i am an offering

Well, it’s been great to take a break.  I’ve had time to think and process a few things, plus it was nice to not try and come up with stuff to write about for a while!

Some highlights from the past week:

• Ministry is going well.  A lot of good things are happening.  A lot of good things are about to happen.  I can’t even imagine where God is going to take us.
• We had a small, short gathering for Sunday’s service (since it was labor day, and since there was a community worship service at the LifeLight Music Festival).  It was great.  Nice, intimate atmosphere.  The most fun was hearing a little guy pray out loud behind us when Pastor Wade asked us to pray with who we came with - so cool to hear that kind of stuff!

I came across a link that I think would be super valuable for families.  Often we struggle with how to lead worship in our homes (which is the place that teaching about worship and Jesus should begin with).  Here is a great podcast from Sojourn Church, talking with their children’s ministry director about implementing a family worship time. I highly recommend it. (My browser is having a hard time showing the audio player, so you might need to download it from their itunes feed.)

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

There are so many ways to offer our worship to God.  One of them is to support those who really can’t support themselves.  On October 15th, 2008 - Blog Action Day, bloggers from across the world will be blogging about poverty.  We have an opportunity and a responsibility to join in the conversation and to speak on this important issue from a Christian perspective.  After all, James 1:27 says this:

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

The Bible has a lot more to say about poverty.  We’ll take a look at these things and what we can do about them on October 15th.

Fred McKinnon asks this great question and one that I think has been defined and redefined often through many, many years.  I wanted to spend some time looking in depth at this great question.  A lot of people have submitted their thoughts in the comments section of Fred’s original post, but I thought this deserved a whole blog post - so here we go.

What is a “Worship Song” Anyway?

In order to define what makes a great “worship song” we have to figure out what a “worship song” actually is.  Is it a song by a “worship artist?”  Is it a song that you sing during “worship?”  What kind of “worship?”  What is it?

The broad definition that I would give a worship song as this:  A song that, when sung, causes one to think about something to the extent of moving one’s heart to worship it.  The problem is that we, as worship leaders in Christian, evangelical churches need to narrow the definition.  After all if the broad definition applies, then “I Love Rock and Roll (or I love Rocky Road, in Weird Al’s case)” would be a worship song about rock and roll music (or ice cream, in Weird Al’s case).  You could easily turn many, many “secular” songs into worship songs.

We need to narrow the definition.  A Christian worship song could be defined as this:  A song that, when sung, causes one to think about God (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit) to the extent of moving one’s heart to worship Him.  Now, what makes one of those great?

Biblical Pictures of Worship

In looking at what makes a great worship song we need to look at the history of the “worship song.”  Worship songs (as defined above) have been happening for a long time.  Moses led the Israelites in one after escaping the grasp of the Egyptian forces.  David, Asaph and many others penned multiple worship songs in the Psalms.  What made these songs great?  Moses praised God by reminding the people that He was the one who delivered them from the Egyptians:

The Horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea…Pharoah’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea.” Exodus 15:2, 4

Moses also included in His song many things about who God is:

The Lord is my strength and my song (15:1)…a warrior (v3)…right hand is majestic in power (v6)…who is like You among the gods (v11)…in Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed (v13)…shall reign forever and ever (v18).

The psalmists do very similar things - constantly reminding through the lyrics of who God is and what He has done, but then taking it a step further and emotionally responding to those things.  If they tell of God’s mercy and love, they rejoice.  If they tell of God’s justice and wrath, they tremble.  But even after trembling at God’s wrath, they rejoice at His mercy yet again.

What Makes the Song Great?

Looking at what made the worship songs of the past great, I see two common themes:  A remembrance and reminder of what God has done and who He is, and a personal emotional response.  These songs that we see in Scripture are indeed great, as every time I read them I am moved to worship.

A great worship song communicates truth about who God is and what He is done and allows time for an emotional response to those things.  A great worship song speaks clearly about what it is that is intended to be worshiped and offers universal words used to worship.  It is narrow enough to speak of who we are worshiping, but broad enough to let every person of every walk of life worship through it.

One thing that is much harder to see in the examples of Scripture is what a great melody can do for a worship song.  I am guessing the songs that Moses and David and others wrote in Scripture had melodies that the people of the time could remember.  A well-written melody that fits the mood of the lyrics will enhance any song, but a well-written melody in a worship song helps people be able to put truth to music and remember the truth a little bit easier.

Another instance of why the Scriptural examples are so great is the fact that they were almost always born out of a personal experience that caused the writer to worship God and write about it.  Moses was led to sing out of the fact that His God had showed His power by saving him and his people.  David was often led to write out of painful experiences (hiding from his own son (Psalm 3), often fleeing from enemies, wrestling with his sin (Psalm 51).  A good worship song is born out of a personal worship experience as well as, in Moses’ case, a congregational (if you will) worship experience.

This is What Makes a Great Worship Song:

What makes a great worship song is its ability to cause one to think about God to the extent of moving one’s heart to worship Him, it’s born out of personal or congregational experience, it emotionally responds to who God is and it has an easily singable melody.

As usual - a great day at Living Word yesterday.

We sang:

• Rise Up O Church of God
• Blessed Be Your Name (Redman)
• How Great is Our God (Tomlin)
• Speak O Lord (Townend / Getty)
• We Are Called to Be God’s People

We had a bit of a glitch with the final hymn - but those things happen.  I was so encouraged by several things yesterday:

• The lady battling cancer continues to raise her hands in worship with a joyous smile on her face.
• A visiting friend of a young teenager in our congregation closes her eyes in worship and I could see her mind exalting Jesus Christ through it.
• A young man raises his hands to God during the Lord’s Prayer (I had to have my eyes open because I was holding my squirmy daughter )
• Finding out that two new regular visitors sing, play the bass and play the guitar

Wade preached a fantastic sermon on the 4th commandment - very convicting and encouraging.  We are able to bring our daughter to the zoo and thouroughly enjoy watching her “ooh” and “oh” and scream in delight at giraffes, squirrel monkeys and many other animals.  Ended the day with a movie with my wife and got to bed slightly early.  A great Sunday.

Do you have an accurate picture of who you are and your abilities? Do you think you are the absolute best at something and no one can do it better? This is something that we will struggle with as Christians. We are naturally bent towards pride. Thankfully, though, when we trust and obey the Holy Spirit, we now have the ability to join in His nature and join in the fight against pride. It’s not an easy task, but we fight every day.

Worshiping God by Having a Correct Understanding of our Gifts

Part of learning to worship God is learning that God has stamped His nature on us through the Holy Spirit and beginning to realize when we do things that are contrary to His nature. How do we join in God’s nature, being able to fight our natural tendency for pride? Paul shares this in Romans 12:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Romans 12:3-5

My Struggle

It’s interesting that I have been enjoying and living by verses one and two of this chapter but never really thought about these verses until recently. I’ve come to examine my heart and really think about the fact that yes, I might be a little prideful at times. It has required a shift in my thinking, constant dependence on God, and prayer for forgiveness and grace every time I realize that I’m being prideful.

How about you? Are you cultivating a heart of humility, thinking of yourself “with sober judgment” and putting others first? Let’s take the journey together.