What is True Worship
Jun 28
The word "worship" is used frequently today in Christian circles - in addition to worship services, we now have worship choruses, worship teams, worship manuals, worship seminars, etc. Often, however, the basic meaning of worship is misunderstood as exampled by these instances.
When God Says, “Leave Him Alone”
May 13
Our God is long-suffering and full of mercy, but there is a line which must not be crossed. It is dangerous to presume that God will always continue to forgive; He can become a "consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). The leaders of Ephraim (a collective term for the ten northern tribes of Israel) had passed this point of no return. They had become completely infatuated with the pantheistic polytheism of the nations, being "joined" to their symbolic models of natural forces and all the immoral practices which accompanied such nature worship. The word for "joined" means "fascinated by." They had been brought so deeply under the occult powers behind these nature-god idols as to be irrevocably committed to them, so that it would be a waste of time and tears to try to reclaim them now.
Juliek – the last sonnet of a dying violinist
Feb 15
“For a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” John 4:23 In the book Night, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel describes a moment in the concentration camp frozen in his memory. In the darkened corner of room, where the dead were slumped beside the living, his friend Juliek sat with his violin. On the brink of his own grave, he played notes pure and heavy to an audience of dead and dying men. Wiesel recalls, "[I]t was as though Juliek’s soul were the bow. He was playing his life. The whole of his life was gliding on the strings--his lost hopes, his charred past, his extinguished future. He played as he would never play again."(1) I cannot make sense of this scene other than to say, there are times when the gravity of a song flattens us. To this day, Wiesel admits, he cannot hear the sound of a violin without memory of Juliek dismantling all other thoughts. Perhaps similarly, you have been floored by a memory locked in a melody or leveled by the words of a song. In a very real sense, these are the images of worship. The Hebrew word for worship conjures a physical image, an outward response to an inward affection; to worship the Lord whether in song or in silence means "to prostrate oneself" before the Almighty. Far too often, this is not the result of the songs I sing.
The Power of the True Gospel
Nov 25
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Revelation 14:6-7) When the Lord Jesus returned to heaven after His resurrection, He left the disciples with the Great Commission to "preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). Unfortunately, over the centuries, there has developed much misunderstanding concerning the content of the gospel ("good tidings") and many have preached "another gospel" (Galatians 1:6) which can never save. This false gospel wears many faces, but inevitably, at its heart will be found the false hope of evolutionary humanism, glorifying man instead of God, worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator (Romans 1:25).
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