Dress, and other odd reasons for false confidence

13 09 2011

Reading Phil 3 today.  This jumped out at me:

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh   -Phil 3:3

I don’t worship by my flesh. I worship by the spirit of God and I glory in Christ Jesus.  This seems like it’s detached from what we do in America, but I don’t think it is. Paul is saying that those who are of the circumcision think they have some extra access to worship God because of their physical circumcision. This is just funny to think about. They think because the end of their penis doesn’t have the extra skin from birth, that they have extra favor with God. Weird. But to give them credit, it made sense in their day. It was a sign of a covenant between them and God. But what about now? Paul says that WE are the circumcision(the people who have a covenant with God) because we worship by the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus.

It’s all about who is “special” to God. Who gets his attention. Who he notices more. Who he favors. Who’s “in”.

And we are still concerned with this today. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to be near to God and wanting his favor.  It’s how we go about getting it that can get twisted. See, the jews of the day followed all the religious laws and thought that they were earning favor with God.  What about today?  What do we do to earn favor with God?

The first thing that comes to mind (because I lead a worship service every week) is church clothes. There is nothing wrong with signs of honor, I do it everytime I go on a date with my wife, but there IS something very wrong when we genuinely believe God sees or favors us more because of our clothing.  We are coming before the God of the universe. Do we really think that a collar on our shirt or a crease in pants is going to earn us enough points to enter into his presence.

No way Jose. Ain’t happenin’.

He’s God. He’s holy. You can’t come before him just because you cleaned up a bit. And without the blood of Jesus, you would be utterly consumed in His presence (and not in a good way).  Thinking our clothes or hair is going to somehow earn us favor or even saftey in the presence of God is like jumping into a shark tank with your “briar proof” jeans. It just ain’t gonna cut it.

But “It is we who are the circumcision [figuratively], we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh” that can enter into his presence freely.  James 4:6 says that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. That’s why that 20 something that just came to Christ (you know the one, he doesn’t know that the “F” word is not an acceptable adjective anymore) encounters God in incredible ways while the prideful, albeit nicely dressed, church folk seem to struggle to hear from God at all.

So in the end, it’s not about dress or not dress. That’s just an example. We strive to earn God’s favor in countless other ways: work, language, good deeds, being nice, etc.  But what God is after is a heart change. A humbling before the incredible work of his son Jesus and a realization that only be His sacrifice do we have access to God.  And only by the Spirit of God can we worship the father at all (remember John 4?).

So, today I don’t want to feel like I need to measure up to come before God.  I want to worship by the Spirit of God. I want to glory in Christ Jesus, not myself, because, lets face it: I don’t have all that much to glory in on my own. Oh, but in Jesus, nothing is impossible. He can use me and mold me and give me an incredible destiny. Thank You Jesus.


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Issue 1: It’s too repetative

2 02 2011

The reason I want to start with this one is because I think it’s the one I hear most frequently.  It’s generally something like:

“God gets it, we don’t have to sing the same thing over and over”

“There isn’t any depth to these new songs. It’s just the same words over and over”

“The older music is where we learned our doctrine as a kid. What are kids learning these days with these songs?”

My wife actually brought up the best response I have heard to these objections: “The angels are incredibly repetitive, no one ever criticizes them.”  In case your not familiar with this scripture, she’s referring to Revelation 4:8-11 where it says that the living creatures and the elders before the throne sing essentially the same thing ALL day and night.

Wow. Talk about repetitive.

Would we say to those creatures before the throne: “God gets it. Move on?”  Of course not. The reason they sing isn’t to help God understand his Holiness.  And it’s not even to help THEM understand something about God. Get this:

Their worship is ENTIRELY based upon his worth.

They’ve never been healed, restored, freed or delivered. Never have they had a prayer answered or a request fulfilled.  The nature of God’s Holiness and Glory dictate their unceasing worship.  It’s as if every line they sing isn’t enough to express his worth.

And so for us, should we sing the same thing ALL day and night?  Of course not.  Would he be worth it?  Absolutely.  In the same way that there is nothing wrong with long, theological songs, there is nothing wrong with long, repetitive songs. We have examples of both in scripture. Why in the past 20-30 years have we seen the worship culture become saturated with repetitive music?

We’re inundated with information.

I get information fed to me from my computer, my phone, my friends, the newspaper, my tv, and advertisements just about everywhere I go. This wasn’t the case when the great Hymns were written. It was an event to get the local paper. People we looking for ways to carry information and songs were amazing mediums.

Today, I think we have a generation that is so inundated with information that when they go to music, they aren’t looking for more information, they are looking for passion and experience.  Which brings us to next week’s issue: “It’s too emotional”

*feel free to post thoughts in the comments section


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Discipleship and Worship

10 11 2010

Praying and studying this morning and came across a familiar passage that the Lord seemed to highlight for me in light of my new job at Riverside.

“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of You.” – Phil 2:17

Mind you, I am no expert on the Jewish sacrificial system, but a drink offering was essentially a liquid (typically wine or oil) poured out on an altar before the Lord as a sign of thanks and worship.  And I love the picture that Paul draws here, not just between himself and God, but between everyone involved: Paul, the Philippians, and God.  Paul says that he is a drink offering and that the sacrifices/service of the Philippians is the alter. How amazing that Paul’s discipleship is an offering to the Lord. How beautiful that the fruit of those disciples is an offering as well.  I long to model this in my life. That my life would be an offering to the Lord, poured over the fruit of those I disciple.

Today, no matter who you are, can I ask you this?  Where are you pouring yourself out? Work? Sports? Money? Retirement? Hobbies? Those things are fleeting.  Pour yourself out for what matters. Pour yourself into discipling your kids and loving your wife.  Find a person younger than you and speak into their lives and their walk with the Lord.  Befriend that neighbor and pour yourself out to see them come to know our precious Jesus.  How our world would be changed if we poured ourselves out for others!

Cole


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Full but satisfied

23 09 2010

Ps 42:1-3  As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

Do you ever feel that maybe this isn’t exactly how you feel 100% of the time?  Or maybe if we got really honest, we might say there are some weeks that we didn’t even feel our need to meet with God at all.  I know I can say that. And don’t get me wrong, some weeks I long to be with him. He’s on my mind every moment and I’m satisfied ONLY when I am with Him.  But not always.

Why?

God has placed in us a need and a hunger for Him.  We were made for Him, by Him and like Him.  So again we have to wonder. Why don’t I daily feel that?  Why doesn’t my soul thirst for God?

…………

When I am hungry for food, I know I need substance. I need protein, electrolytes, sodium, vitamins, minerals, etc.  But sometimes when I can’t get to a good meal I grab a coke or a bag of chips. I eat and I drink and I feel full. Not that I’ve satisfied my need for substance, but now my aching and yearning for food is gone.

I’m not hungry.  But I’m not fed.

Now, I don’t make a diet out of chips, candybars, and coke.  But what if I did?  Would I be hungry. Sometimes.  Would I ever really be fed.  No.  And after an extended period of time I’d find myself in pain, dizzy, with headaches and weakness.  Because though I’ve eaten, I still haven’t satisfied the core reason for my hunger: nutrition.

I think the same happens with our hunger and thirst for God.  We begin with a hunger and thirst and truthfully not everyone is sure what it’s for. It’s just……there.   And then we buy a new car and the hunger is gone.  We’re full.  But pretty soon the hunger is back, so we get a new girlfriend.  And even when that goes great, our hunger returns.  And years later we find ourselves broken, hurting, and weak.  Why?  We may be temporarily satisfying our hunger, but we are never addressing the core reason for our hunger:

We were made to be with God.

He alone fully satisfies our need for peace, security, purpose, acceptance and salvation.  I like what Isaiah 55:2 says:

Why do you spend money on what is not bread
and labor on what does not satisfy
Listen, listen to me and eat what is good
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

We live in a hard world. So much is flashed before our eyes and it’s easy to long after everything BUT God.  But even if our hunger isn’t there yet, we fix our eyes on Him.  We enter his presence because we know that just like Jesus we live on the very words that proceed from the mouth of God.  And whether we feel it or not, without his words, we’re starving.

Today, whether you’ve been lulled into comfort by what “is not bread,”  or you have a aching hunger for the presence: Enter in and be fed. In the words of John Piper: “He is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him”

Peace,
Cole


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Child-like lessons from Ps 40:1

20 09 2010

My wife is GREAT with kids.

We have 3 of them. One isn’t born yet. (I know, some might say I have 2 and 1/2 kids, but lets be real, a half person doesn’t get hiccups, have a heartbeat, and relentlessly kick my wife’s bladder)

Oh and my wife, let’s call her Mindy (because that’s her name) works with kids 4 days a week.

And the thing about kids is: they cry A LOT.  I think 5 times an hour my kids cry about something. And though we love them, Mindy and I don’t always give them our undivided attention for each incident. Sometimes they’re trying to manipulate us.  Sometimes they’re exaggerating.  And sometimes they’re just plain lying.  But when we know something is genuinely  wrong, or that they are actually hurt, we ALWAYS turn to them.  And it’s that direct attention that calms them down.  I know so many times when multiple kids will be vying for Mindy’s attention and she will turn her attention to just one of them and ask, “What is it?”  You can see the kid calm down instantly, then explain, then receive help.

As I was reading Ps 40 I couldn’t help but think of Her.

Ps 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord, He turned to me and heard my cry.

There is such a parental/human sense to how David describes God in this verse. God turns to us and hears our cry?  Is this really same God that David later describes in Ps 139 as being present, whether we are in the heavens or the depths of the earth?  Is this the same omnipotent, omniscient God of David?

I know this metaphor can’t “walk on all 4′s.”  God doesn’t feel stressed or pulled between people who are vying for his attention.  But there is something so comforting in the way David describes how the Lord dealt with him and will deal with us when we cry out to Him.

He turns to us.

As if to say, “What is it? What’s the matter?”  When I sense God’s presence in the midst of my prayers, there is a sense of peace that overwhelms me. I feel like a child, who’s father or mother has turned their attention toward them.  I don’t have to yell, or cry. I don’t have to display my desperation anymore.  All  need to do is pour out my heart and lay my burdens before Him.

We have an amazing heavenly Father. He is wiser than any earthly father and infinitely more loving.  When we cry out to Him, he has the grace to not only hear us, but to first turn his attention toward us.  Wherever you are today. Keep waiting. Wait patiently. Keep praying.  When you sense his presence in the midst of your plea, your deliverance is near.

Isn’t our God good?

Cole


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Gratitude, humility, and identity.

31 08 2010

I have a tendency to leave my in-ears in my office and so lately I’m been stuck mowing the grass with no podcast or music.  That could lead to 1 of 2 things:

1.  I sing “I like to move it move it” or some other obscure song in my head for an hour and a half (I have a HUGE yard).     OR

2.  I direct my thoughts toward something beneficial and ask God questions about whatever it is I’m thinking on.

Last week I was praying through sin and identity.  I’ve come to really believe that the church, because of it’s good intentions to remain humble has been pulled into a false personal and corporate sense of identity.  Let me see if I can explain.

Let’s say I decide to adopt a child. And let’s say he is a 12 year old orphan from Kenya. He’s been told he’s worthless, useless, and a waste of everyone’s time, but then my wife and I come along and adopt him.  We tell him, he is no longer a poor, african orphan.  We bring him into our home and give him his own room.  We put him in a good school and dress him with the best clothes we can afford.  And finally, we tell him every day how much we love him and are glad that he is our son.

If you’ve read much of the new testament, you know this is incredibly similar to what God did in Jesus for us.  He adopted us, seated us with Christ as co-heir, and gave us every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1).  But back to our fictional story.

It would be very healthy for our new son to say every day, “I once was a starving orphan in Africa.  I had no parents, felt worthless, and would have likely died if it weren’t for my new parents. I love them so much for what they did for me. I’m now there son. I have my own room, clothes, and a home of my own.  My parents are amazing.”  This kind of attitude is thankful, humble, and in my opinion, very wise.  It’s remembering who you WERE so you are grateful for who you ARE.

But what if, every day, my son said this: “I’m nothing but a starving African orphan. I have no parents, am worthless, and deserve to die.  I love these people who have adopted me.  They are so good for what they did for me. They took me in, fed me, let me stay in their house and clothed me with their clothes.  I am so grateful that even though I am just a poor, african orphan, they do this for me every day.”  Do you see the difference?  It’s the sense of identity. And how do you think I would feel, after all I had went through to make him my son, to give him a home, clothes, love, and belonging, that He says he is still who he used to be. I’d be heartbroken.

I think, with good intentions to remain humble just like Jesus talked about in Luke 14, so many of us have lost sight of our identity in Christ and we are the latter example. We say we ARE sinners.  We say we ARE dead. We say we ARE guilty.  But the Father doesn’t see us that way.  Read Romans 4-6.  Read 1 John. Read the first chapter of Ephesians. He calls you son, or daughter. He says your free.  He says that his blood has released you from your sins (Rev 1:5-6).  He says your a priest and a saint (Rev 1:6; Eph 1:1).

And what makes this not arrogant is because it’s not by our works that we came to this new identity. We were dead in our sins and he made us into this new creation.(Eph 2) It’s not that we boast in ourselves when we claim our new identity in Him, it’s actually that we are to boast in Christ and how good he is. The fact that he made ME to be a son, an heir, a holy one, doesn’t glorify me, it glorifies Him and his grace.

Today, remember who you are. Remember who the Father says you are.  And be filled with the gratitude and praise, knowing he has redeemed, released and revived you.  He is so incredibly good.

Cole


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“More”

11 08 2010

If you have a bible near you (or know how to open up a new tab and type “biblegateway”) read Luke 21:1-4.

Did you read it?  Be honest……

So Jesus looks up, sees the rich putting in their massive offerings, then sees a poor widow putting in 2 small coins.  He says this (in case you didn’t read it…):

“I tell you the truth………this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on”

Jesus defined “more” not based on the amount given.  He based it on the sacrifice required to offer it. Though the treasurer might be more concerned with the larger gifts, Jesus is concerned with the sacrifice.  Why?  Because it’s worship.

Sometimes I find myself using the wrong measuring tools to determine success and “more” when I lead worship.  Did people really sing out?  Did they lift their hands?  Did people dare to dance?  As worship leaders, we’ve all done this, let’s just be honest. It’s an easy, tangible measurement for our success.

I’m struck by God’s heart in this passage though and I can’t help but think of the different groups of people we lead weekly.  Some wouldn’t give a thought to singing, kneeling, or lifting their hands.  Some of them would have a hard time responding at all.  The latter group has to sacrifice so much to bring themselves to respond.  Pride, dignity, tradition, etc.  The former group doesn’t think twice about any of their responses.  God’s heart is pleased with the sacrifice. Wherever your people are.  Wherever you are. Take one step forward. Sacrifice something you are holding back.  Your faith and your sacrifice are precious in God’s eyes.

Father, help us to see how you see and to value what you value.  You have all wisdom.  You give good gifts.  We love you.

Amen


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Categories : Bible Teachings, For Worship Leaders

What is a worship leader? Part 5

13 07 2010

So far we’ve talked about the role of a corporate worship leader as a teacher and as a prophet. Today, we will be talking about the role of:

EVANGELIST!

This word, much like the word prophecy, get’s thrown around a ton.  There are “evangelical Christians” and there are “non-evangelical christians”.  Some churches hire full time evangelist. Some don’t.  So, I just want to put a few things out there that are for sure.

1. An evangelist is in the 5 fold ministry setup by the early church (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers; Eph 4:11) Kris Valleton at Bethel church on Redding California did an excellent teaching on the 5 fold ministry several weeks ago. You can listen to it on their PODCAST.

2. An evangelist in the widest sense of the word is simply a “bringer of good news.”  Any news. It’s primarily become a religious word, in the same way that salvation or apostle are words we generally associate with the church. Don’t believe me?  Try calling your wife an evangelist next time she tells you some good news.  And as Jesus often did, he took this common word and redirected it toward it’s ultimate meaning.

Today we are using the term “evangelist” in this widest sense of the term. While some who lead worship may be called to the office of evangelist, everyone is not.  So, how are we as worship leaders operating as evangelists?

Our praise declares God’s good news – Whether it’s specifically about the Gospel or not, when we sing we are declaring good news to a broken and hurting world. Now, that’s not to say we are to sing and worship solely for the purpose of declaring good news to others. Worship is, in and of itself, an end. All of creation is moving toward a day when the primary activity of life will be worship. However, God in his goodness uses our times of declaration and praise as a tool to draw people to Himself. I love the picture that Ps 126 gives of this. The Psalmist says:

When the Lord brought back the captives from Zion, we were like men who dreamed
Our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations: “The Lord has done great things for them”

Praise declares good news. I long for the world to see our worship and understand not only that God has been good to us, but that the essential truth that HE IS GOOD.  This world needs a renewed understanding of that.

Worship and Adoration draw peoples attention to God’s beauty –  When someone is amazed by something, you are never tempted to redirect your attention to them, you ALWAYS want to see what they are so impressed with. You don’t walk down the street, see a group of people circled around something and say, “Man, that group of people, they are awesome.”  No.  You want to know what the heck they are circled around.  The same is true in our worship.  When we are enraptured and enthralled with is beauty and goodness, we direct others attention toward him.  I hear people say that we should tone down worship to accommodate seekers.  I want to say this gingerly……

That’s crazy

The world is burning through “things” that are temporarily impressive, but leave them empty and unimpressed, but Jesus is unendingly glorious! What better way to point them toward the one they were made to worship then by unashamedly being caught up in his beauty and glorifying Him?

We could go on and on, but we can end by saying, though our worship and praise are an end in and of themselves, God continually uses worship, worshippers, and worship leaders as tools to bring the good news of Jesus to our world.

Amen

Cole


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What is a worship leader (part 4)

1 07 2010

If you want to start this series from the beginning, go HERE.

The past two days we’ve talked about the role of a corporate worship leader as: teacher. We said that the songs we sing become the truth we believe. We need to know the word in order to pick our songs. We also said that we need to teach on the encounters we lead people into.  People need a biblical foundation for their experiences. I think it was Integrity’s president, Michael Coleman that said, “We want to lift up the experiences people are having as they encounter the Lord, and put a biblical foundation under them.”

Today, we’ll be talking about a role that I think is one of the most essential in being successful as a corporate worship leader.  Today, we’ll be talking about the role of :

Prophet

I know this word has a good deal of baggage with it, but I don’t really want to get bogged down in semantics.  So, as a hyper-condensed, non-exhaustive definition, let’s just say prophecy is hearing and speaking out God’s words.
(For a couple examples read….the old testament)

So, how does this relate to leading corporate worship?  Worship leaders should be continually  sensitive and aware of God’s presence and voice during times of worship. The Holy Spirit is ultimately our leader and our ability to hear and speak out what He is saying is crucial to staying in line with Him.

Jesus said this statement about himself time and time again in different ways, “I only do what I see the father do and I only say what I hear the father say.”(John 3:34; 5:17,19-23,26; 8:28,38,42; 10:30,32,38; 12:49-50; 14:7-11,24,31; 17:21)  There are a lot of reasons why Jesus was successful in his ministry, but the one who pointed to most often was his specific and continual obedience to say and do only what He saw the father doing and saying.  We need to follow his lead. Are we saying and doing as the fathers is saying and doing?

I read somewhere that the jewish day started at sundown. They didn’t begin by waking up and going. They began with rest and trust. Ps 3:5 says: “I lie down and sleep. I awake, because the Lord sustains me.”  We have a tendency in our modern world to be “goers” and “doers.”  To have lofty ambitions that drive us from sun-up to sun-down.  And though this isn’t the standard that Jesus sets forth, I see it regularly in worship leaders.

When planning a service, I’d like to suggest that we aren’t staring at a blank hour of time and crafting an experience from nothing. As a team, our worship times together should be genuine expressions of the Lords heart for that season, day, or moment.  As we plan, we ask, “Lord, what are you saying?  What do you want to say?”  For many of us, this comes down to us from our teaching or senior pastors.  When we receive the teaching for a day, we ask, “Father, what do you want your people to sing in response to this?”  It’s a huge burden to feel like we have to create experiences from nothing, but it’s a joy and an honor to partner with God to communicate his words to his people.

I think that’s enough for this post. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the practical side of leading worship and taking on the role of prophet.  How do we hear God in the midst of corporate worship?  How do we express what we hear?  What is and is not ok to do in terms of last minute changes in corporate worship?  Is being last minute even what being prophetic is all about?

Cole


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What is a worship leader (part 3)

30 06 2010

In part 1 we talked about the confusion that’s inherent in the term “worship leader” and the lack of a real biblical model for what worship leaders do today.

In part 2 we discussed that the songs we sing become the truth we believe. And as worship leaders, we need a strong biblical foundation in order to direct our song selection process.

Today, I want to ask the question, is it important for corporate worship leaders to be able to effectively communicate the word?  I think so. I once heard a very popular worship leader say that he didn’t think it was appropriate to teach during the music or in between songs.  I have to say I disagree. As worship leaders, we need to be able to teach on encounters and worship, AS we lead people into them.

There is a familiar story in Matthew 16 where Jesus is praying with his disciples and Peter says, “You are the Christ of God.”  Jesus then tells Peter: “…this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”   Peter had encountered the Father, but was unaware. Jesus had to give him a clear picture of what had happened.

I think this principle translates to corporate worship.  As worship leaders, we need to be able to teach people about their encounters with God WHILE they’re having them.

Example: In the bridge of a worship song, the congregation begins singing a new song to the Lord and the Glory of the Lord begins to especially fill the room.  Amazing moment.

A teaching worship leader can point to Ps 22: that God inherits the praise of his people and that the word used for praise there is “tehilla,” or “new song.”  Everyone can leave that gathering knowing that God had inhabited their praise.  They have a biblical understanding of their experience.  Not that ALL encounters or times of singing are as cut and dry.  God is not about formulas, but teaching in that moment is crucial to give the worshippers a biblical understanding of what is happening. In the same way that Jesus had to tell Peter, “See, Dad told you that” we can open up the word while leading our songs and say, “THIS is what God is doing.”

Cole


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