Posted in Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged true worship, what is worship, worshiptainment | Leave a Comment »
by Art Katz
There is no deception more profound than that for which Charismatics and Pentecostals are most subject. We think, albeit unconsciously, that the euphoric thing we enjoy by our music and choruses is really the statement of our faith. We may enjoy it, and we hope that God is being blessed also, but we need to be ruthlessly honest and gird ourselves with truth; and we need first of all to be truthful about our own condition. The true statement of our faith and the condition of our lives are what we experience in fear or apprehension about death, and about insecurity, when we stand in a tremulous place where an authority is confronting us that expresses the rule of the principalities and powers. The issue is not whether our worship pleases us or facilitates the service, but whether it is in fact worship. True worship is the statement and expression of the redemptive work of God that has been experienced in our lives authentically and corporately.
Loudness is power, and it is manipulative when the sound amplifiers are turned up. It is predicated on the notion that the powers of the air will be defeated through militant or revved up Worship.’ The moment we begin to employ worship for purposes other than worship, then it no longer is worship. God knows when there is a worship that has no strings attached. True worship is simply the adoration and devotion that God deserves because He is God. But when we make of it a manipulation and a tool toward an end, even a religiously desired end, then it is no longer worship. We are on the enemy’s ground, and employing an expediency to obtain an end, and still calling it worship, and we are just as much deceived to think that a vigorous, banner-waving worship defeats the powers!
“Jesus we know and Paul we know, but who are you?” may well be asked of us. “Yes, we hear your praise, and we hear your choruses, but there is something about them that is hollow. It is merely singing, and it is not, therefore, something that we are required as the rulers of darkness to acknowledge!” This is what the forces of darkness utter when they encounter a church operating in less than the fullness of its inheritance in Christ. There is a praise and worship that is mere singing, but there is also a praise that wells up to Heaven, which is more than the product of charismatic manipulation. It is a praise that is a spontaneous breaking forth of a celebration of the God who has saved us, not only out of fear, insecurity and anxiety, but who has brought us to a transcendent place of apostolic faith. That kind of praise devastates the powers of darkness.
Our call as the church to resist the Devil is not dependent upon what we do, but what we are. It is something in the character of the church. Our victory will be related to the quality and continuous character of the fellowship itself. So long as there is any surrender or condescension to the wisdom of those powers, for example, fear, intimidation, threat, concern for one’s life and security, then the powers have a place of penetration. When they see a people who are resolute in their faith, and know that their security does not come from the world, or from their employer, or from the State, but from God, then the powers are without any weapon. There is nothing that can be attacked.
Paul and Silas’ imprisonment in Acts 16 is a wonderful demonstration of the wisdom of God. At midnight they were praying and singing praises unto God. They believed that their suffering was the very consequence of their obedience, and that even though only one woman was affected by their ministry, they were in the place of obedience to the heavenly vision. It did not matter whether they would lose their lives or not, because that was not the issue. They had such a deep faith in the sovereignty of God, and the privilege of sharing in His sufferings, that they rejoiced, and it was expressed in praise.
When you can praise God in the midst of adversity and suffering, you have the most powerful release from the powers of darkness. They cannot stand it, or bear to hear it, and they flee, because it is the overwhelming evidence of the reality of the invisible God. It contradicts their wisdom which says that when you are suffering, you are to be mourning, pouting, feeling sorry for yourself, blaming God, and accusing this man or that. But when you can praise God in the midst of your sufferings, you have ruined them. You have taken their last weapon, and they have nothing they can use anymore to threaten or to intimidate. You have broken through onto a heavenly ground. They are absolutely helpless to adversely affect you, and so they are required to flee.
The one thing that the powers of darkness are required to acknowledge is authenticity—the thing that is real. I am an enemy, therefore, to what seems to be real in worship and praise that puts such emphasis on musical ability, on instruments, on loudspeakers, on electronic technology, on song and on worship leaders. One of my greatest battles as a prophetic person is with worship leaders. Oftentimes, it happens that I have a speaking engagement, and by the time the worship is over, I am completely depleted and drained. I get up and it is a pathetic beep next to what I knew the Lord was wanting. The worship, so-called, that should have enhanced the word, actually robbed and blunted it. There is so much emphasis on worship that almost makes the success of the church depend upon it. “Did you enjoy the worship?”— instead of it being the spontaneous expression of the redemptive work of God in the life of the believers, personally and corporately.
Jesus endured all of His suffering for the joy that was set before Him, in the anticipation of what would be the consequence of His suffering for eternity. This is the wisdom of God, because rejoicing in suffering is a contradiction. It is contrary to reason and everything we think natural to man. What is natural to man is survival, “Take care of number one.” But the wisdom that can rejoice in suffering is another wisdom, and it is that wisdom which defeats the powers. It is the greater wisdom, but it is not enough just to speak it. It has got to be made manifest, to be demonstrated, by a church whose inner life is itself her proclamation of God’s manifold wisdom. Whether she speaks it or not, the very inner life itself is that thing. It becomes that through trial, through testing, through the Lord allowing oppression, heaviness of spirit—all of the kinds of things against which we have to struggle and work out in our relationships. It is becoming one as He is one, in all of the differences, all of the personalities, all of the things that come up that take the guts-out of you, where you want to run and find the first Charismatic and Evangelical fellowship you can, just to be relieved from the tension of all of these demands. It is in those tensions, however, that God forms His character.
by Art Katz
Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged Art Katz worship, true praise, true worship | Leave a Comment »
By Art Katz
I trust that you share with me the increasing sense of importance that this subject bears. Up until now, I have borne with some patience and even amusement the number of those who currently label themselves “prophetic” and the popularity that this calling now enjoys, which has been contrary to my own experience. It seemed another one of those “fads” that sooner or later would fade away. Now though, it is hitting too close to home in the things jealously dear to my own heart that have to do with the maintaining of the dignity and meaning of the word “prophet” itself! After all, if we cheapen or lose the true office of prophet, what foundation have we, seeing that “the household of God…[is itself] built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:19-20).
My own now bold proclamation in every place of an impending time of calamity for the state of Israel and Jews everywhere, as being a statement issuing authoritatively from an office rather than an opinion, demands a repudiation or a recognition of the seriousness of that office and those who profess to speak from it. For I believe that it is to those in the true office of prophet that the incisive interpretation of prophetic scripture is given. The question then of true or false has now become either the unnecessary disturbing of the church for that which is already past or a life-or-death warning of that which is not only future but imminent.
How remarkably this parallels the experience of an earlier “prophet of doom,” Jeremiah, who had not only to contend with the recalcitrance of the nation to heed his warning but the active opposition of those claiming also to be prophets! The cry of God through him against the false prophets in the classic diatribe of chapter 23 must have been an additional anguish for his already vexed soul. In a “thus saith the Lord of hosts,” not employed as the device to sanctify what is only a human conjecture, but as one that punctuates the urgency of God’s own heart, the people are warned “not to listen to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you; they are deluding you. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord” (v.16).
For even to listen is to be dulled and made more conducive to the soothing and seductive “It shall be well with you…no calamity shall come upon you” (v.17). Such men prophesy “the deceit of their own hearts…saying I have dreamed a dream…by their dreams which they tell one another…they make my people forget my Name” (vv.25-27). That is, in the lightness of their banter to which the name of the Lord is recklessly affixed, God is necessarily demeaned and diminished as God;for what God is in the totality of his Nature and character is implied and is intrinsic in His Name!
From whence this unspeakable audacity of those who though they were not sent, “yet they ran” (v.21)! “Senseless prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing”, who have “envisioned falsehood and lying divination” and even in the depths of their own self-deception, “yet [even] wait for the fulfillment of their word” (Ezekiel 13:3-6) [of a peace that cannot and will not come] “saying to those who despise the Word of the Lord, it shall be well with you…no calamity shall come upon you” (Jeremiah 23:17)!
“For who has stood in the council of the Lord so as to see and hear His Word? Who has given heed to His Word so as to proclaim it?” (v.18). The very word “who” in the cry of this verse indicates not many, for the “council” of God implies the most intimate sense of God from which men of presumption and ambition are necessarily barred! God grounds the sanctity of His Name and His Word in the confines of relationship from which busy men have neither the time nor disposition to enter. Neither is it a place where one can come with the express purpose of finding a word. For to come for the expediency of the word alone is to come in the spirit of utility, which is to say, not to come in the name of the Lord! God must be sought, consistently, for His own sake and not for that which can be obtained from Him, even for “ministry”!
How shall men who have already profaned the sacred by invoking the name of the Lord as a catchword [to give an aura of credibility to their own conjectures] so much as even have the disposition for such a seeking? They are false in themselves and reflect an age that is false in itself in which many in the church have been infected and cannot tell the difference! As always in the last analysis of any issue, it is the Cross which is at stake! For to be “in the council of the Lord” requires that brokenness, that disposition to wait, that separation from the itch for fame and recognition, that willingness for the bearing of rejection, of misunderstanding, of necessary offense, that utterness toward God, that sending from a body willing to share in these sufferings the burden of the unique prophetic anguish, the daily dying which is necessarily the history and condition of any man called to the holy task of prophet in this final generation.
Has ever our age stood in greater need of hearing the heart of God? O for the Word of the Lord when He chooses to give it. When it comes, I suspect, it will be to those are in the practice of a daily and early communing, who do not make the issue of obtaining anything a condition for their devotion, who find His silences as holy as His speakings, paying homage to Him as God because He is God, and will therefore not withhold His Word when it comes, however painful its implications and its judgments, knowing that even the judgments of God are themselves a mercy! To them, like the ancient Hebrew prophets cited above, will the honor and privilege also be given to proclaim to Israel their restoration, and to the Church, His soon Coming, His Kingdom and His glory.
By Art Katz http://artkatzministries.org/articles/true-and-false-prophets/
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In Matthew 21:43-46, Jesus told the chief priests and Pharisees that the Kingdom of God would be taken away from them and given to a people “who will produce its fruit”. The Kingdom of God and its people were always meant to produce a certain fruit. That fruit is to show forth the nature of God in our daily lives. Things like faith, life, good works, mercy, forgiveness and grace, things that show that we have been favored by Divine grace. That divine grace changed us when we turned to Jesus. It is not just that my ideas about God changed, it is that He changed me, He dwells inside of me. I live differently now and long to be like Him and by His Spirit He helps me. That is what He desires!
The fruit that the world produces are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. God forewarned us that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
By His divine grace towards us, we are a people “who will produce the fruit” of the Kingdom of God. That fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Reference Galatians 5:16-24
Let us continue to ask for more of God’s divine grace upon our lives!
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Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:21
Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late—and how little revival has resulted?
I believe our problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work!
A church, for instance, follows its traditions without much thought about whether they are scriptural or not. Or it surrenders to pressure from public opinion and falls in with popular trends which carry it far from the New Testament pattern. Then the leaders notice a lack of spiritual power among the people and become concerned about it. What to do? How can they bring down refreshing showers to quicken their fainting souls?
The answer is all ready for them. The books tell them how—pray!
The passing evangelist confirms what the books have said—pray!
So the pastor calls his people to pray. The tide of feeling runs high and it looks for a while as if the revival might be on the way. But it fails to arrive and the zeal for prayer begins to flag. Soon the church is back where it was before and a numb discouragement settles over everyone.
What has gone wrong? Simply this: Neither the leaders nor the people have made any effort to obey the Word of God. They felt that their only weakness was failure to pray, when actually in a score of ways they were falling short in the vital matter of obedience!
—AW Tozer-Renewed Day by Day – Volume One
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Have you seen the latest? A.I. programs can now write Christian worship songs!
It seems odd to me that an A.I. program can write emotional worship songs and do so without having any emotions of its own. How is that even possible? It is possible because it can mimic a song previously written by a person that actually has emotions. So while many songs that are written by people can express the cry of that person’s soul, AI can only mimic that, it has no soul. I suppose there are people who would argue that.
Where would we be without the Book of Psalms? Where the heart’s cry of King David is expressed in so many beautiful ways. It is through pain and suffering that many of the beautiful Psalms are expressed. A.I. will never experience those pains and suffering. A.I. will never experience what we as humans face in our lifetimes, disappointments, betrayals, hunger, pain, love, friendship, etc.
There will be many in the music industry, both Christian and secular, who will laud the technology of A.I. in their songwriting. That makes sense if they are looking for successful songs that will hit the charts. After all, the industry works that way right now. Songwriters already do what A.I will do. They mimic successful songs in their writing. The goal for them is to write a song that they can make money on. A.I. will speed up the process and the songwriters will claim it as their own.
It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds.
Posted in Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged AI worship, true worship, writing a worship song | Leave a Comment »
It is a wonderful thing to have the Bible express events in your own life. You may be going thru pain and suffering, and then discover in the Book of Psalms that the writer is going thru a similar thing. If you feel forsaken of God, Psalm 13 expresses the very turmoil of the soul. Feeling that God has forgotten you, and the inner turmoil that you might have to wrestle with. Praying this Psalm gives great comfort!
Just a few days ago a friend and I were in great distress. We were stopped in a line of cars at a red light when a 52-foot semi slammed into us from behind. It was a violent collision totaling the car. In our distress all we could do was to call out to Jesus for help! We were in shock and afraid, I thought it was the end for me. We were taken to the hospital and checked over. I had to have an Xray and CT scan and to my surprise there was nothing broken on either of us. We were given some pain meds and prescriptions and released to go home. There was a lot of bruising that showed up over the next two days, and of course a lot of back and leg pain.
So as I read my Bible today, I turned to Psalm 30. My Bible has this heading- “Thanksgiving For Deliverance From Death”. “I Will extol Thee, O LORD, for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not let my enemies rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried to Thee for help, and Thou didst heal me. O LORD, Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.
So today I am thankful to the Lord, for He has kept me alive! I will praise Him this morning, and give thanks to His Holy name.
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If you are a worship leader, you must realize that you are there to lead people in praise and worship to God. It is possible to not realize this fact, that you are to lead the congregation. Seems simple enough. But leading people means your goal is to get people to open their mouths in praise unto Him. That means that you are not there to perform. You must play songs that are well known to the congregation, songs that they can wholeheartedly engage in. You might have a lovely voice and be good at setting a groove, but if the congregation is not engaged, you have failed at leading. Your first priority is playing songs that people know.
I have seen it time and time again! Congregations that are not engaged. They just stand there listening to the band. Mostly because they don’t know the songs. I have had countless people say the same thing to me, they don’t know the songs. Why do we have this problem? It is usually because the band wants to do songs that they like. Usually the latest popular songs that are being put out by big churches and record labels. Some dislike the old hymns, they feel the need to be relevant.
When you pick songs to play, you also need to make sure the theology being put forth by the song is solid. That means you need to be in the Word, getting Biblical knowledge and spending time with God. This is very often overlooked by pastors choosing musicians.
The Bible is clear about requirements for pastors and deacons, 1 Timothy 3:1-13. Why do worship leaders not have the same requirement or one like it? It is a leadership position!
Try singing Amazing Grace in your church without any instruments, you will be amazed at the level of participation. Leading worship has one goal, to get the congregation to praise the Lord.
Posted in Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged advice to worship leader, principles of worship | 3 Comments »
by A W Tozer
There is a notion widely held among Christians that song is the highest possible expression of the joy of the Lord in the soul of a man.
That idea is so near to being true that it may seem spiritually rude to challenge it. I have no wish to pick theological lint nor pluck the wings off religious flies for the thrill such a sadistic act might afford. There are probably hundreds of wrong notions in all of our heads, notions that, while they are wrong, are still too insignificant to deserve attention. They are like the minor physical blemishes which we all have, harmless if not beautiful, and altogether too trivial to rate mention by serious-minded persons.
The idea, however, that song is the supreme expression of all and any possible spiritual experience is not small; it is large and meaningful and needs to be brought to the test of the Scriptures and Christian testimony.
Both the Bible and the testimony of a thousand saints show that there is experience beyond song. There are delights which the heart may enjoy in the awesome presence of God which cannot find expression in language; they belong to the unutterable element in Christian experience. Not many enjoy them because not many know that they can. The whole concept of ineffable worship has been lost to this generation of Christians. Our level of life is so low that no one expects to know the deep things of the soul until the Lord returns. So we are content to wait, and while we wait we are wont to cheer our hearts sometimes by breaking into song.
Far be it from us to discourage the art of singing. Creation itself took its rise in a burst of song; Christ rose from the dead and sang among His brethren, and we are promised that they who dwell in dust will rise and sing at the resurrection. The Bible is a musical book and, next to the Scriptures themselves, the best book to own is a good hymnbook. But still there is something beyond song.
The Bible and Christian biography make a great deal of silence, but we of today make of it exactly nothing. The average service in gospel circles these days is kept alive by noise. By making a lot of religious din we assure our faltering hearts that everything is well and, conversely, we suspect silence and regard it as a proof that the meeting is “dead.” Even the most devout seem to think they must storm heaven with loud outcries and mighty bellowings or their prayers are of no avail. Not all silence is spiritual. Some Christians are silent because they have nothing to say; others because what they have to say cannot be uttered by mortal tongue. Of the first we do not speak at the moment, but confine our remarks to the latter.
Where the Holy Spirit is permitted to exercise His full sway in a redeemed heart the progression is likely to be as follows: First, voluble praise, in prose speech or prayer or witness; then, when the crescendo rises beyond the ability of studied speech to express, comes song, then comes silence where the soul, held in deep fascination, feels itself blessed with an unutterable beatitude.
At the risk of being written off as an extremist or a borderline fanatic we offer it as our mature opinion that more spiritual progress can be made in one short moment of speechless silence in the awesome presence of God than in years of mere study. While our mental powers are in command there is always the veil of nature between us and the face of God. It is only when our vaunted wisdom has been met and defeated in a breathless encounter with Omniscience that we are permitted really to know, when prostrate and wordless the soul receives divine knowledge like a flash of light on a sensitized plate. The exposure may be brief, but the results are permanent.—The Root of the Righteous – A W Tozer
Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music | Tagged A W Tozer worship, is worship a song, what is true worship | Leave a Comment »
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