Christmas is around the corner again and the scent of Christmas has pervaded everything around us. But wait a minute, what is Christmas all about? Why do we celebrate it year in year out?
For little children, it’s a time to get new clothes. At least, if parents due to one constraint or the other could not afford to buy clothes for their kids earlier in the year, they must do so at this season. For some people it’s a time when you meet with friends you were unable to see during the year. The timing of Christmas creates a platform for a universal holiday; its overlapping into the New Year celebrations creates the perfect time to meet long unseen friends and acquaintances.
For some others it’s a time to eat and drink to their heart’s satisfaction. One of the prominent features of the yuletide celebrations is that there’s usually more than enough to eat and drink. People make sure they make adequate effort to see to it that they and their guests have enough to eat and drink during this season. Some even overdo this by depleting their limited resources.
Christmas, for some others, is a time to “count their blessings” or rather a time to show off what they have been able to buy in the course of the year, for instance what automobile they have been able to purchase in the outgoing year.
For others it’s a time to brag about what property they have been able to acquire during the year about to roll over. This puts many on a rat race to acquire things and this drive becomes more intense as Christmas draws near.
But, is Christmas really about any (or all) of these reasons? At Christmas, we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ - the saviour of the world and the reconciler between God and the human race, through a certain Virgin called Mary in Bethlehem of Judea. At Christmas, we celebrate the coming of the God incarnate Emmanuel (God with us) to personally reconcile us to God the Father through His life, His death, subsequent resurrection and ascension into heaven.
In my own opinion, many people either don’t know what Christmas is all about or have outrightly misplaced their priorities concerning Christmas. I believe Christians should move from the superficial beliefs and celebrations to those things that are meaningful and have deeper spiritual meaning. A popular Christian writer, Dr Rick Warren once wrote “anything that does not have eternal value is eternally useless”. I want to encourage Christians the world over to make their Christmas this year and in subsequent years more meaningful and memorable by not losing sight of the actual reason we celebrate Christmas – the coming of Jesus Christ to save the world from sin and reconcile it back to God. I want Christians to make it their agenda to seek out the lost, to help the poor, to reach out to the helpless and also I want Christians to make it a time of profound worship to God for giving us the best Christmas gift of all time – His son, Jesus Christ.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Worship: The Art or the Heart
“But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the
true worshippers shall
worship the Father in Spirit and
in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship Him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship
Him in Spirit and in truth”
-John 4:23-24, KJV
What is Worship?
Worship is the act of showing adoration to God. The original words translated as worship in the old and new testaments of the Bible mean devotion, reverence, to pay obeisance among other meanings.
Worship is the medium through which we convey our appreciation, our thanksgiving and our fond thoughts about God to Him. It is also the means of reminding ourselves of whom God is, His power, what He is able to do, what He has done in the past, etc. Worship also encourages us to deepen our commitment to God.
Worship in a broader sense implies living for God. It means living our lives in ways that please God. This is aptly described in Romans 12:1:
I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies
of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:1, KJV
Worship is more than the rhythm or tempo of music. It’s beyond the type of song we sing. It’s not just the intensity or softness of the sound of music. Worship is a lifestyle, a culture – a state of the heart. Worship is borne out of yielding the human spirit to the control of God’s Spirit. Worship should not be superficial, it was meant to emanate from deep within our hearts (John4:24).
The Art
The art of worship is concerned with the way and manner in which we worship God. This refers to how we convey our worship to God and how we accompany it. More specifically, ‘the art’ of worship refers to instrumentation, rhythm and tempo of worship music. It means the composition, arrangement and choice of songs and music we use in our worship of God.
The Priorities
Should worship music always follow a particular prototype? Are we implying that worship music must always be of a particular genre, tempo, rhythm and instrumentation? Do we mean some ‘worship songs’ should be thrown out of the church window?
The idea of this here is not necessarily to put ‘worship music’ into a strait jacket but help us to re-adjust our priorities to what really matters in our worship to God.
These days, more emphasis has been placed on the sound of the musical instruments, the voice texture of the worship leader, the drum instead of the actual act of worshipping our Creator. Worship leaders now give greater priority to songs they sing than actually ushering congregation to connect with the Almighty. The ideal worship leader is not meant to colour the worship experience of the church with his or her personality. Some worship leaders choose popular songs that will produce excitement instead of songs that will make people experience the greatness and holiness of their God, how good He has been and what He can do.
We should remember that worship is a spiritual activity and it should be treated as such. Worship springs forth from a human spirit that is under the sway and leadership of the Holy Spirit. True worship flows from inside-out and not the other way round. Worship leaders and worshippers must know that our spirits must connect with God before we can truly worship God.
It is only when we are in step with God that we can worship Him as we ought. Worship is a lifestyle, a culture and it is only when we live and act in this consciousness that we can please God. Worship leaders like Don Moen, Donnie McClurkin, Panam Percy Paul, and Michael W. Smith also attest to this. No wonder their ministrations produce more than excitement – they lead people to worship God. When it comes to worshipping God in spirit and in truth, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
and now is, when the
true worshippers shall
worship the Father in Spirit and
in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship Him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship
Him in Spirit and in truth”
-John 4:23-24, KJV
What is Worship?
Worship is the act of showing adoration to God. The original words translated as worship in the old and new testaments of the Bible mean devotion, reverence, to pay obeisance among other meanings.
Worship is the medium through which we convey our appreciation, our thanksgiving and our fond thoughts about God to Him. It is also the means of reminding ourselves of whom God is, His power, what He is able to do, what He has done in the past, etc. Worship also encourages us to deepen our commitment to God.
Worship in a broader sense implies living for God. It means living our lives in ways that please God. This is aptly described in Romans 12:1:
I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies
of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:1, KJV
Worship is more than the rhythm or tempo of music. It’s beyond the type of song we sing. It’s not just the intensity or softness of the sound of music. Worship is a lifestyle, a culture – a state of the heart. Worship is borne out of yielding the human spirit to the control of God’s Spirit. Worship should not be superficial, it was meant to emanate from deep within our hearts (John4:24).
The Art
The art of worship is concerned with the way and manner in which we worship God. This refers to how we convey our worship to God and how we accompany it. More specifically, ‘the art’ of worship refers to instrumentation, rhythm and tempo of worship music. It means the composition, arrangement and choice of songs and music we use in our worship of God.
The Priorities
Should worship music always follow a particular prototype? Are we implying that worship music must always be of a particular genre, tempo, rhythm and instrumentation? Do we mean some ‘worship songs’ should be thrown out of the church window?
The idea of this here is not necessarily to put ‘worship music’ into a strait jacket but help us to re-adjust our priorities to what really matters in our worship to God.
These days, more emphasis has been placed on the sound of the musical instruments, the voice texture of the worship leader, the drum instead of the actual act of worshipping our Creator. Worship leaders now give greater priority to songs they sing than actually ushering congregation to connect with the Almighty. The ideal worship leader is not meant to colour the worship experience of the church with his or her personality. Some worship leaders choose popular songs that will produce excitement instead of songs that will make people experience the greatness and holiness of their God, how good He has been and what He can do.
We should remember that worship is a spiritual activity and it should be treated as such. Worship springs forth from a human spirit that is under the sway and leadership of the Holy Spirit. True worship flows from inside-out and not the other way round. Worship leaders and worshippers must know that our spirits must connect with God before we can truly worship God.
It is only when we are in step with God that we can worship Him as we ought. Worship is a lifestyle, a culture and it is only when we live and act in this consciousness that we can please God. Worship leaders like Don Moen, Donnie McClurkin, Panam Percy Paul, and Michael W. Smith also attest to this. No wonder their ministrations produce more than excitement – they lead people to worship God. When it comes to worshipping God in spirit and in truth, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
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