We pray for the manifest presence of God but do not consider the conditions God requires for Him to come. We must build Him a habitation. Does God feel at home with us? Do we really care?.....We can tell a lot about a church by the quality of its worship. Worship is the key to God's heart and therefore the key to real growth. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts for the Lord and one another. We lay down our lives for God and one another (see Jn. 4:16). AS the love of God and one another grows, we are brought together in Him, and there is a powerful release of the Spirit. Worship is the natural outcome of such a release.
Whenever a church continuously struggles in worship, it is usually because of a relational issue within the church. We need breakthrough worship that flows out of anointed hearts joined together by what every joint supplies. Even the ordinary stones must cry out to the glory of God. How much more should we, as living stones being built together in love, become a temple of praise.
Among churches today we have two kinds of worship: synagogue and temple. Synagogue worship occurs when people come to church to hear the word of God, receive ministry, and be entertained. It represents the doing aspect of body worship. Often, because the main reason for meeting is actually people-centered rather than God-focused, this worship is usually reduced or restricted when time is pressing.
In temple worship, people come to praise God, to pray, and to make an offering. Their sole concern is for God Himself. This is home-building worship and requires a high level of adoration do God an mutual cooperation amongst people to be effective and glorious.
God seeks people to worship Him in spirit an truth (see Jn. 4:23). Worship releases the presence of God into our midst. That is why it is the key to God's heart. In worship we are completely taken up with Him.
Do our worship leaders spend more time motivating people to worship than acclaiming Christ? What type of worship songs do we sing the most? A true worship song is completely Christ-centered. Its sole focus is the total adoration and glorification of Christ. Many current songs are worship prayers dealing with our need or desire to worship Jesus rather than actually doing it.
Worship, then, is a major indicator of the church moving into the new wineskin, a different paradigm. If we have to spend a high proportion of our allocated worship time motivating people to get to a place of adoration that they should have been in when they first entered the meeting, we are in trouble spiritually.
In the new wineskin, people will come ready to worship. The worship bands are Levites with an anointing to take us into the high places of God's manifest presence. From the moment the first not is struck we are at 35,000 feet and soaring in the Spirit. We are meant to be eagles, dining on snakes and riding the thermals of high praise. Anything else is for chickens! It is possible to tell which churches have a strong revelation of the Lordship and majesty of Jesus by the strength, passion, and stamina of their worship. Many churches have good worship, but it is not enough. We must train our people how to corporately minister to the Lord. Currently many of our worship times consist of individuals opting in or out of worship depending on how they feel, on their current capacity to rise above their circumstances, or whether or not they like the songs or the music. Our worship can be a triumph of style over substance rather than a profound focus on the Person
of Jesus by group consent.
Churches that are moving into a new place in God are seriously upgrading their worship anointing. They understand the house of God priority. They are teaching their people how to minister to the Lord through deliberate, corporate focus on the attention on Jesus.
07 November 2008
I found this note on facebook from a friend of a friend. i thought his points were excellent. as we go through this very different season he reminds us of what our true focus should be...
First President Elect of ColorShare
Wed 1:31pm
It’s an honor to experience history in motion—my generation was able to see the first President elect of Color. A few generations ago, African-Americans were not even allowed to vote. This is a joyous occasion, to see the walls of segregation and inequality fall even more.
However, I’m frustrated that this race, in many ways, became about race.
I’ve heard many conversations of people discussing everything but the issues and crises of this nation as determiners of their vote. This bothers me.
Last night, Sen. Barack Obama became the President elect for America, but I’m still having a hard time believing that it happened—it’s all quite surreal.
I’m frustrated and confused why the American people would elect a man with certain stances and discrepancies:
• He has never proven his U.S. Citizenship (in light of him protecting his illegal aunt, I feel this is a legitimate issue)
• His “spread the wealth” terminology is clearly Marxist
• Sen. Biden acknowledged that their election would invite an international attack within the first six months
• His connections with a Racist church intent on putting down the “white devils”
• His political ties and riotous strategies for past Kenya elections
• His threats to “bankrupt” America’s coal companies (This supplies 50% of America’s electricity. With higher taxes, gas, and electricity, Americans are going to have a hard time paying for anything and everything)
And many more issues.
I’m frustrated that my generation has seen the death of journalism. From Fox to ABC, every media corporation exudes a bias. After every presidential debate, one could predict that Fox would say Sen. McCain won and ABC said Sen. Obama won. Newspapers like the New York Times explicitly communicated support of Sen. Obama. This is ridiculous. Every vessel of communication has been tainted. Don’t believe me?
Do you realize that, under President Bush’s administration, weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. He could have exonerated himself, but knew that terrorist organizations would attempt to seize the materials, so he hid them and sent them to Canada. The AP published this article, but most of America hasn’t heard about this. Most of America hasn’t heard about the successes in the middle-east. Why? Because we’ve seen the death of journalism. Nobody wanted to vindicate P. Bush’s administration—it would cost too much.
Our nation is going to change. Is it the change we want?
As a Christian, though, I’m not worried. I’m frustrated, angry, upset, concerned and braced to respond to issues of ministers forced to conduct homosexual marriages, recession in abortion, communist momentum, international weakness and poor economics, but I’m not worried.
As Christians, I think we sometimes depend too much on earthly government for righteous change. The world will only change for the better under one condition: hearts are changed.
For some reason, we’ve bought into the notion that laws will change a person, but that’s not true. Yes, as a nation we have invited death and immorality and we will be judged for this. But, in order to reverse this, it will not happen through the law—it will happen through changed hearts. Laws on molestation, crime and murder have increased, though we haven’t seen too much of a change. Why? Because hearts haven’t been changed.
It’s hard to expect someone raised in a post-Christian, neo-barbarian, nation to live up to imposed Christian ideals without having the heart behind it. Most of this generation can’t name half of the ten commandments, yet we expect them to live by it. In Acts 17, the apostles were accused of “turning the world upside down.” Not because they endorsed new legislation, but because they translated citizens from earthly kingdoms to the Heavenly Kingdom. The laws of abortion become irrelevant when a nation is discipled (as Mt. 28:19 commands us to do) with a conviction for life. The laws of murder become irrelevant when a nation is discipled with a conviction for life.
I feel like I’m rambling, but I’m confident that if we spend more time advancing THE KINGDOM, the kingdoms of this earth will develop as a by-product. This gives me hope. I see God running after souls and calling a generation to higher standard of holiness, activism and purpose. When people like you actually start leading others to Christ and training them to make disciples of all nations, we will see the change in America that we’re looking for.
God wants hearts, not civil obedience. Christianity is the great civilizer and moralizer of the Earth. As we do our part in the great commission, we will see our nation changed. Though I don’t see many Christians playing their part in the great commission, I do see some and I have hope that the LORD can use a minority to change the nation and the nations. God bless America.
-Pradeepan
First President Elect of ColorShare
Wed 1:31pm
It’s an honor to experience history in motion—my generation was able to see the first President elect of Color. A few generations ago, African-Americans were not even allowed to vote. This is a joyous occasion, to see the walls of segregation and inequality fall even more.
However, I’m frustrated that this race, in many ways, became about race.
I’ve heard many conversations of people discussing everything but the issues and crises of this nation as determiners of their vote. This bothers me.
Last night, Sen. Barack Obama became the President elect for America, but I’m still having a hard time believing that it happened—it’s all quite surreal.
I’m frustrated and confused why the American people would elect a man with certain stances and discrepancies:
• He has never proven his U.S. Citizenship (in light of him protecting his illegal aunt, I feel this is a legitimate issue)
• His “spread the wealth” terminology is clearly Marxist
• Sen. Biden acknowledged that their election would invite an international attack within the first six months
• His connections with a Racist church intent on putting down the “white devils”
• His political ties and riotous strategies for past Kenya elections
• His threats to “bankrupt” America’s coal companies (This supplies 50% of America’s electricity. With higher taxes, gas, and electricity, Americans are going to have a hard time paying for anything and everything)
And many more issues.
I’m frustrated that my generation has seen the death of journalism. From Fox to ABC, every media corporation exudes a bias. After every presidential debate, one could predict that Fox would say Sen. McCain won and ABC said Sen. Obama won. Newspapers like the New York Times explicitly communicated support of Sen. Obama. This is ridiculous. Every vessel of communication has been tainted. Don’t believe me?
Do you realize that, under President Bush’s administration, weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. He could have exonerated himself, but knew that terrorist organizations would attempt to seize the materials, so he hid them and sent them to Canada. The AP published this article, but most of America hasn’t heard about this. Most of America hasn’t heard about the successes in the middle-east. Why? Because we’ve seen the death of journalism. Nobody wanted to vindicate P. Bush’s administration—it would cost too much.
Our nation is going to change. Is it the change we want?
As a Christian, though, I’m not worried. I’m frustrated, angry, upset, concerned and braced to respond to issues of ministers forced to conduct homosexual marriages, recession in abortion, communist momentum, international weakness and poor economics, but I’m not worried.
As Christians, I think we sometimes depend too much on earthly government for righteous change. The world will only change for the better under one condition: hearts are changed.
For some reason, we’ve bought into the notion that laws will change a person, but that’s not true. Yes, as a nation we have invited death and immorality and we will be judged for this. But, in order to reverse this, it will not happen through the law—it will happen through changed hearts. Laws on molestation, crime and murder have increased, though we haven’t seen too much of a change. Why? Because hearts haven’t been changed.
It’s hard to expect someone raised in a post-Christian, neo-barbarian, nation to live up to imposed Christian ideals without having the heart behind it. Most of this generation can’t name half of the ten commandments, yet we expect them to live by it. In Acts 17, the apostles were accused of “turning the world upside down.” Not because they endorsed new legislation, but because they translated citizens from earthly kingdoms to the Heavenly Kingdom. The laws of abortion become irrelevant when a nation is discipled (as Mt. 28:19 commands us to do) with a conviction for life. The laws of murder become irrelevant when a nation is discipled with a conviction for life.
I feel like I’m rambling, but I’m confident that if we spend more time advancing THE KINGDOM, the kingdoms of this earth will develop as a by-product. This gives me hope. I see God running after souls and calling a generation to higher standard of holiness, activism and purpose. When people like you actually start leading others to Christ and training them to make disciples of all nations, we will see the change in America that we’re looking for.
God wants hearts, not civil obedience. Christianity is the great civilizer and moralizer of the Earth. As we do our part in the great commission, we will see our nation changed. Though I don’t see many Christians playing their part in the great commission, I do see some and I have hope that the LORD can use a minority to change the nation and the nations. God bless America.
-Pradeepan
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