Worthwhile Discussion on Worship, Music, and Art

This is the kind of dialogue in which we as worship leaders must engage. If you are a full-time worship pastor, or even part-time, you should be spending some of your work week on stuff like this. From a vocational perspective, your production output will dramatically increase and improve through participating in these discussions. Don't think that you're wasting your time, and don't feel guilty for taking an hour or two (or even ten) reading, thinking, dialoguing, and writing about these things. All in moderation of course. When employed correctly, this type of vocational exercise will encourage more accurate and effective proclamation and re-enactment of the Gospel, carrying over into all areas of ministry and life.

(I found this on Justin Taylor's blog, "Between Two Worlds," and adapted the next paragraph from this post.)

The following eight videos consist of a conversation between Mike Cosper (Sojourn Church, Louisville, KY), Chip Stam (Institute for Christian Worship), and Harold Best (Dean Emeritus of the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, and the author of Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts and Music Through The Eyes of Faith).

I love the work God is doing through Sojourn Church. I have listened to many of the lectures so graciously provided from the Institute for Christian Worship. And if you recall I quoted Harold Best here and here.

A few things stand out to me in this first clip: 1) "Mature believers are easily edified." 2) We make idols of our preferred musical styles, and there must be a call and leading to cast down those idols. 3) Traditionalism is idolatry, while Tradition brings freedom and must be upheld by everyone, leading us into fresh creative expressions of unchanging content.

Mike Cosper, Harold Best, Chip Stam - Worship Discussion 1 from Sojourn/The 930 Art Center on Vimeo.

Beware Vineyard-ites! Best takes a shot at the Wimber model of worship in this next clip. I would ask Best to expound upon Wimber's model, because I think he unfairly speaks to only one aspect of it. I agree with him concerning that aspect, but I don't think it originates in Wimber. It has the potential, however, to be heightened within the Wimber (or Vineyard) style of praise and worship - being changed by "the presence of the Lord." I for one believe their is tremendous value and biblical warrant for experiencing the intimacy of God in the context of praise and worship (congregational song), as long as it is understood that the worship leader isn't the mediator ushering the people into the presence of God, but Jesus Christ alone.

Cosper, Best and Stam -- session two from Sojourn/The 930 Art Center on Vimeo.

The volume jumps in this next clip, so be careful. I appreciate the honest and sensitive conversation here about manipulating emotions musically. It's not all bad, but "manipulativism" is where we err - when music and God are equal. I also love the idea of music being "humbled by the liturgy." Music is a servant.

Cosper, Best and Stam - session three on worship from Sojourn/The 930 Art Center on Vimeo.

An interesting discussion on beauty and art. If you have been impressed with Harold Best's vocabulary and sheer genius to this point, just wait. I wonder if either Best or Cosper knew of Cormac McCarthy before "No Country for Old Men" the movie was released.

Cosper, Best and Stam - Session Four from Sojourn/The 930 Art Center on Vimeo.

A continued conversation on beauty, and the difference between beauty and "pretty".

Cosper, Best and Stam - Episode Five from Sojourn/The 930 Art Center on Vimeo.

Can we possibly please God with our art? The role of Christ in our worship. This is the heart of the matter. But we are also called to excellence - bringing to God an unblemished sacrifice through Christ.

Cosper, Best and Stam -- episode six from Sojourn/The 930 Art Center on Vimeo.

Another volume burst, and a wonderful discussion about relevance.

Cosper, Best, Stam: Episode Seven from Sojourn/The 930 Art Center on Vimeo.

Now we get some disagreement between these three. I wish it would have come earlier. This final clip is perty deep. It is mostly about visual art, representation vs. replication, truth vs. accuracy, etc. I love Best's prayer of the abstract artist.

Cosper, Stam and Best - session eight from Sojourn/The 930 Art Center on Vimeo.

Gospelizing Believers

Read this article by Michael Horton: "Beyond Style Wars: Recovering the Substance of Worship" (if you are not Reformed, please look past Horton's Reformed side comments, and chew on the meaty content).

Several things he says resonate deep within my soul: his call to do away with the Contemporary and Traditional labels, to declare and re-enact a radically different story in Sunday worship, to preach as the voice of Jesus to the people, and to evangelize not only the unsaved but believers, especially in our Sunday worship. That last point is what I want to focus on here.

In my reading of Romans 1 over the past few days I am blown away at the discovery of something I had previously missed. Paul is writing to the church at Rome. In his salutation he mentions right off the bat that he is "a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God" (Rom. 1:1, italics mine, but I suppose that's obvious since I've never seen italics used in the Bible). The Greek word for "gospel" is euangelion, which means "good news." The ESV Study Bible note says that the meaning of "gospel" here "included not just a call to initial saving faith but Paul's entire message about Jesus Christ and how Christ's saving activity transforms all of life and all of history." A little further down in Romans we read,

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith” (my italics ;-).

So we see here that Paul is not only called to preach the euangelion to non-believers , but "to you also who are in Rome," i.e., to the church in Rome - those who already have faith in Christ. Part of what Jesus is telling us here is that we as justified Christians need to continually receive the gospel from the beginning of our faith life to the end. We are being saved. It's what theologians call progressive sanctification, and it's the work of the "Spirit of holiness" bringing us to the "obedience of faith" (Rom. 1:4-5). Only the euangelion can do this.

We get our English word "evangelism" from the transliteration of the Greek word euangelion. Now, I don't know when or where it happened in my life that the word "evangelism" became so intimidating to me. Maybe I failed in my evangelistic efforts one too many times. Maybe I have never known and believed in the real power of the gospel. Certainly it is fear, shame, and being generally not attuned to the voice of the Spirit that underlies the fact that I don't preach the gospel to non-believers. Nonetheless, our holy obligation to "gospelize" the unsaved remains. But I think that an extension of Paul's message here in Romans is that there is more to evangelism than our important outreach efforts. God wants us also to inreach to our own baptized communities with the gospel - he wants us to gospelize believers. Perhaps if we really took this seriously, our gospelizing of non-believers would come more naturally and with great boldness and power.

What does this mean for us in terms of our Sunday worship? This is where the article is extremely helpful, if for no other reason than to get us thinking deeply about our mission for Sunday morning celebrations. Read it. It has certainly sparked some intense conversations among our pastoral staff. In it you will find further justification for narrative preaching, weekly communion, and deeper fellowship, as well as a movement away from felt-needs preaching, market-driven methods, individualism, and style wars. Horton says of his church,

Absent from our services are market-driven entertainment elements. We also avoid moralistic, political, therapeutic, and consumer-oriented preaching. Instead, we focus on God himself telling his story of redemption through the lips of the minister. We are evangelistic because we are convinced that this kind of worship is where the heart of evangelism lies.

I would submit that the ultimate mission of Sunday worship is to gospelize believers. The gospel alone is God's glory. Non-believers will look upon our worship and believe. And we cannot possibly co-mission with God apart from being continually gospelized (evangelized, euangelionized, good news'd) ourselves.

$1.00 Car Wash

This past weekend over 100 students from several churches in our area united to share the love of Christ with our community. They lived the Gospel together, cross-denominationally, answering God's call for His body, the Church, to usher in His Kingdom outside the walls of individual churches. Here is the local CBS News report of one of their projects:

(We got this idea from the Cincy Vineyard.)

This SOS (Summer of Service) Student Weekend was the first of its kind in our area and a youth extension of our main SOS community outreach project which has been going on for three years now. Last year about six churches joined forces to serve our neighborhoods with water giveaways, car washes, block parties, and other events that open spiritual doors. This year we are excited to see the number of church/organization/township partners printed on the back of our SOS t-shirts double. Our relationships with mayors, school administrators, and News affiliates are opening doors that would never be possible apart from the move of the Spirit, especially the unifying of our churches with a common purpose. Away with church competition, elitism, and theological bickering. Together we're taking the community by force.

May the Spirit continue uniting our churches in love and purpose. May God create a genuine desire in our hearts for the glory of Christ which drives us to good works. And may we not settle with the satisfaction of doing good things, but may God grant us wisdom to lead all people to faith in Jesus Christ, a knowledge and loving relationship with their King.

God DOES Respond to Us

In light of recent spiritual awakenings, I have to correct something I said about a song I negatively critiqued six months ago. The song is "You'll Come" written by Brooke Fraser and heard on Hillsong's This Is Our God. (Read the critique here.) The lyrics I had a problem with:

(from verse 1)
I have decided
I have resolved
to wait upon You, Lord...

(from the chorus)
You'll come
Let Your glory fall
as You respond to us...

Well, I listened to the album a few more times over the past couple days, including this song about five times. With respect to those of you who agreed with me that the song could lead people into a false understanding of worship, I just re-read the post with a disgusted look on my face, realizing how much of a butt I am.

Basically, my qualms had to do with semantics - 1) my ignorant denial of the spiritual freedom in the lives of regenerate believers to "decide" and "resolve" to seek God at will, and 2) my arrogant insistence on the exclusive meaning and use of the word "respond" in worship. Over the past couple months, especially through the move of the Spirit last Sunday night, my heart has softened as God has been helping me deal with a judgmental attitude and critical spirit. There is a big difference between insight and assumption. Yes, my criticisms were birthed out of a concern for God-honoring worship, but I have to confess that I wrote more out of a fleshy intellect than a loving heart.

Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5,

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

There is too much to unpack here that pertains directly to the situation at hand. This scripture cuts deeply, for I have been unwise, foolish, non-submissive, filled with wine, and making poor use of my time. God instead wants me to understand His will for me to be filled with the Spirit. And, as we see all throughout the Bible, and most recently at the beginning of Acts, we are filled with the Spirit when we wait for Him, seeking Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This song puts it perfectly: "I have decided, I have resolved to wait upon You, Lord." There is determination involved - Spirit-led, grace-filled resolve to go after God. As I said in my last post, I don't think the 120 in the upper room were holding anything back awaiting the promised Holy Spirit.

Concerning the phrase, "Let Your glory fall as You respond to us,"

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

God DOES respond to us. "To respond" here simply means "to answer." Yes, worship is our response to God by the Spirit through Christ. But the meaning and use of the word is not limited to this upward directional movement of worship from us. Our intimate relationship with the triune God is a continual downward and upward dance of communion. We are God's children, made alive in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we determine in our hearts to wait for the Lord, diligently seeking Him, asking for His Holy Spirit to come and fill us, He answers the plea of His children, responding to us, filling us with the Holy Spirit. And this is what happens through the ministry and fellowship of the Holy Spirit:

(bridge)
Chains be broken
Lives be healed
Eyes be opened
Christ Is Revealed.

"You'll Come" nails it on the head. It was foolish and judgmental of me to assume that the source of this song's inspiration and the source of the worshipers' response was not the special revelation of God, the Word, Jesus Christ Himself. I'll leave it for God judge whether someone is asking wrongly, as in James 4:3, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." In the meantime, I'll sing songs like this beautiful one (did I mention the melody of this song is amazing?), teaching and leading our people in a passionate pursuit of God.

I Want More

God is doing something awesome in our church. It began several months ago at a staff retreat when God called us to a much deeper life of prayer and desperation as leaders. The fire has been slowly spreading as the Spirit is exposing in many of us the utter foolishness of trying to lead this church without constantly seeking and passionately pursuing God individually and together.

You might say, and how befitting, that the fire of God fell upon us Sunday night during P.S. Pentecost. I would have a hard time believing that anyone present questions the touch of God that we experienced that night. And believe me, I am the most skeptical person on the planet when it comes to this kind of stuff. What was different about Sunday was that the whole experience was rooted in Scripture and unified prayer. It was the true and living God who touched us.

The flow of the evening was as follows: the Holy Spirit in Creation (our triune God's infinite glory), the Holy Spirit in new life and personal relationship (our triune God's intimate love), the Holy Spirit in empowering and sending the church (our triune God's mission). There were Scripture readings and corporate prayers at the beginning of each movement, followed by songs of praise and worship. During the middle movement, there was a time of waiting for the Lord on our knees, posturing ourselves in humility and quietly confessing our desperate need and hunger for the presence and power of God.

In the midst of our longing, I read aloud Acts 2:1-41, the story of Pentecost. I shared for a few moments what I sensed the Lord wanted me to say, the gist of which was the following "3-step non-process" we find in this passage: Seek God and the Spirit will fill you to preach Christ. I call it a "non-process" because there isn't a formula to the Spirit moving. (It was the formulaic approach to the move of the Spirit that created much of the baggage in my life, the bitterness from which I have spent the last eight years repenting by the grace of Jesus Christ and the healing ministry of the Holy Spirit.) And although we cannot force God's hand to move, we at least know, with biblical testimony, that God wants us to seek Him with all our heart, that He wants us to make Him our one desire, that He wants us to wait in stillness for His move.

We had just spent some time (not nearly enough) expressing in prayer and song our desperation and hunger for God. We had just heard the witness to His outpouring upon those who patiently waited for Him on the Day of Pentecost nearly 2000 years ago. Then my encouragement to the 120 or so gathered Sunday night (not kidding) was to get in groups of three or four, stand and join hands, and begin praying for these two specific things: 1) that the Spirit would create in each of us, and our church, a deeper desperation for Jesus, and 2) that the Spirit would fill us with power and boldness to declare the mighty works of God. Before we prayed, I gave one final exhortation: "Pray passionately. Don't be afraid to raise your voice. I doubt the 120 gathered in the upper room were holding anything back. Why should the 120 here hold back? We have one purpose, one hope, the same hope they had. Let's go after God and see what He does."

Then it happened. The place began to erupt with unhindered prayers. Chains were broken. Behavior that was previously unacceptable in church suddenly became right. I have never heard this church so loud and free. Waves of volume. Personally, in my group of six on the stage, the moment we joined hands, I physically felt that indescribable, head-to-toe rush of emotion. Nothing compares to the feeling of the Spirit's spontaneous infilling. And to be perfectly honest with you, for years I have intentionally avoided situations, environments, where that feeling could possibly overcome me. My flesh denies its authenticity. But do you know what makes this experience credible? It wasn't the feeling I was after. It was God I was after. It was a life of deeper desperation I was after. It was a Spirit-filled life of Gospel proclamation I was after. And the real possibility of this kind of life was just recounted from Scripture.

So we continued in unifying prayer for fifteen minutes or so and then sang at the top of our lungs a song declaring the story of Jesus, "Stand in Awe" by Jeremy Riddle. Every hand was raised to full extension, a sign I would typically not interpret as a measure of spirituality. But again it was the God of the Bible and His mission that we were after. What an experience! I can count on...well, two hands now the number of times in the last eight years I have encountered God in this way, or rather, God has encountered me. And, if I may steal my two-year-old daughter's favorite sentence, "I want more."

I want more of the Spirit to fall on the leadership of our church. I want more of the Spirit to fall on this entire church. I want more of the Spirit every minute of my life, not just at special nights of worship. Do I want more for my sake? No, I want more for Christ's sake. I want more of the Spirit's power and boldness to preach the Gospel. For Christ's sake, why am I not preaching the Gospel? Seek God and the Spirit will fill you to preach Christ. Let's get the first step of this non-process down. Let's seek God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, minute by minute. Let's diligently seek Him in His Word. Let's seek Him together. Let's seek Him alone. It is only in seeking God that we can live the Spirit-filled, Christ-proclaiming life.

"Ordinary Time" or the "Season after Pentecost"?

I prefer calling it the Season after Pentecost. Even if we didn't follow the Church Calendar, this would be the exact description of the season into which the Spirit is leading us. (I found the following here).

WHAT IS THE SEASON AFTER PENTECOST?

Because Pentecost is the day that God poured out His Holy Spirit on Christ's disciples, the Season after Pentecost is centered on sanctification, the work of the Holy Spirit in the day to day life of the Christian. This is reflected in the liturgical color for this season: green, the color of life and growth. Through the gift of faith that comes only from the Holy Spirit, Christians are enabled to trust in Christ and proclaim Him in their daily lives by service to their neighbors. The season after Pentecost is the longest season of the church year -- it lasts from Trinity Sunday until the first Sunday of Advent. This is the non-festival portion of the liturgical calendar during which the church stresses vocation, evangelism, missions, stewardship, almsgiving, and other works of mercy and charity as ways in which Christ empowers us by His grace to share the Gospel with others.

P.S. Pentecost

Come and join us Sunday May 31 at 6:00pm for our quarterly P.S. (Prayer & Song) Night. We will be celebrating the birthday of the Church, the Day of Pentecost, through Holy Spirit songs, readings, and prayers.

River Valley Church
55855 Bittersweet Rd
Mishawaka, IN 46545

Here is an awesome prayer for "Preparation for Worship" from The Worship Sourcebook for the Day of Pentecost. Pray this with your worship teams this Sunday.

Lord God, especially today as we remember the coming of your Spirit, teach those of us who lead worship not to rely on our own strength to make worship meaningful and inspiring. Rather, give us joy and freedom in knowing that worship is a gift made possible by the work of your Holy Spirit. Through Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Seconds, Hours, Moments and Dreams

Congratulations Kris Allen! I hope you are not "bound" by the impending idolatry of your moments and dreams. And I hope you are not forever bound to sing terrible songs written by other people.

Can anyone confirm that Kris Allen is (or was) a worship leader? I also heard that Danny Gokey and Matt Giraud are (were) worship leaders.

My wife cried when Kris held his wife at the end. I was folding the laundry.

Not Your Typical Mother's Day Message

Our pastor preached in part from 2 Kings 6:26-30 on Mother's Day!

Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body.

There were audible gasps as the passage was read. But he wasn't going for shock and awe, and he wasn't trying to be hip and different. Read the rest of this amazing story to see how God faithfully delivered Samaria from one of the deepest places of human desperation every experienced on earth. See how He met them in their despair with riches beyond their wildest imaginations, riches they could have never earned, riches they would have never received without trusting in Him, and riches that only come to those who love God.

May we worship God out of complete desperation; May we be driven to self-despair; May He cause us to need Him; May we recognize His hand at work; May we act upon His leading and provision. For it is only in despising ourselves that we can truly worship God.

Son

could life be any
newer or May love sweeter
truer? no and yes

Proverbs 21 Worshiper (vv. 7-8, 13)

Is anyone else as dorky as me when it comes to wordplay? I'm just tickled with the "Proverbs 21 Worshiper" derivation from the "Proverbs 31 Woman". I suppose it would be cooler if it rhymed or something. Nonetheless, in vv. 2-4 we learned that if we are going to be true worshipers, true followers of Jesus, we must get off our high horses and surrender our lives entirely to the mission of God. Although the next section does not speak directly to acts of "church worship" (temple sacrifice), there is major worship application.

WARNING: the following interpretation contains some extreme demands that will heap guilt and condemnation on readers if left to themselves to fulfill. However, conviction and grace will come to those who trust in Jesus Christ alone.

7. The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,
because they refuse to do what is just.
8. The way of the guilty is crooked,
but the conduct of the pure is upright.
13. Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor
will himself call out and not be answered.

We saw in verse 3 that the evidence for true worship is doing righteousness and justice, and so this is one of the first things we should look for in our actions to determine whether our worship is acceptable to God. If we find little or no activity of ministering justice and righteousness, there's a good chance we're spending our time pursuing wicked and worthless things. We need to look no further than the life of Jesus to see the perfect ministry of justice and righteousness; do what He did and even greater things.

When I read v. 7 an old Charlie Hall song comes to mind. The refrain simply says "Sweep me away" over and over again (at least twenty times). I can hear God asking, "How many times will you say it? If you want Me to sweep you away, do what is just! If you don't, something else will sweep you away, the violence of your wickedness." Let's not be fooled by the word "violence" here. We think of violence as a cruel, physical beating of some kind, but God says if you refuse to act justly, you are inflicting violence. Negligence is violence. Hiding your eyes from the poor is violence.

Look at v. 13 above. This is serious stuff. If we close our ears to the cry of the poor in their need, then when we are need of help, it will be refused to us. This is the violence we will receive in return: God's refusal to help us, His refusal to accept us. I can't help but think about the implications of this in our Sunday worship. I have often gone through an entire week without seeking God, secluding myself to my own selfish pleasures, isolating myself from any opportunity to share God's love with others. And then I stroll into church on Sunday, wearing a church smile, thinking church thoughts, and singing church songs. I join God's people in celebrating the story of His salvation. But why should God give ear to my cry for Him to save me when my life looks like the week I described above, actions that do not reflect Jesus' ministry? I recall the difficult words of Amos 5:23-24: "Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

See, when I am disconnected from God, half-committed in my devotion to Him, by default my life is full of sin, my way is crooked, I am guilty (v. 8). And not only is my way crooked in refusing to do what is just, but my worship is crooked. Being "guilty" means being full of sin. The only way to be pardoned is through atonement. In the Old Testament the regular guilt offering took care of this. Now, only Jesus can take care of our guilt. If we want our worship to be acceptable to God, if we want our lives, our works, to reflect Jesus, then Jesus must make us pure and upright. The only way for our conduct, our actions, our worship, to be holy and acceptable to God is through Jesus Christ, the eternal guilt offering.

If I have taken too much liberty in this application of Scripture, if I am too extreme once again, someone please balance me out. My flesh would gladly receive any words that would justify my comfortable lifestyle and lukewarm pursuit of God.

Redefining "Charismatic" 5

There are several different Hebrew words for "praise" in the Bible. One of them is halal, which means "to be clear, to shine, to boast, show, to rave, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish," as in Psalm 150:1, "Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; Praise him in his mighty heavens!" (see also Ps. 113:1-3; 149:3). Another one is yadah, meaning "the extended hand, to throw out the hand, therefore to worship with extended hand," as in Psalm 107:15, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men." Other biblical definitions for "praise" are: shabach, "to shout, to address in a loud tone, to command, to triumph," barak, "to kneel down, to bless God as an act of adoration," and zamar, "to pluck the strings of an instrument, to sing, to praise; a musical word which is largely involved with joyful expressions of music with musical instruments." So there is biblical justification, or command, for us to praise and worship God in these ways.

Regenerate Charismatics

At last we come to the final camp. This, I believe, is the desired camp for all Christians. Many of us, however, must get past our semantic hangups with the word "charismatic". Hopefully, this post will help. Again, I'm using the term "charismatic" generally to refer to physical and emotional expressiveness in churches and the lives of people who receive the Gospel into their souls. There is a miraculous unity between the body and soul of every human, so that whatever enters the soul affects the body. For some good insight into more specific, modern usages of the spiritual gifts, Mark Driscoll has a great current series of posts on the subject over at his blog.

Regenerate Charismatics have been made alive in Christ through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and it shows in the way they worship and live. They have thrown off their worldly clothes and have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. They have taken off the old man and put on the new man, bound no longer by layers of sin, idolatry, skepticism, etc., and free to worship God unabashedly. They are fools for Jesus with lives fully committed to Him. The evidence of their love for God (and His for them) is displayed in their actions, speech, and in every area of their lives, both in and outside the church building.

Now, it has been six months since I began thinking through redefining "charismatic". God has shown me things about the Gospel I never expected to see during this time, the most compelling of which is Jesus' command for us to take care of the poor, proclaiming the Good News everywhere in acts of lovingkindness and justice. In order for us to become more intimate with Jesus in our worship, we must become more intimately involved with the poor, both the physically poor and the spiritually poor, both in and outside the church. It's really hard for me to assert this truth, because it is hardily reflected in my own life. But the truth remains that if our desire is to become true worshipers of Jesus, free in our expressions of love and adoration, we're going to have to live lives of complete surrender and sacrifice to Him.

Worship within a church filled with people fully committed to the mission of God is much like the joy of a reunited family around the table for a holiday feast. Family members listen, love and laugh while sharing with one another life happenings since the last time they got together. They eat, usually gorging themselves with a particularly special meal. No one wants the evening to end, but it must. So everyone goes on with their lives, working, growing, and keeping record of their stories until the next time they get together.

Regenerate Charismatic worship is shameless, passionate, bodily praise of the Creator. We gather as the body of Christ to celebrate who He is and what He has done in our lives, especially the past week of wholeheartedly pursuing Him. We encourage one another with testimony, prayer and song. Under the spiritual authority of our pastors, we are equipped with God's Word to continue in our daily, living proclamation of His Good News. And we rejoice at His Table, His family feast, in remembrance of His annihilation of our sin and His adoption of us as children of God. How could we possibly contain ourselves in the presence of such glory?

Answer: Live a life of half-hearted commitment to the Lord; Serve two masters; Hold onto unforgiveness and bitterness towards family members; Keep your behind in the past; Spend most of your time on personal pleasures instead of building relationships with your neighbors; Sleep; Commit yourselves to regularly escaping to the fantasy worlds of at least five TV shows; View church as another hour of entertainment; Bring your marketplace, consumer mentality into the church; Think of Sunday worship as an academic classroom; Follow the example of hypocritical church leaders. Church leaders: Make fun of other churches and denominations; Set your own church above others in your community in terms of biblical faithfulness, theological accuracy, and spiritual blessing; Always think you are right; Organize as many programs as possible without developing a culture of discipleship and spiritual growth; Spend most of your time preparing for Sunday; Focus on the size of your congregation rather than the lives of individuals and families that are falling apart; Preach our culture's gospel of pursuing happiness; Put more emphasis on the move of the Spirit than on the roles of the other two Persons of the Trinity; Tell lots of emotionally compelling stories instead of God's story; Pursue only what is new, improved, and continually improving; And for heaven's sake make sure you outdo last weeks production, musically and otherwise.

Such is the worship of Regenerate Non-charismatics, Unregenerate Charismatics, and Unregenerate Non-charismatics.

But, oh, to become a church filled with Regenerate Charismatics: people passionately going after Jesus, throwing off their dignified robes with utter abandonment. Imagine how the Kingdom of God would advance on this earth if God's people would stop living double-minded lives and start living lives of complete sacrifice to God, listening to His voice, seeking Him where he can be found, determining in our hearts to commit every breath of our existence to His mission. Imagine what church worship would look like if people came together to celebrate the Gospel after having lived it in all its fullness the past week. I can guarantee that our obedience to the Lord's command for us to "Praise God in his sanctuary!" would come more easily and naturally. Let's face it, we're going to look crazy worshiping a living God that no one can see. Such is demanded of our faith. But how absurd it is for us to worship our dying selves and dead idols! God wants us to have a living, vibrant, passionate, expressive, emotional, prayerful, worshiping relationship with Him. Let us not be afraid of this, and let me be the first to confess my failure.

Proverbs 21 Worshiper (vv. 2-4)

We've all heard of the "Proverbs 31 Woman", the woman who fears the Lord. Well, as it turns out, Proverbs 21 reveals much about the worshiper who fears the Lord, a true worshiper. So today and for the next series of posts I would like to talk about the "Proverbs 21 Worshiper". Let's look at Proverbs 21:2-4.

2. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the heart.
3. To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
4. Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
the lamp of the wicked, are sin.

The ESV Study Bible comments, “People are not vindicated by their own consciences but by God’s judgment (v. 2), which cannot be averted simply with sacrifices and religious rites (v. 3). The thing most likely to bring divine judgment on one’s head is pride (v. 4).”

Verse 2 reveals that despite our good intentions, believing our actions to be truly good doesn't necessarily mean they are good. God alone judges what is good. So the worship implications are obvious: The Lord searches the heart of every worshiper, and if He does not find denial of self and faith in His Son Jesus at the very core, he does not accept the worship.

Then we see in verse 3 that the evidence of true worship is doing righteousness and justice. This truth has been particularly convicting to me lately. I am finding all throughout God's Word that acceptable sacrifice is going to require leaving the comfortable setting of the local church and ministering the mercy, love and justice of God to the world, especially the poor. This "is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice", that is, more than the small amount of room, time and visible worship we give to God in our lives. True worship has nothing to do with giving God a mere piece of your life. That is proud worship, or false worship.

The truth is that any act of worship, or any action at all for that matter, apart from the work of Christ is wicked and sinful. The false worshiper is proud of his sacrifice and sees it as the part of his life, his attainment, that sets him above everyone else. He even does it publicly so that others can see how "worshipful" he is. And he is worshipful, but only insofar as he worships himself.

Bottom line: If we are going to be true worshipers, true followers of Jesus, we must get off our high horses and surrender our lives entirely to the mission of God (Luke 4:18-19).

The Over Exhortative Worship Leader

That might have been me this morning: an over exhortative worship leader. In all of my Easter excitement I was ready to lead hundreds of hungry worshipers in exuberant praise. It's easy to lead worship on Resurrection Sunday, right? Our extra large band was all geared up to lead, and we opened with Hillsong United's classic "Glory".

Glory to the risen King
Glory to the Son, glorious Son

Lift up your heads
Open the doors
Let the King of glory come in
And forever be our God

I thought, surely everyone who participates in this song (from Psalm 24) will become as undignified as David was, leaping and whirling before the ark of the Lord. Surely we who live on this side of Jesus' resurrection will go crazy before God on this very special day. Psalm 24 was traditionally sung by the children of Israel to the gates of Jerusalem upon the arrival of the ark into the city. David might have sung this song during the procession recorded in 1 Samuel 6, when he tore off his priestly robes and danced before the ark. We came into the presence of God this morning in our Easter Celebrations. We encountered His glory in an unusually manifest way as we invited Him in.

So when there was virtually no outward expression of praise coming from the worshipers (particularly in the 9:30 and 11:00 Celebrations), not only was I shocked, but I might have tried to take it upon myself to elicit a David-like response. I do think it is good for worship leaders to sometimes lead people in physical expression and/or cognition, but too much of it could be repulsive. I wasn't telling people to lift their hands or close their eyes or anything crazy like that. I was simply hoping that the truths we were passionately declaring in our songs would compel worshipers to show their excitement. The connection was present in many of the regulars, which was encouraging. But many others literally stood still with their arms crossed, mouths closed, seemingly unmoved altogether.

I should have anticipated this. Typically, more spiritually dead people come to church on Easter. The problem was that I wasn't prepared to lead them. My unpreparedness led to what might have been insensitivity in my inter-phrasal comments. The things I say while we're singing are meant to lead people into really thinking about what they're singing. For example, before singing the line "Every knee will bow in heaven and the earth, and every eye will see the measure of your worth," I might say something like, "This is the truth." Or after singing, "Behold the Lamb in heaven! He was dead, but God raised Him from the grave," I might ask, "Do you believe this?" or "Sing it like you believe it." My tendency is: the more spiritual deadness I discern, the more exhortative I become. And physical expression, or lack thereof, is somewhat a measurement for me. This morning I was at least twice as exhortative as usual, which could have possibly been confusing or deterring to some.

I'm not being too hard on myself. I do believe God spoke what he wanted to speak this morning. I believe the Gospel broke through to many hearts this morning, despite what we saw. But I also believe I can learn from this experience, and hopefully be better prepared in my future leading. Most importantly, here is another lesson in simply trusting God to do what He wants to do when we faithfully proclaim His Good News.

March Madness

I don't think I need to give much reason for the sparsity of posts this month other than that I am in full-time ministry and Holy Week is approaching. So, I thought, as I sit here on my couch watching golf and basketball this snainy Sunday afternoon, I'd check in with you and share a few things that have been on my mind.

What I've been listening to:
Jeremy Riddle's The Now and Not Yet. If you haven't listened to this album, and I mean really listened, you simply must! I have been absolutely blown away by Jeremy's songwriting (melody and words) and the overall production of this album. I know I just plugged it a month ago, but I have to say it again: It is incredible! There have been two occasions the past month that I have had the alone time (driving) to listen intently to the intricacies of the record. Both times, by the time I get to track ten, I am bawling my eyes out, completely overwhelmed by the Good News of Jesus Christ. This album is more than Christ-centered; it is Christ-consumed. It blazes with the Gospel. Holy crap! That's all I have to say about that.

No, it's not. It is so biblical and prophetic and illuminating and evangelistic and Kingdom-focused, I cannot see how any onlistener would not be moved to deeper faith in Jesus. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to hear stories of unbelievers coming to faith in Christ through this anointed album. The part that moves me the most is during "The One, the Only" (track 10). After nine brilliant songs of pure Jesus, Jeremy paints the beautiful picture of Christ's suffering, death, and our salvation (Isaiah 53). Then he says these words that pierce my heart with deeps wounds of brokenness for my sinfulness and for the lost:

Who will believe this message?
Who's been given eyes to see?
This man of lowly birth
Is Christ, your Lord and King

Listen to it for yourself. It crushes me again even now as I write about it. If you have been listening to it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Also listening to:
Brother Sun, Sister Moon by John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers. This gorgeous choral and chant album was recommended to me by one of my music ministry members. He was reminded of it after reading my post on Chant. Although it was recorded in 1988, the pure vocal arrangements and sounds are timeless. The first half of the album is intended for morning use (Brother Sun), focusing on the Resurrection of Christ. The second half, then, is for the evening, particularly Compline (Sister Moon). I just listened to this for the first time today, and I'm very much looking forward to using it as an aid for prayer and meditation.

Life happenings:
On a more personal note, my wife and I are gearing up for the coming of our son, our second-born, who is expected to arrive May 9. Our firstborn, Lily, just got up from her nap, so I must go now and change her diaper.

Redefining "Charismatic" 4

Regenerate Non-charismatics

It is theologically inconsistent for a regenerate person to be non-charismatic. Therefore, I am a walking contradiction. Yes, I would unfortunately have to put myself in this category (at least one foot). Regenerate Non-charismatics are covered in layers of clothes that keep the Gospel from getting out. We are like Ralphy's little brother in A Christmas Story who is so tightly bound by his snowsuit that he cannot move. Regenerate Non-charismatics wear spiritual snowsuits of skepticism, dignity, formality, comparison, etc., that keep us from living the Gospel and truly worshiping God. Some of us have only ever known emotional and physical inactivity in our church lives, because we grew up in non-charismatic settings. Others of us have reacted against our charismatic backgrounds and have put on layers of bitterness and unforgiveness. We all bring our ideas of what is "acceptable" activity into the church.

To reiterate, in my attempts to redefine "charismatic" I am working off of the assumption that what gets into our souls affects our bodies, because there is a miraculous unity between the two that make us one whole being and not two separate persons. Regenerate Non-charismatics epitomize the improper dichotomy of body and soul. But in reality, whether we believe it or not, we are still whole persons, and what should affect us emotionally and physically, we often suppress with fear and doubt and all kinds of sin.

For whatever reason, non-charismatic churches tend to be of the more biblically faithful sort, at least in terms of preaching sound doctrine. Perhaps our mental ascensions lift us right out of our bodies up into what we deem the spiritual realm, where worship can be purely offered. This is an unfortunate thing, separating spiritual knowledge from our bodies, essentially denouncing our bodies as unimportant and hindering to our relationship with God. I don't get it; the preached Gospel is ever present in so many of these churches, and yet the people remain physically dead, not only in church, but in their entire lives of worship. Is not the Gospel the most powerful message in all the world? How could we sit unaffected? Well, it's our clothes of sin. It must be. Christ is present, and He is the constant. We are the variables who refuse to be filled with the Spirit. Could it be that Paul's exhortation in Ephesians 5 is something we can determine in our hearts to do: "Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord"? I mean, if we are regenerates, then we already have the Spirit. Are we still waiting for the Spirit to come, and then we'll have a revival?

There is nothing worse for a worship leader than to respond to the Gospel by passionately pouring out your heart before the Lord in song among a group of seemingly unaffected people. Not that the Lord isn't doing something in their hearts, and not that we measure our effectiveness based on their physical expressiveness, but it just stings. It's like unsuccessfully karate-chopping a piece of wood.

We are so consumed with all of the other things we worship in our lives that the Gospel becomes powerless to us. We must stir up our souls. We must wake up as the Church and act upon the most powerful event in the world. It's natural enough for us to let it all hang out when we're with our buddies watching a football game. How much more should we become undignified in the presence of God, not merely sitting on a couch spectating an entertaining event, but actively participating by playing our role in the greatest event the world has ever known: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Our worship reflects what we believe. Do we really believe in Jesus?

In sum, Regenerate Non-charismatics don't make sense. It is illogical for an alive person not to be filled with grace and life. We are covered in worldly clothes that keep us from unabashedly responding to the Gospel. We must wake up and live the grace-filled Gospel life.

4 Levels of Worship

This is still a work in progress. The above diagram came out of a recent assessment of our worship ministry here. We all know that music is just a small part of worship, so as worship pastors there is (or ought to be) so much more to our calling and responsibility in leading and teaching people worship. 4 Levels explained:

1. Worship Arts (Singing Christ) - Worship Arts include all kinds of creative expressions of worshiping God, such as singing, dancing, acting, painting, etc. Since singing dominates our artistic worship expressions, I will use it as the primary example for our purposes. Singing is a natural human response to soul stimulus. God made us this way. He even sings over us out of His love for us. It is part of the Imago Dei in each of us. Music should be an important part of every church; the Bible tells us so (Temple worship, Psalms). Music, however good it is in and of itself, is not an end in itself. Music is a servant. It serves us, we do not serve it. It serves our worship of Christ. It serves us on Sundays when we gather to celebrate the Gospel. It serves the unified Church in various ways as we embody the Gospel. And it ought to serve Christ to the whole world as God's Kingdom is established on earth as in heaven. At least that is what music was created for, as was every good thing: the glory of Christ. So, the diagram represents Worship Arts (or singing) as the epicenter of my duties. It, however, is the servant of all the other levels of worship. And no matter how far I try to run from the responsibility, music does preoccupy a significant chunk of my time devoted to ministry.

2. Sunday Worship (Celebrating Christ) - It is important to note first that Sunday Worship does not serve the Worship Arts. Where the Contemporary Church has erred in large part is by exalting music to be the master of Sunday Worship. Art is exactly what it implies, created. We would be like the Romans if we were to worship the creature instead of the Creator. And while Sunday Worship (Word and Sacrament) rules over the Arts within it, Sunday Worship submits to greater Church Worship and of course Life Worship. Some would say that the Divine Liturgy (gathering to celebrate the Sacraments) is the absolute most important thing we do in life. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I'm not sure. I would argue with certainty, however, that Sunday Worship is a smaller part within a greater metaphysical existence, the Church, the body of Christ. Additionally, it submits to the ultimate purpose for all things, the glory of Christ as the Church lives the Gospel. We pour more of our time and resources into Sunday Worship than anything else we do as a church. What does this say about us if Sunday Worship might actually be less important than both Church Worship (discipleship, simply being the church) and Life Worship (living Christ in all of life)? I am happy to say that our church is moving away from being a Sunday only church, and is making progress towards building into the life of our community through more intentional discipleship and home groups, while the leadership is under significant conviction to model prayerfulness and living the Gospel in all of life.

3. Church Worship (Embodying Christ) - This is the most difficult form of worship to put my finger on. In fact, until I began really thinking deeply about this model, I had never included this as a level or worship. It seems to me to be dealing with something invisible, perhaps a mystical bond that unites all of us individuals together as the Church. It deals with existence, or being. Yes, each of the other levels can be seen and touched. Embodying Christ is pure community, something I am learning more and more about these days. Church Worship is about being the Church, not being churched. It's not even so much about doing church, which the other levels are concerned with to a degree. Being the Church is not so much an action as it is an existence. And so our worship at this level is quite other-worldly. It's kind of like the part of the Kingdom that has yet to come, or like us ascending to the throne room as God's children. It's hard to envision how God sees us, but we can be certain that he sees us as a perfect community gathered together as one in Christ. On a practical level Church Worship is about discipleship. It's one thing to go to church on Sunday, and that's the end of it. It's an entirely other thing to begin getting connected to the body of Christ through deeper teaching and intimacy with one another. This level of worship, in my estimation, rules over Sunday Worship and the Worship Arts, which both then serve greater Church Worship. The only level of worship that it submits to then is Life Worship.

4. Life Worship (Living Christ) - If someone were to ask me what is my definition of worship, I would simply answer, "Living Christ" or "Living the Gospel." I believe this is the highest level of worship. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 12:1-2; in light of who God is and what He has done for us, we gladly offer our entire lives (body and soul) in the service of Christ. Life Worship is proclaiming the Gospel at all times, in our thoughts, actions, relationships, in everything. This seems to be our purpose for eternity. Preaching the Gospel is not just a necessity for evangelism, winning people to Christ. Preaching the Gospel is pure worship. It is re-enacting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Every time we recount God's love and genuinely express our love for God in song, we are preaching the Gospel. When we gather together to Celebrate the Lord's Supper, we are preaching the Gospel. Simply existing as the community of God is preaching the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel is Living Christ. It is everything glorious and perfect being lived out by the Spirit in us. It is Christ reflecting the Father's love through us. I long for this understanding of worship to permeate the minds of church leaders and worship leaders today. None of the other levels of worship makes sense without this all-encompassing level. It's hard to even count this as a level, because it is so infinite in purpose and glory. The question is, how do we live this and teach it to those in our churches? What do we worship leaders put in our job descriptions to start putting forth the time and effort in transforming our worship culture to live and breathe the Gospel in this way?

Imagine if our definition of worship started from the top down, instead of from the bottom up. Do you think the Church would begin to look different if instead of beginning with music (the Arts) to define worship we started with Life Worship? The more I think about it, the more I agree with Dr. Harold Best that it would serve the Church well to remove the word "worship" from our vocabulary for a good decade. Our contemporary understanding of worship has messed us up something fierce.

Chant: Pure Music

A couple weeks ago, as I was putting the finishing touches on our Ash Wednesday service layout, I decided it would be good for the musicians to be able to put down their instruments and microphones in order to participate with their families and the church in the part of the service when the elders imposed the ashes and when everyone formally journeyed on Way of the Cross. So, knowing there would be no musicians to underscore, I was thinking about what kind of music would fit to be played overhead during that time. I began searching the iTunes Store for soft, contemplative music, and after sifting through a bunch of New Age weird stuff, I came across something that immediately brought me back to one of the most memorable moments of my life. Although, thinking of it now, it seems like it happened in a dream.

It was about ten years ago, and I was staying with my team of Celebrant Singers (not to be confused with the Celibate Singers) at a bed and breakfast inn in Vermont. It was late October, and I must say that being in the Northeast during the Fall was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. We had a couple days off - we usually got one day off per week, almost always Mondays, and then we'd be back to doing concerts in different churches every weeknight, and anywhere from two to six Masses in Catholic parishes on weekends. Our days off were purely sabbatical. Well, at some point between partaking of a nice home-cooked meal and crocheting a scarf in a rocking chair next to a fireplace, we were told of a local monastery where a group of monks gather together at four o'clock in the morning to chant.

So in the morning a few of us woke up and drove down to a dimly lit chapel in the woods. Slowly, monk after monk entered the chapel. They gathered on the altar near the sanctuary, about thirty of them. Some sat down, others leaned against a wall or pillar, and they all began to sing. It was mostly Latin, from what I can remember. (Of course, being up that early, everything seems Latin.) There were a few moments when one of the monks would play a simple tune on a classical guitar or incorporate the subtle sound of a rain stick, but for the most part, it was simple, pure drone and chant. It was one of those moments when you are truly alive.

This is the album that captured my attention in iTunes: Chant: Music for the Soul - Monks of Cistercian Abbey. I thought for sure Gregorian Chant would be the perfect music to use in our Ash Wednesday service during a half hour of reflection. That is, until I ran the idea by the staff. Apparently, most of their encounters with Chant weren't as moving and colorful as mine. Their experiences were pretty much limited to a single priest (no pun intended) singing part of the Mass with an awful, crackly voice, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of my co-workers. They claimed that many others like themselves, especially former Catholics, would immediately be turned off at the sound of Chant. Now, let me just say that I am extremely grateful for the freedom I have to be creative and incorporate ancient worship practices in our church, but I am equally grateful for the reins of a healthy team. We keep each other in check, oftentimes steering one another away from disaster and towards honoring God in a greater way.

To be sure, we were already pushing the evangelical limits by imposing ashes and praying through the Way of the Cross. And although I personally would have preferred this beautiful Chant to be heard in this rich service, we could definitely accomplish what we needed to with any number of other music styles. Perhaps this Gregorian Chant would have been more of a distraction to some. We ended up using an instrumental piano album. I honestly don't even remember hearing it. I was too enraptured in the Way of the Cross, observing a bunch of marked people journeying on the Jesus Road, and participating with my wife and another family, as we listened to a mother read the Scripture passages to her Son at each stop along the Way.

In the meantime, over the past couple of weeks, I have listened to this Chant album a number of times. I let it play in the background while I am working. I absolutely love it! I heard it once said that Gregorian Chant is music in its purest form, the closest sound to the voices of angels and the song of God. I suppose that is a pretty subjective statement, but I challenge you to listen to it for yourself (thirty tracks for only $7.99 in iTunes). You may find a certain objective beauty in it that exceeds the music of later eras. I know, it's hard to accept that Contemporary Praise and Worship music might not be the pinnacle of musical achievement.

Jeremy Riddle: Interview and New Album

I highly recommend taking the time (about 30 mins.) to listen to Jeremy Riddle's interview with Casey Corum and Inside Worship. IMHP, this is their best podcast yet. (Click here to directly download the Quicktime video. It may take a while.) In the interview Jeremy's passion for Christ and His Kingdom really comes through, as he talks about the makings of his new album, The Now and Not Yet, and tells the story behind two songs from the album, "Christ is Risen" and "As Above, So Below." His insight is theologically rich and full of biblical truth. I am very impressed with his knowledge, not less his musical creativity.

You can listen to the whole album here. We'll probably be doing "Christ Is Risen" on Easter. This is some really good stuff.

You might have heard of Jeremy Riddle from his songs "Sweetly Broken" and "Stand in Awe."

Redefining "Charismatic" 3 1/2

Boy, this is not an easy task. I have more changes to make to the categorical terms I chose for the four groups. But before I do that I thought I'd tag something onto what I said about Counterfeit Charismatics. This came to me this morning through my devotional. It is a quote from Thomas Merton.

Sometimes contemplatives think that the whole end and essence of their life is to be found in recollection and interior peace and the sense of the presence of God. They become attached to these things. But recollection is just as much a creature as an automobile. The sense of interior peace is no less created than a bottle of wine. The experimental 'awareness' of the presence of God is just as truly a created thing as a glass of beer. The only difference is that recollection and interior peace and the sense of the presence of God are spiritual pleasures and the others are material. Attachment to spiritual things is therefore just as much an attachment as inordinate love of anything else. The imperfection may be more hidden and more subtle: but from a certain point of view that only makes it all the more harmful because it is not so easy to recognize.

Got that? Read it again. It took me a few read-throughs before really catching what he means. And although we don't usually compare contemplatives to charismatics, what Merton is saying is very much related to charismatic experiences. What I get from this is that we experiential, sensory beings are prone to attach ourselves to the feelings we have rather than to the source of those feelings. We make idols of our feelings: happiness, contentment, peace, even anger. We worship those experiences, that stimulation, which are very much created by us. So in turn we worship ourselves in good ol' self-indulgent fashion. Merton rightly says this is more harmful than simply loving beer, or food, or any other material thing. The reason it is more harmful is because when we do worship our feelings, we actually think we are worshiping God. We don't recognize our idol-worship.

Do you see how this pertains to Counterfeit Charismatics? They call God something that is absolutely not God, themselves, their own creation. What they are truly worshiping is their experience of God, the emotions they manipulate and create in the presence of God. This only drives them further away from God and from His Word, from the truth of who He is. That is why their understanding of God is so skewed.

I speak in "theys" and "thems" but isn't this something that we all struggle with? Don't we all make idols of ourselves? Let's call it what it is: pride. In fact, the opposite of this is humility. And humility is not only rightly acknowledging ourselves as unworthy beings, but it is also finally attaching ourselves to the only One who is worthy or worship, God the giver of every good thing, including feelings and the sense of His presence.

Deep stuff. Still sorting through it. Your thoughts would help.

Now, I would like to further modify my labels for clarity's sake. I already changed the two Non-charismatic groups from Uninformed/Informed to Unregenerate Charismatics and Regenerate Non-charismatics. It's time to change the two Charismatic groups from Counterfeit/Genuine to Unregenerate Charismatics and Regenerate Charismatics. This will make for a real nice quadrant table setup if you ever want to diagram my theory. I think it holds better logically, as well. So that's what I'm going with. And to be sure, Unregenerate Charismatics are still counterfeit in their expressions of worship. (How could a spiritually dead person truly and intentionally express worship to God?). But, as we will see, even Regenerate Charismatics may offer counterfeit, or false, worship to God. Just look at what we talked about above. All humans, regenerates and unregenerates alike, struggle with idolatry.

Peace, ya'll.