Worship Wars

Daddy: Why were you created?

Josie Mae (age 6): To glorify God.

This is called Catechism. A year ago I would've heard that word and said cata who? But I've been, and am still in, a learning process on how to pass on a real faith to my children and raise them to have authentic love for Jesus. Catechism isn't just a religious word. It basically means a method of teaching principles through questions and answers. But probably the most popular Catechisms are those of theology. I've heard 2 different speakers that I respect and follow suggest this process for teaching children so a few months ago, off I went into Catechism land. With every question and answer we've worked on, the anticipation in me has grown stronger. I'm anticipating Josie Mae asking or responding with something that will allow me to impress her heart. A week or so ago, I asked, "Why were you created?" To which she replied, "To glorify God." But there was something different this time. I could see the wheels turning and there it came: "Daddy, um, why would God want His own glory?" Inside I thought, "YES!!!!!" At last! Realizing she's waiting on an answer, I begin to stutter. "umm, umm, well, you see, Baby..etc. I knew the answer, but the challenge of packaging it for a 6 year old led me to quickly plead for the Spirit to help me.

I had the privilege of explaining to my daughter that if God didn't exalt Himself above all other things, and if He hadn't created her to bring Him glory, then He wouldn't be loving. For since He IS the creator and the sustainer of His creation, how could the creation glorify anything else? Why would the creation want to glorify anything else? Anything else, other than God, is void of the supernatural power and truth that God is. So if God allowed us to have a worship free for all, He wouldn't have loved us very much, cause He is ultimate satisfaction of our souls.

God knew this. Of course He did. He's God and He's the Creator. Adam & Eve were totally fulfilled until the serpent tempted Eve by stealing her faith and her contentment. Perhaps God was holding out on Eve and she would not die like God said they would-doubt. Satan was helping Eve doubt God for the first time then she began to question His integrity and His motives. Then Satan leads Eve to believe that if she ate this fruit her eyes would be open and she'd be like God-discontentment. Now Eve thinks God is holding out on her.

This war of worship was not the beginning of the battle, no, it was actually the 2nd phase. Worship War #1 was between God and Satan. Satan-the epitome of God's creation. But wickedness was found in his heart (Ezekiel 28) and Satan became jealous of God's eminence in the universe and desired to be high and exalted like God.

hmmm-noticing a pattern here?

So Worship War #1, the beginning of War, was over Satan exalting himself above the glory of God. Worship War #2-Satan vs. Man, Satan plants seeds of doubt and discontentment into Eve and paints God as a manipulating God. Eve fell for Satan's propaganda -and bowed to the idol of "self." The very idol Lucifer exalted above God and had faced the wrath of God for. The Wars continue...

Worship War #3-Cain vs. Abel. Simply put-God discerned Cain's heart and knew that his motive wasn't right in his sacrifice. Cain's motive was self exaltation. Even when offered a second chance, Cain refused. He would've rather nursed his wounds of esteem than be in right standing with God. You know the result. Murder.
Worship War #4, #5, #6, #7, and so on, still rage. The worship battles we face today are most always  driven by the same self-interest that was found in Lucifer, Eve & Cain. One way or another, "I wanna do it my way" spirit is the energizer for the worship wars then and now.

An unfathomable 72 million people died in WW II. What an unbelievable cost of one man's self-exaltation.  Yet the battle scars from these "worship wars" are truly innumerable. Everything changed after the fall, including man's worship. Where once it was natural and free it was now inhibited because of mankind's altered physical proximity with God.

The first 3 worship wars I've outlined above are heartbreaking but in them we see:
1. Misguided worship begins in the heart. The very first seeds of it sprouted in the heart of Satan. He couldn't bring down the Creator so he goes after the dearest thing to God's heart, His creation. He wants to plant these seeds in your heart too. Most people aren't going to be led into worshipping the devil directly, but countless souls around the world worship him indirectly when the bow to the idol of "self" just like Satan did, by trying to worship "their way." What's worse is when they enforce their way. Like Cain, innocent people are harmed in the cross-fires of worship wars.

But God is a God of 2nd chances. He gave Adam & Eve another son-Seth. They had lost both of their sons. One murdered and the other, the murder in exile. But Seth comes and is the head of the Messianic line. Through him came "the Desire of all Nations (Hag. 2:7)-Jesus Christ. We are to worship Him and Him alone, His way. May it be so. Amen.

I Come to the Garden...for a few minutes.

Worship Before the Fall


     It's been said that "loneliness is the unspoken disease of the soul." But God never intended for us to experience it. He created us to enjoy relationships, because He is the God of relationships. Just think: you don't remember people's wealth or corporate achievements after their dead, you remember how they treated you. We recollect the relationship we've had with them.

     Can you imagine the relationship with God before sin? I mean, really. Complete peace with your family. Uninterrupted rest, waking to security in God's love. All day you're guided by His presence and in the evening, you return home to walk with Him just for the relationship's sake. Adam and Eve loved to be with God and God loved to be with them. They were the ONLY creation privileged to worship One in whose image they had been made. Even though the angels worship and the stars were created for it, we, humans, are the only creation made with a desire in us to worship Him.

To top it off, our first parents were given Eden to worship and dwell in. God placed them where He would also dwell, an place of unimaginable beauty and wonder. Precious stones, rivers, bountiful fruit and vegetation, it was as if God was saying, "Adam, Eve, this garden is all about you and Me." With an entire planet at their disposal, all of the world's goings on, it would have been so easy for Adam and Eve to get distracted-so much to see, so much to do, so much to be involved in...sound familiar? But in the peaceful quiet of a pristine garden, they could focus. Undistracted communion with God. They could worship, perfectly.

Principles of Worship

• God is all about relationship. Proof? Creation of man in His image. Only He can satisfy the inner craving that He has put there. When we respond to His call to relationship and worship we fulfill the purpose for which He made us.

• Where we worship matters. Worship cannot take place where noise is abundant and distractions are many. We cannot worship fruitfully where there are countless voices all vying for our attention. We'll miss His voice. We cannot worship perfectly where clock is King. God Himself must be King, and we must spend time with Him, in a place unoccupied by anything that would manipulate our worship, making it manufactured rather than a natural outflow of our love for God. We must find our own "Eden." In other words, we must get alone with God. This is when worship becomes fruitful and we're brought into the very presence of God and our relationship is deepened.

• Worship brings multiplication. We don't know how long God allowed man to live in the garden. But we do know creation multiplied in the garden. And there will be multiplication in our personal Eden as well. Psalm 16:11 says "there is fullness of joy" and as we experience it, we will praise God. God responds to our praise by giving us multiplied joy, over and over as we worship.

God's specific design and purpose for our lives, individually and collectively, is worshipping Him. "If we do not honor this purpose," wrote Tozer, "our lives will degenerate into shallow, selfish, humanistic pursuits." Even though see through a glass darkly (I Cor 13:12), we must pursue to worship God as best we can.

     May the clocks, appointments, ipods, TV's, after school activities, and even Christian or church programs become strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

His Worshipper

His Worshipper...I must make these words more than an email auto-signature. You see, "His Worshipper" has already been determined as my purpose. Yours too.


I'd like to start a new chapter in blog-land dedicated to a journey of Biblical Worship. I don't think there are words that could convey how uninviting and non-compelling the music style war is. Oh I've fought them before! Vigorously! Even then, I felt in my spirit that I wasn't spot on. I've been brought to a place in my life where I'm moving past a culture style, church preference, even what sounds good to me, even...melodic music itself. I'm ready to explore Biblical Worship.

Admittedly, it would be foolish to press into Biblical Worship alone or unguided. I'm reading a book entitled, "Called to Worship" by Vernon Whaley. I'm sure I'll miss some quotation marks so understand that if you read something profound here, it's probably from him! I'd never try to claim it as my own. My intent here is to share w/ you my family in the faith insights then application regarding Biblical Worship.

In the Beginning

I've always been really intrigued by the account of creation. I mean, really. It mesmerizes me. But I have left it in a nice little box called "Creation". As I begin this book, the author begins in the beginning and wow. Here's a sampling:
"As God began to present the plot of his eternal story in the first book of the Bible, a strategy called revelation was unveiled: God initiated the task revealing Himself through Creation. He gave an eyewitness account of the event of the ages and opened the windows of heaven to reveal His glory, character, love, and wisdom so that we can know Him. Why? Our instinctive response in knowing God personally is worship. And worship is His strategic plan for all creation."

Worship Principles:

• The wonder of God demands our worship of Him. God is God. Supreme. He was not created. He was the cause, we, the effect. He wills and dwells where He chooses and He chose to dwell with man. Our response: worship.

• The work of God demands our Worship of Him. His work in Creation in beyond our comprehension. It's His work. He said, "let there be light," bringing the universe from darkness to illumination. His redemptive plan does the same for us. From darkness to light. His work. Unmerited favor.

• The wisdom of God demands our worship of Him. Every leaf on a tree, petal on a flower, every caterpillar that turns to a butterfly...Sovereign Wisdom. Yet these creations’s end is to magnify its Creator. Only humanity's end is to dwell with our Creator and be His children. When you "get" this, you'll praise Him.

• The wishes of God demand our worship of Him. "Let Us make man (Gen. 1:26) But Why? Because He wanted to. "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." A.W. Tozer

My thoughts in summary: the church (Christians) may have never been so caught up in "Worship Wars" then we are today. Never have we been so divided that ministers now seek to divide the body to ensure that everyone's flesh preference is met. Genesis 1:2 tells us that God's Spirit was moving over the water. The earth was formless and void, God was moving. God was in motion. Even in the darkness, God was making His presence known. While we cannot see God's Spirit, we can sense His presence. And just as His Spirit moved across the waters, I rest worshipfully that He is moving and carrying out His plan. He's NOT waiting for us to get it right, AMEN! He moves, He reveals, He stirs, and He is God. And me, well I'm...
His Worshipper.

Week 7-Using Our Tools Wisely

Day 1-It's Not About Style

Today's thoughts are great and true. Truthfully, it's a truth that is only accepted after the individual has embraced a mindset of servant hood and humility. Our writer very appropriately put this subject directly after week 6 which was all on Leadership and went in depth on truths like:
(summary on week 6) Are we Ministers through Music? Is Ministry what we do or is it who we are? / Recognition isn't required! The very nature of our "business" is help people fall in love with God and ONLY God. / The Law of God's Elevation. What comes down in through humility will go up through Christ-like exaltation. Because we were created for God's glory, glorifying Him brings us the most fulfillment possible. The challenge is releasing our definition and terms of what that exaltation and His glory in us looks like. For many it's suffering, loss, hardships, etc. His glory is revealed when His grace is sufficient. /Earning God's privilege to lead. Those who should sing are those who are called. Those who would sing are those with passion. Those who could sing are those with discipline and those who get to sing are those with integrity. / The Discipline of Difficulties. If you haven't been tested by fire, you do not know who you are, you cannot be a leader.

A man found a cocoon in his office. He set the cocoon on a shelf and waited for it to hatch. After a day or so, nothing had happened and the man grew impatient. He took a razor blade and
slit the cocoon ever so carefully. Sure enough, within a few minutes, out came a beautiful Emperor Moth. As it spread its gorgeous wings, the gentleman waited for it to fly high into the air. But instead, the moth wandered over to the ledge and dropped off onto the floor. Distraught, he asked an entomologist why his prized moth couldn't’t fly. The insect expert explained that when the man slit the cocoon, he deprived the moth of the very struggle it needed to build strength in its wings. In fact, the expert said, the moth would never fly.

So, after week 6 and all it's probing truth, we approach the ever-brewing subject of style. I love our writer's Biblical observation: Worship throughout the Bible doesn't follow a standard of style, new songs or old. You find it all: lament, rejoicing, dancing, silence, knees to the earth, standing, lying in bed, creatures around the throne, creation, Old songs (Jeremiah 6:16) and new songs (Psalm 96:1). The only current theme through it all is the focus of the worship, the theme of the song. It is God and God alone. For His is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever, amen!

Week 6, Day 2

Recognition Is Not Required

1 Peter 5:6a- "So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God..."

There's a really interesting point today regarding recognition for the Worship Leader. List the Prophets and Preachers in the Bible. Then besides their names, list the Worship Leaders from the Bible. A bit different, uh? Why?

"The more recognition and popularity we as musicians and worship leaders are showered with, the more difficult it is for us to point starry-eyed people from us to the Father. By the very nature of our "business," we must help people fall in love with God and only God."

What are three reasons you could come up with today, to tell someone as to why they should lift Jesus higher than yourself? Will you use one of them today?

Week 6-Qualities of Leadership

Day One: Ministers Through Music

Today was such a goodie! "We may impress people from distance, but we'll only impact them as they see our lives up close."

How do you see yourself: as a musician who is a Christian or a Christian who is a musician? The way we answer that question will determine how we approach music throughout our lives.

Four levels of Effectiveness:
Level One: The Song Leader. This person wants to show up, sing/play then leave. "It's better to have 10 people who are sold on music ministry than 100 who are just showing up."
Level Two: Music Director. They know how to sing or what to play and have a focus on excellence and their organization is great. They tend to forget or lose sight of why they're doing it.
Level Three: Minister of Music. Committed to excellence and pleasing God. However, their ministry is limited to the church stage.
Level Four: Minister through Music. They still desire the excellence of level 2 and see the blessing musical praise can beto God and others! However, Level 4 realize that our music is not the minister, we are the ministers. God didn't ordain the music to bless Him and others, but ordained us to serve Him. And we have a responsibility to serve whether we're making music or not.

"Ministry is more about who we are than about something we do."

Week 4-5

It's been a while for the blog post! I'd like to give a short review of weeks 4-5.
Week 4-Hearing God's Voice
"We must learn to look below the surface of what we can see and hear with our physical senses. We must discern what God is up to." This requires us to be saved, sensitive and surrendered. Perhaps you are saved but sensitive? Surrendered? Jesus said, you who have ears, let him hear. Jesus knew everyone he spoke to had physical ears, but he knew not everyone was listening.

Are you?

Why listen to God? Let's answer that by developing our crisis mind-set.

• Desperation for God. This desperation will come when we see our true state of urgent need of Him.
• Determined to hear from God. Do we want to hear from God or do we HAVE to?
• Decided that God would speak. God's move and power isn't just a hope or a wish, it's a waited upon response to our plea. It's not presumption, it's faith. It's not a matter of if; it's only a matter of when.

The Characteristics of God's Voice-is it Familiar? Personal? Simple and Clear? Loving?

God's Words:

• are consistent with the Bible
• may conflict with human wisdom
• may clash with our fleshly nature
• will challenge our faith
• will require courage

Fine-Tuning our ears:

• Practice Listening
• Focus our thoughts
• Respond to every impulse from the Holy Spirit

In week 4, we have spiraled up. We have developed a closer relationship with the Holy Spirit. We have learned that we're His sheep that can hear His voice. We learned that as worship leaders we MUST hear from God. And we learned to fine-tune our spiritual hearing ears to more easily hear from the Lord.
WHY? Because our goal every day is to connect with Almighty God.

Week 5-Essentials of Effective Worship Services

• Prayer-"every work of God can be traced to some kneeling form." -Dwight L. Moody
  What if the entrance exam to the Choir loft each week was, "are you hearing from Heaven"? Prayer puts our focus where it belongs. "God can only bless people who are in tune...with Him and with one another. That is why we begin every choir practice with a season of prayer...The choir's ability to minister can never be better than their spiritual tone." -Carol Cymbala (Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir)
  Prayer sensitizes us to God's voice. Prayer gets results.
• Planned Spontaneity-We plan out distractions and plan in both flow and freedom to obey whatever God tells us to do. Are we ready for our planned song or music set to be interrupted for God to do something else? Maybe as a Choir member your reply is, "sure!" But are you ready for Him to do the same in your day today?
• Pliableness-Our willingness to be flexible. This comes down to trust. Trusting God even when we don't understand Him. Whether in a spontaneous worship moment in Church or in your week. Either God is Sovereign or He's not. To be pliable means to be bendable, workable and moldable.
• Power in the Spirit-Jim Cymbala, pastor of The Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York City, writes,“Our attempt at ministry will be an absolute exercise in futility if we are not
  expecting and experiencing divine help through the power of the Holy Spirit.
  It is not enough to teach and preach about the Spirit. We must experience him
  personally in new depths, or we will accomplish little. Without the Holy Spirit
  there is no quickening of the Scripture. Worship is hollow. Preaching is mechanical,
  never piercing the heart.” If in Luke 3:21-4:19 Jesus needed the power of my Spirit to be effective in ministry, how much more must you have the Holy Spirit anointing your life?
  Adrian Rogers writes, “In my estimation, the cause of Christ has been hurt far more by Christians who were carnal and not Spirit filled than by Christians who were drunk.
  To be filled with the Holy Spirit is really more about getting unfilled with ourselves.
  Here are the simple steps necessary to ensure we remain filled with him.
  (1) We must completely surrender every room and closet of our heart’s home.
  Well has it been said, “If he’s not Lord of all, he’s not Lord at all.” (2) Then we
  invite him to come and fill us up with only himself. (3) To continue being filled,
  we must daily claim his filling and continually surrender afresh to his voice and
  direction.
• Pastoral Direction-Before we can have the blessings of God on our music ministry—or any other ministry, for that matter—we must acknowledge and submit to the authorities
  God has placed above us. (See Hebrews 13:17.)
  Please read 1 Peter 5:5. Notice what our attitude should be.
  1 Peter 5:5-In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for "God opposes the proud but favors the humble."

The most fruitful day for me was day 5 of week 4: Expecting to Hear, pg 71-73. The exercise with Psalm 23 was amazing. WOW-God's Word IS alive. Can I beg you all to do this before Sunday? please?
Love ya Choir! O, here's a video for you. After the Psalm 23 exercise, I was reminded of this song I sang in High School Choir. It's SO different than what we sing in church, but I still LOVE it. Even though it may not be your style, I'd ask you to just listen and meditate on the passage.