express feelings that are beyond words. This is where music can be somewhat mysterious. Often, we listen to certain music when we feel a certain way, because it accompanies our emotions. Sometimes music can even cause us to feel a certain emotion. Furthermore, music can be used to help us remember things because pitches tend to stick in our heads. On top of all this, music is just pleasant to listen to.

No doubt, there are many more reasons to use music in worship; but I think the girl in that youth group had a good point. Singing is a wonderful way to communicate with God. We serve such an awesome God and his praises are certainly worthy of elongating vowels for emphasis, and adding pitch for beauty and emotion. When we sing prayers our words are being emphasized and our emotions accompanied by music. When we sing truth about God the same thing happens, and the truths we sing stick in our heads. As we gather to communicate with God as a congregation, it is fitting that we use music and singing to help us express our emotion and emphasize truth. I’m glad that we have this tool called singing to express our worship to God. I’m looking forward to singing with all of you this coming Sunday!

“Music induces an attitude of worship. It elicits from deep within a person the sense of awe and mystery that accompanies a meeting with God.” – Robert Webber, Worship Old & New

Monday, January 31, 2011

WHY WE SING

2009 Summer Shows

Lewistown

Well the concert in Lewistown was a great time; I can’t explain how good it was to be back in the church that feels so much like home. It was great to see everybody again. In many ways I feel like I never left, and just have been so blessed by this church! As far as the concert I think we had a good time laughing and worshiping, not to mention the ice cream afterwards. We especially had a good time laughing as I started into the first song, which has a track playing behind it, and I accidentally had left my mic and guitar channel muted on the soundboard. Therefore the track was playing through just fine but no one could hear my guitar or voice. So I was singing the song “I Love You” and some of the words say, “if I sing I sing only for you” and the people had to have been reading the words on the screen and thinking, “he really does only sing for God, cause we can’t hear him!” Well I realized it part way through the song and fixed it, and we had a good laugh about it. I hoped to have some videos but the camera didn’t record past 7 minutes so no video this time. But here are a couple pictures:

Helena

I’m so glad I got to come to Helena, not only had I never been to the city that is our state's capitol but I loved getting to spend time with Kevin and Stephanie Shafer and meet their youth group. I knew Kevin back when I was in High School and he was an area youth pastor. It is great to see God blessing him in ministry. I had a great time, sharing my heart with the youth group and I pray that God be glorified and that everyone was encouraged by something that God wanted them to know. After the concert we went and had ice cream and slushies, which is always a good time. 

You know as I have been traveling last summer and this summer, I’ve been trying to learn more about life on the road and how to go about it as civilized as possible. Well I learned something today that I thought I’d share in this blog. First, I thought maybe I’d try having one shirt set aside to wear only during my concerts, that way I don’t have to pack a lot of shirts. Well today was only my second concert of the tour, but as I prepared for tonight’s concert I put on my designated concert shirt and it became very clear to me that I should not try to reuse that shirt. It did get a little hot at the Lewistown concert and that shirt had a sort of stench to it. Wearing that shirt again could really distract from being the aroma of Christ. So new rule: “wear a new shirt for each concert.”

Keep checking back because as soon as I get time I’d like to upload some video from the concert. 

Kalispell

Well the last real concert stop on my tour was last night in Kalispell MT, tomorrow I will head up to Dickie Lake Bible Camp and lead worship there for the weekend, and then head back home. I had a great time with the concert last night. It was great to see some old friends and meet some new friends. Tim Owen who is the Superintendent of the Rocky Mountain District  for the Christian and Missionary Alliance, was also there. He shared a great testimony about how when he was a senior in High School, God had healed him of Hodgkin’s disease. We truly serve the most amazing God and there is no one like Him. 

I also had a really interesting experience today. I went to Shopko and I attempted to steal a DVD. WAIT…. WAIT…. Let me explain. My friend Charles is in charge of Security at Shopko and he asked me to help him out with a group of kids that was coming in today. He was going to show them how they monitor everything in the store and how easy it is to catch a thief. So he had another shopko employee and me stick a couple of DVD’s in our pockets and head for the door. He and a shocked group of wide-eyed 7 and 8 year olds met us as we were leaving the store and my friend very sternly asked us to follow him to his office so we could “talk”. The entire group proceeded to decide that they should probably call the police and our parents to have us punished for our crimes. All in all I think the kids got the message and I got to feel what it would be like to get caught stealing. It’s not a good feeling and apparently had I stolen the DVD for real, I would have had to pay somewhere between $500-$1200. I’m not sure, though, if that means I would get to keep the DVD or not…

Anyway check back cause if I get time I’d like to have some video added from the concert in Kalispell. 

Dickie Lake 

Well I had a great time at Dickie Lake Bible Camp. I would say that if you are up in the Kalispell area and are looking to go to camp – go to Dickie Lake. The lake itself is amazing, and for me, a poor eastern Montana boy I couldn’t believe how clear the water is. Anyway, It was a great weekend of camp. I really enjoyed making some new friends and being part of the ministry there. 

Sorry no pictures or video from the camp

I’m back home now and I’d say I had a really great time. I love being on the road and doing music. I got to see a lot of old friends and make new friends, and got to see God work in the lives of people. Thanks to everyone who prayed, you certainly had a part in this ministry. 

Well I put over 2,000 miles on my Ford Escape, but I also learned a few things. Like not to try and wear the same shirt every night, that’s a bad idea (unless you’re a rock star, then you are supposed to smell). I also only lost three bottles of shampoo during my traveling this summer. So, I learned that I need to keep a good eye on my shampoo (I accidentally leave them in various showers). Well thanks again for the prayer, and God bless you guys!

Gospel Show Vs. Glorious Praise

     Someone told me once that it is possible fall off the road on both sides. It seems that there is balance to everything. For example, humility is a fine line between being boastful and having a low view of one’s self. Likewise, The Bible is full of paradox. A paradox is like a contradiction except that both are true. An example of this is that God is both merciful and just. The two don’t seem to go together very well, and yet both are true. Hebrews tells us that the bible is, “sharper than any double-edged sword” (4:12). There two sides to just about everything. In some ways we need to be careful to walk down the center of the narrow road. In other ways we need to carry the truths from both sides in order to walk forward. 

     I had the opportunity lately to worship in one of those really big churches. You know, the ones with the coffee shops and bookstores and a million people. As I walked in I was excited because I wanted to see the worship band play and the huge digital sound boards at the back of the sanctuary. It was quite a show, and as I sat there I remembered hearing a good friend of mine preach. He talked a little bit about going to the gospel show, and how so often our church services, even our Christianity is about going to the gospel show once a week. It’s not much different than going to a movie theater. You go in you sit down, you are entertained, and you hurry to leave before the traffic gets bad. If this is the extent of our Christianity we are in trouble.

     However, there is good scriptural backing for large flashy displays of worship as is often seen in mega churches (in fact I think the church I went to did an awesome job). As I look at the Psalms and passages such as I Chronicles 16, which describes a worship service after the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to Jerusalem, I see great productions of worship. Psalm 66:2 says, “Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!” Psalm 33:3 says, “…Play skillfully and shout for joy.” Psalm 150 gets ridiculously loud. The difference between a gospel show and these passages is that here the focus of worship was not lost. (Fun little side note to study: in 1 Chronicles 15, Michal looked out to see the “show” and didn’t like it very much)

     I think the error of having a gospel show is on one side of the road and the error of having un-glorious praise is on the other. We need to be careful that our church services are not entertainment focused, but instead a life-changing meeting with our creator. Likewise, we should let God’s praise be glorious without going to far and loosing the focus of our praise. It is a fine line to walk, but I think it possible to do.

Every part of our worship service should be questioned: How does it glorify God or enhance our worship?

Emotions and Worship

Sometimes after leading worship I don’t feel like I worshiped. I know that feelings have little to do with gauging actual worship. Too often we say, “Worship was good” after an emotional high, and “worship was bad” when it is emotionally dry. I know that true worship happens in spirit and in truth – and so whether we feel good or bad while worshipping is beside the point. However there is something to be said about emotions in worship. We are emotional beings and I think our feelings are not necessary to worship but are also important to worship. So back to my first thought. Not feeling like I’ve worshiped after leading worship sometimes has caused me to ask a couple of questions. First, did I worship? And next, was I being fake or deceptive (not worshiping in truth) as I went through the actions of worship (raising hands, closing eyes, etc.) while I wasn’t feeling it?

To answer the first question, I think I did worship. Leading worship is about bringing people into the presence of God, and creating an atmosphere of worship. Now we know God never leaves us and that he is everywhere, so maybe leading worship is more about bringing people into the realization of the presence of God. I think leading worship then can be a service like holding the door to the presence of God for everyone else to pass through. Meaning that the one holding the door is, in this analogy, the last one through. Sometimes leading worship, we are the last ones through. Now I think that before we lead we need to have that realization of the presence of God, but the reason why I don’t “feel” it is because I am holding the door, I’m doing an act of service and I may be the last one to actually be able to “enter in.” This service is in it self worship. 

Maybe a better picture is of a waiter at a dinner. I like this picture because worship is not about what we get out of it. It is just the opposite. Worship is about what we can give to God. When we think of worship in this way it is funny that we expect to get anything at all out of it, we need to be content just to give. However, the awesome thing is that we do get refreshed when we worship, we just need to remember that this isn’t really the point; it’s a side effect. So back to the picture of the waiter serving a meal. The waiter is the last one to eat. Leading worship is like that, you spend your time giving and serving, and may be the last one to get something out of it, but that is fine because worship is about giving anyway. So in answer to my question: did I worship? Yes, if I came to give adoration and glory to God in my heart and actions then yes I did, no matter what I feel. 

Now on to my next question, sometimes I find myself not feeling this worship, but still going through the actions. Am I being fake? Actions that we do during worship are neat things to think about because; Jesus said in John 4 that worship happens in spirit and in truth, not in raising hands, or on your knees, etc. True worship doesn’t happen in the realm that we see. Actions are either an effect of worship, or an act of obedience. Sometimes in giving worship to God, we are overcome by him and must fall to our knees. Sometimes we are filled with joy and must dance. So then, what about the times I feel nothing? Should I sit on my hands and stare at the floor until I feel like worshiping. Or what if I am leading worship, shall I stand lifeless and explain to the other worshipers that in my effort to be truthful in worship I am going to project with my actions what I am feeling. Wait a minute, what is going on here? If I were to do that, then I would be letting my feelings dictate my worship. We have already made the point that worship is not built on feelings. Therefore I will command myself to worship. I will sing with all I have to glorify the king, whether I feel like it or not. The Psalms are full of commands to worship. Psalm 54:6 says, “…I will praise your name, O LORD, for it is good.” Therefore, I think that as long as my motives for doing the actions are obedience to a command to worship, and not deceptive or for the sake of my reputation, there is nothing wrong with it. In fact it is good. I also think that going through the motions with the intent to bring glory to God, can stimulate our emotions, and then we will be able to worship God and enjoy it too.

I hope that these thoughts on worship are encouraging to those that read them. I have been thinking about these things for some time now, and have come to these conclusions about worship. Whether a worshiper or a lead worshiper, it is definitely not about us. We need to shift our focus off of ourselves and onto God. Meaning that whether we feel like worshiping or not, we still do. Whether that means that we worship in dry service at times, or we command ourselves to bring glory to God through our actions. Either way, as long as our hearts are in a place of adoration, and not on glorifying ourselves, we are worshiping. 

Psalm 34:1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always