Lately, I’ve also been plowing through the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Old Testament of the Bible) and I’ve been reading it to read for myself instead of to study for anything. I find I go through seasons where I’m reading my Bible or praying and get total revelation downloaded into me, and then I can’t wait to sit on my computer to write it out and 3/4 of the times, to post the thoughts on my blog. Well I’ve been resisting the urge to do that, and to just soak in the Word of God and His presence lately. So, the following won’t be too detailed, but I’ll try to quote the Scriptural references, since I’ve been gleaning this from reading the intricate detail and instructions the Lord gives His people for how they’re to worship Him.

Actually, my thoughts on this are not actually anything new, but just today even I was reading Deuteronomy 12 and could not help but notice how many times the phrase “as the Lord your God will choose” or something like it shows up in regard to places and methods of worship to the Lord. Today, if you read the websites for many churches attempting to be contemporary, they focus in their self-advertising on how the style of worship is or things like casual dress, or various peripherals — indicating “hey, we’re not THAT religious, you can fit in just fine if you come here.” But are we imitating the world and offering hype, or are we pleasing to the Lord and being anointed with HIS presence first and foremost above the masses?

I’m all for being relevant to the culture around us, but I’m scared and nervous when The Body of Christ chooses to learn from the world how to worship. When we go to the idolatries of this world and then set up our own Asherah poles in the Temple of God to offer something up to Him our way instead of His prescribed way.

I’m not dogging musical styles themselves. What I am NOT saying is this style or that sound is sin. If you listen to a recent podcast message Dan and I did on secular music, you’ll hear me mock how in the late 1800s many churches of the day branded D.L. Moody’s ministry as from the devil because his worship leader and traveling partner Ira Sanky (did I spell his name right?) used a grammaphone record player in their evangelism, and they believed that tool was from hell. I am NOT saying guitars or keyboards or something is demonic. I like a little more expression than I do just singing contemplative hymns, but I love all of it–if God is being glorified the way HE wants to be.

I hate listening to people criticize one group for how they sing songs over and over, while others have no music and sit still and use only our voices to worship with words and song. However, I think there’s a danger when anyone says they can’t enter into worship unless ________ takes places, such as a certain style or musical instrument.

One time I invited a friend with me to the Morning Star Fellowship near FIRE in North Carolina, and this person criticized the worship music, which sounded that night like an alternative rock band. I immediately told them “the worship wasn’t for you.” I recall another time, and I have a grin on my face just thinking about it– when living in Peterborough, Canada many of my friends there would try car pooling to Toronto on Monday Nights to go to Tehillah Monday–a very urban young adults worship night made up of many churches and different cultures–it is one of my favorite places to fellowship and worship when I have a chance, bar none. We would always pray for safe travel and things before hitting the road together, and I distinctly remember one night one brother praying that ‘the band would play the songs we like.’ I tried not to laugh, but this was NOT a baby Christian or an otherwise immature believer, but it showed me how messed up our thinking is concerning worship being a form of entertainment for us instead of a sweet smelling fragrance the Lord loves to receive from us.

Many times we make worship about ourselves and only participate in it if it fits a certain pattern or form of OUR liking. That’s rotten apples. How would you like it if someone asked you what you’d like for your birthday, because they intended on honoring you with a gift, and you knew they were serious and would buy you whatever you said you’d want within reason. You tell them “well, there’s this new CD out by a band I really like, and I was going to buy it myself next paycheck, but if you’d like to buy it for me, that’d be great also.” Then they present you some cheap Wal-mart discount bin CD they randomly grabbed, because they didn’t want to walk to the isle it could be found in, but grabbed something and offered it to you. If you were raised to have good manners, you’ll thank this person for buying a gift at all, but you’ll be puzzled as to why they even asked you if they had no intention of honoring your taste and getting you something that would be meaningful to you.

But this is exactly what we do with much of our worship to God.

Cain decided in Genesis 4 to offer up crops instead of a sacrifice that involved blood atonement like his brother Abel offered Him. Subsequently, we all know that Cain killed his brother when the Lord honored his offering instead of his own.

We read in Leviticus 10 how the Lord killed Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron the priest, for offering “unauthorized fire” before the Lord, differently from how He commanded it, but had just accepted from their father in the previous chapter. What happened to them? A fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them. How would we like it it a fire came out from the pulpit of many churches all over the Western world this Sunday morning, in response to the strange fire that gets offered up week after week?

Steve you’re being a little harsh. What kind of worship DO YOU think the Lord accepts.

Gee, I don’t know, but how about rephrasing the question and not asking me or each other what the Lord accepts but asking Him? He states in Deuteronomy 12:2-6a:

You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. You shall NOT worship the LORD your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. (Emphasis mine)

Now I realize that in North America and Europe in the 21st century Church, these specific Old Testament details are not even of any concern for our contemporary settings, but how much of what we do have we gleaned from the societal idol worship of the cultures around us, instead of directly from the throne of God above? How many worship services are reminiscent of night clubs and bars? How many worship services sounds like a rock concert not because the band is talented that way in that direction with their musical talents, but because we’re trying to imitate the world’s stylings? How much of what is done in the name of contemporary Christian worship and spirituality is just based on trends and not the voice of the Spirit of God?

I have no problems with loud amplifiers if the goal is worship and adoration of HIM, and not elevation of man and good bands and showcasing their talent. In fact, I LOVE dancing in Church before God. But I don’t just jump around and move for nothing, I only go nuts in worship for Jesus–you can see examples of this in videos I’ve posted on Facebook. But I’ve been to worship events that raunched of Christian celebrity rock stars, and yes worship songs can be catchy, but so can secular songs. I’ve also been in settings where I’ve seen girls dance like hoochie mamas the same way I imagine they’d gyrate their bodies around at a dance club. Also, have you ever decided to attend something because you liked the band that would be leading the worship? How come we won’t go if Hillsong United is NOT the one leading it (I think they’re great, but I’m just citing an example)? The problem with most of the church is we confuse entertaining with anointed.

When we look through “old” law, we see that God has a pattern, and it may not lie in the details and specifics for us under a new covenant, but we can still seek HIS face, and seek to please HIM in our worship, and do whatever it takes of us to leave a sweet smelling aroma in His nostrils.

Do you see for ways to kiss his lips with your worship, whether it be through music or other ways?

If you’ve never checked out our FIRE On Your Head podcast, I strongly recommend doing so–not just because Dan and I have a lot of fun doing those, but we’ve carefully selected some pertinent messages to fuel the Jesus Revolution in our sphere of influence, and there are a couple of messages loosely related to this subject, “Keeping the Pure Fire” that Jerome Ocampo preached, and “The Fire of God” that Dr. Josh Peters preached, before a massive repentance altar call took place one night at the summer school.  Visit our podcast site at www.fireonyourhead.com

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