The Heart Of Worship

"... [Shout] unto God with the voice of triumph" (Psalm 47:1, KJV).
"I WAS glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD" (Psalm 122:1, KJV).
"Blessed is the people who know the joyful sound..." (Psalm 89:15, KJV).
"Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with song of praise" (Psalm 95:2, ESV).
"Blessed are the people who know the festal shout [call to worship]" (Psalm 89:15, ESV).

The heart of the matter of worship is that it's a matter of the heart; it reflects the condition of your heart and the extent of its surrender and offering to God, not how much of the Spirit you have, but how much of you the Spirit has. When someone says that he didn't get much out of worship, it only reveals his ignorance of its purpose--to glorify, extol, and lift up the Lord--that your motives are wrong and your worship for the wrong reason. The reason we worship is that we are designed for it and it is only natural--we are called homo divinus, or homo religiosus, meaning we are fulfilled and meant for worship as religious beings--much more, we will worship someone or something, if not God for we are hard-wired for it; however, God is the only one worthy of our worship. "Worthy are you ... to receive glory..." (Rev. 4:11, ESV). That’s because worship is from the contraction worth-ship.

Worship is about having an encounter with the God who is there; in fact, Christianity is not about believing in God, but the God who is in there. Francis Schaeffer says, "He is there, and He is not silent." Indeed, God melts us, molds, fills us, and then uses us in worship as we recharge our spiritual batteries and get our checkup in the corporate worship experience of the local body of believers that we congregate and assemble with regularly. There is no one-size-fits-all for worship and that's probably why there are so many worship experiences; some are demonstrative, some stoical, but God sees the heart, while man looks on the outward appearance (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chron. 28:9) or “Your name is on their lips, but you are far from their hearts,” (cf. Jer. 12:2, NLT). Posture and gestures can be important, but mere lip service is vain and fruitless. We don't want to be like Israel: "... 'Is the LORD among us or not?'" (Ex. 17:7, ESV).

Worship is what church is all about, even in our giving we are doing it. And going to church should not be considered something on our to-do list or something we do perfunctorily, but something we gladly and willing do; you could say we "get to" worship God, not that we have to. Some say that they can worship God in the cornfield, so why attend church? Worship is more than music (Jubal invented in in Gen. 4), and some think they only go to church to hear a sermon, but we must realize that there is a purpose for each part of the service in our worship experience. They haven't discovered the power of corporate worship and that whenever two or three are gathered together in His name, Jesus promises to be present. Hebrews 10:25 exhorts us not to forsake the assembling together of ourselves--this is a command--God gives no advice, suggestions, or hints except in 1 Cor. 14:26 describing the gathering of believers.

Worship is important to us because we learn to connect with God and it changes us, not God--God invites us to join Him in His joy and gladness (cf. Neh. 8:10). The call to worship is to focus on who God is and what He has done as we thank Him for His actions, and praise Him for His being. We have the right attitude when we are in awe and humble ourselves before Him in Spirit and in truth. Remember, worship is about God, it's not about you! We learn to seek the presence of the Lord and His face and to be used by God in our surrender to bring Him joy, focusing on His presence on face.

We need to be reminded of the Spirit on a regular basis to keep in touch and not lose track of our fellowship--it's easy to drift off and backslide without regular fellowship and corporate worship--none of us is a rock or an island that needs nobody else--we all need each other for expression and mutual ministry Remember, worship is active and not passive, not something we listen to, but take part in and put all that we are able into it. Some have a form of godliness in so-called will worship, but deny the power thereof (cf. 2 Tim. 3:5).

Church, then is not a place for the goody-goodies to gather or those who think that it's a crutch for weak people or losers--indeed, no perfect people need apply, as God calls not the righteous, but sinners to repentance and church should be viewed as a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints. They say that it's filled with hypocrites too, but we should tell them to join in because they'd feel right at home! We don't abandon church or Christ as believers, but we can drift away slowly and should know the warning signs, like our worship becoming routine and perfunctory and hypocritical. The church is our lifeblood and the means of our renewal because the body needs each member and we are all in it together to glorify God and fulfill the Great Commission. The church is not meant to be a comfortable place for sinners to feel at home, but where the gospel is preached and people are enjoined to come to a decision, and making no decision is making a "No!" decision.

We must realize that "God inhabits the praises of His people" (cf. Psalm 22:3) and that we enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with joy (cf. Psalm 100:3) and that we should bless Him with all that is within us--all our being (cf. Psalm 103:1)--and be ourselves, not hypocritical. God thrives on worship and "The Lord takes pleasure in His people" (cf. Psalm 149:4a, CEV). We must worship God "in Spirit and in truth" (cf. John 4:24). The essence of worship is bringing joy and pleasure to God, and whenever we feel this joy in the Spirit, no matter what our endeavor--even working--it is worship and brings glory to God. "... [W]hatever you do, do to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31, ESV). When God smiles on you, or you feel His pleasure, you're worshiping.

You can go to church to worship God or you can go to the factory to worship Him, for authentic worship is the offering of ourselves (as a living sacrifice (cf. Rom. 12:1.) The way we are in our daily lives is worship or sacrifice--we live and breathe worship! We must see the whole world as His temple and fertile territory for worship. Wherever we sense awe, love, respect, and fear we have the right attitude to come before His presence in thanksgiving for what He's done and praise for who He is, and put ourselves in the frame of mind to worship. Our life is an offering to God as we present ourselves to Him in devotion and live to His glory as vessels of honor! Let all that is within us praise the Lord!

Just like prayer, worship should change us, not God, and one should say that they realize we have been in the presence of God or have been with the Lord, as your "cup overflows." Finally, we must realize our need for worship and that it is a litmus test of our spiritual growth and condition, and we cannot thrive or grow without it having its rightful place.

Surely the fear of the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!’” (cf. Gen. 28:16). Or worst-case scenario: As Abraham said, “Surely the fear of the LORD is not in this place.” (cf. Gen. 20:11). Worship is the serious business of God and heaven. Soli Deo Gloria!

Jesus, Who Is Called The Christ

"What's in a name?  Would Jesus by any other name, still be Jesus?" "His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins,"  (cf. Matt. 1:21). "A rose by any other name is still a rose"

Today we refer to a common man as the average Joe, even in WWII they referred to GI's as GI Joe's. We might  even compliment someone and say, "He's no ordinary Joe!"  Jesus wasn't a distinguished name back in the day and someone needed special epithets to go by.  In comparison, Jesus was a common name in NT times and they would call Jesus:  Jesus of Nazareth; Jesus, the Son of David; Jesus, who is called the Christ; Jesus called the Prophet (cf. Deut. 18:18); or even the Jesus, the Teacher of Israel.  They had found out that this Jesus is different and stands out from the crowd.  His disciples called Him Lord and Rabbi. 

Today, if we know someone is a genuine article and true blue, we call them the real McCoy.  This may be a warning not to mess with Him or to insult Him because He stands out from the crowd.  People might even say, "Which Jesus are you talking about?" Today, we distinguish Jesus as the Son of God and most cultures don't even call their children by that name out of respect or reverence.  Pontius Pilate offered the crowd:  "Whom do you prefer?  Jesus, who is called Barabbas (son of a father--your everyday, common man) or Jesus who is called the Christ (and believed Himself the Son of the Father)? It was clear to Pilate that the people rejected the summation of Jesus revealed as the one and only Son of God. The true Jesus isn't one of our fancy or agenda, but the one in truth.

Jesus is different things to different people and. even in context to their cultures, they may interpret Jesus to identify with their nation or people group.  They may enlist Him for their political cause and agenda, thus putting Him in a box or make Him one-dimensional.  Every religion has some concept of Jesus, and they are all good, though not accurate.  You can use the same vocabulary and a different dictionary like cults do to gain recognition and acceptance. You must get your Christology or doctrine of Christ correct to be a believer (cf. 2 John 9).  It's not as easy as in the game show, To Tell the Truth, when the host would say, "Will the real so and so [Jesus] stand up?"  We must do our homework, especially to read the Bible and to a Bible-teaching church to hear the truth and receive faith: "Faith comes by hearing and by hearing of the Word of God," (cf. Romans 10:17).

Among five religious faiths:  Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses deny the deity of Christ but think He's just "a god," not God Almighty Himself. Muslims believe that He was a great prophet but the records concerning Him have become corrupted (but they have no evidence to support this claim!). In Unitarianism, they believe Jesus is no more divine than we can be or attain to become.  Hindus see Him as some enlightened guru!  There is not one faith in the world that portrays Jesus as a bad guy, by the way, and many, even Islam, that He is sinless or faultless; they all have something good to say concerning Him. Most just see Him as a misunderstood man by His followers like the Jews, who believe He was mistakenly deified.  . 

Secularists see a great moral teacher and example or even some ground-breaking philosopher, radical reformer, or leader,  They may even believe that the disciples wrongly interpreted Jesus' intentions and deified Him unintentionally.  Secularists may see Jesus, not as a way to heaven, but as a path of ethics through earth and this life.  They may see Him as a historical figure and not doubt His impact on civilization and history, but always fail to acknowledge Him for who He is and claimed to be, even denying He claimed to be God..

In pop culture, He may seem to be enlisted for a political cause such as when some Christians even hijack the faith and claim He's one of us and even a Republican, the anointed one from God come to save our society and reclaim it for God.  Just like people say, "My party, right or wrong!" now they are saying, "My Jesus, right or wrong!" Truth must be paramount.  We must acknowledge Jesus for who He is and not who we want Him to be to suit our fancy.

Finally, there's the Jesus of the atheists who deny any deity or deification but even see Him as a charlatan and legend, some even deny His historicity without any evidence to support such a claim; they go so far as to be on the warpath against Him and to hate Him and His followers. What's wrong with all these false concepts of Jesus  They all put Jesus into their box for their convenience and suitability so that He can come to the aid of their agenda. They want to eradicate Christ from the open marketplace of ideas and public square of debate, even to the point of becoming anti-theists out to destroy Christians with a vengeance, eradicating His influence.

On the TV show, To Tell The Truth, they scrutinize a contestant to see who is lying and who is the genuine real McCoy telling the truth and who are the consummate liars and counterfeits.  Likewise, the only evidence and way to scrutinize the real Jesus is to search the Scriptures and to believe the testimony of the Evangelists who witnessed the glory of the Lord; that's because "Faith comes by the hearing and the hearing of the Word of God," (cf. Romans 10:17).

We can solve all these issues by knowing the real Jesus, and we shall be able to detect the counterfeit by knowing the real Jesus, the real McCoy, so to speak.  We must recognize imposters, frauds, and charlatans, but Jesus is for real and knowing Him protects us from error.   We must beware of another Jesus, another gospel, and another spirit, and test all things according to the Word of truth.  In the final analysis, we must come to grips with what kind of Jesus we are presenting to the world: what is the gospel according to you?

In sum, it doesn't really matter what your name is because that can be misleading in our culture but what kind of reputation and legacy you have and leave behind.   Amen!  (Someday, we will bow before the name which is above every name: the name of Jesus)  Soli Deo Gloria!