Extravagant Worship

Extravagant Worship, that is a popular phrase in the church today and in what I understand that is meant by it, I wonder if I ever enter in.

In my mind if someone comes to our church and asks are we extravagant worshipers, I would say no, not at all, for in my mind when I think of extravagant worship I think to my days growing up in a Charismatic Church and all the extremes that happened in the name of extravagant worship.  So Again, if asked about PEC are you extravagant Worshipers, then I would say no.

As I have been thinking about this phrase for a while I thought I would look at some definitions of what the word Extravagant actually means and found that the definition confirmed my negative association with it as far as worship of God by His people is concerned.  The definitions were as follows: "excessive: unrestrained, especially with regard to feelings" 

HOWEVER, as I have continued to look at this over time, I am becoming more and more challenged that my attitude to worship and my expressions of worship,are way to safe when compared to what I see in Scripture.  Let me list some verses that have played their part in shaking my thinking:

Psalm 9:1
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
       I will tell of all your wonders.

Psalm 30:11 
You turned my wailing into dancing;
       you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

Psalm 95:6
Come, let us bow down in worship,
       let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

Psalm 100:1-2 
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
       come before him with joyful songs.

Psalm 138:1 
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
       before the "gods" I will sing your praise.

Psalm 149:3 3
Let them praise his name with dancing
       and make music to him with tambourine and harp.

Psalm 150

1 Praise the LORD. 
       Praise God in his sanctuary;
       praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;
       praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
       praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
       praise him with the strings and flute,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
       praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
       Praise the LORD.

And one from the New Testament that shows how things will be forever around the Throne of God:

Rev 5:13-14
 13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
   "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
   be praise and honour and glory and power,
         for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. 13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
   "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
   be praise and honour and glory and power,
         for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

The other thing that challenges me about a lack of expression and perhaps even extravagance in my worship to God is that if you read through the Bible looking for references to the praises of God you will find that these perhaps to us, extravagant expressions of worship are all responses to how awesome God is and the wonderful deeds He has wrought for His people, not the least of which the saving of my sinful heart from worshiping myself instead of Him.  So why aren't my expressions of worship as extravagant as theirs, as God has Done as much for me as them, and I also have the privilege of relating to God in the light of the cross, which most of them didn't!

Let me address the most common objections in general to expressiveness in worship, that it is just not culturally what we are comfortable with or secondly that these extravagant worship expressions are all for show and that it is the heart that matters.
    Well I will address the culture point first, I agree that perhaps how the Israelites responded to God was sensitive to the culture of the time, perhaps, culturally they were more prone to shouting for Joy or bowing low in adoration or dancing a jig.  However, this hasn't helped me absolve myself of the nagging doubt that this is just an excuse to hide behind.  The question is that if people from Plains come in and observe how I worship this amazing God I have told them about, would they, who are from my culture, look and say wow see how extravagant he is in the praise of his God.
    Secondly, the matter of extravagant expressions of worship are all about show and it is really the response of the heart that is important.  Well as someone who has come from a Charismatic background I know al about the excesses that are a dangerous possibility in public worship.  However, am I sure that my lack of expressions in worship is as a result of a pure heart?  It can be true that the peer pressure that exists in a Charismatic church to be extravagant in worship can be just the same in a more reserved church to be more restrained in our worship.  What I should surely be striving for is freedom to from a pure heart respond with as much passion as I can muster to my all awesome God.

Let me finish up by making clear the challenge I am working through in all this, have I fully apprehended the enormity of how Glorious our God is, and is my body, mind, heart, soul etc responding accordingly in public worship, not showing off, not inhibited to fit in with those around me but a heart responding rightly to an Awesome God.  If as John Piper says, God is most Glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him then I want to be extravagantly joyfully deeply  seriously overwhelmingly  satisfied in Him and as Psalm 138 says I will praise Him with my WHOLE heart before all these other “gods” that vie for my affections!

Jim

as usual comments welcome just click the link below to leave one.

Bodies - Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams is back with his new single called ‘Bodies’ which was first heard on the ‘Chris Moyles’ show and then performed live on the X-Factor. For the past month his song has been played on the radio, on TV, in shops, almost everywhere you go, and the line, “And your Jesus really died for me, Then Jesus really tried for me” is heard throughout the song.

The song seems to explore the spiritual confusion that is going on in Robbie’s mind. He sings of the bodhi tree under which Buddha supposedly gained his revelations; he sings of the image conscious narcissism that only wants to ‘look good naked’ and of how he loves living like a deity. Yet time and again the line comes, ‘And your Jesus really died for me’.

The bible teaches that Jesus Christ went to the cross and really died as a sacrifice for sin; he went to the cross to pay the price for sin that men and women could never pay; he bore the punishment that men and women deserve. The bible teaches that, ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’. Saved from Sin and death because of what Jesus did.

As Robbie’s song continues he seems to struggle with the idea of Jesus dying for people and ends with a line of rejection, “Jesus didn’t die for you, what do you want? Jesus didn’t die for you, what are you on?”

Robbie Williams’ song really just points up the struggle going on in the heart of man. He is more than simply a body located in space and time and he knows it. He has everything a young man could want, fame, fortune and world wide acclaim and yet he seems sad and troubled. He reminds me a little bit (just a little bit mind you) of the Rich Young man. He came searching for Jesus, but went away sad for he wanted his money more than a Saviour. I sense as Robbie concludes that ‘Jesus didn’t die for you’, he also walks away sad in his soul.

I have no idea what’s going on in Robbie Williams mind; but if those who listen to his music; or happen to hear it while driving their cars or while doing their shopping start to ponder the idea that Jesus might just have died for them, then that’s no bad thing!

So thanks Robbie, and Jesus might very well have died for you!

Reaching A New Generation

I was reading a blog series recently by Kevin DeYoung.  It was very interesting and to be honest I a m still working through what it means for myself and our church.  

Kevin’s Premise was that if you need to reach or in fact keep young  people for Jesus then the best way to do that is not by trying to always being young hip and trendy (Culturally relevant) but by going after them with the following 5 principles:

1. Grab them with passion
2. Win them with love
3. Hold them with holiness
4. Challenge them with truth
5. Amaze them with God

I am sure you will agree all very interesting and thought provoking, you can read how he unpacks each of these by clicking the relevant point above.

Much Blessings
Jim

Chuck Swindoll on Leadership

In a recent Christianity Today blog entry Chuck Swindoll the popular Bible teacher and chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary lists what he's learned about leadership.  At the end of the post Christianity Today asked a very good question and I thought it would be good to repeat it here too, check below:

Here are Chuck’s top 10 Leadership Tips:

1. It’s lonely to lead. Leadership involves tough decisions. The tougher the decision, the lonelier it is.
2. It’s dangerous to succeed. I’m most concerned for those who aren’t even 30 and are very gifted and successful. Sometimes God uses someone right out of youth, but usually he uses leaders who have been crushed
3. It’s hardest at home. No one ever told me this in Seminary.
4. It’s essential to be real. If there’s one realm where phoniness is common, it’s among leaders. Stay real.
5. It’s painful to obey. The Lord will direct you to do some things that won’t be your choice. Invariably you will give up what you want to do for the cross.
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary.
7. Attitude is more important than actions. Your family may not have told you: some of you are hard to be around. A bad attitude overshadows good actions.
8. Integrity eclipse image. Today we highlight image. But it’s what you’re doing behind the scenes.
9. God's way is better than my way.
10. Christlikeness begins and ends with humility.

I am sure all you leaders out there will find these very interesting, however here is what I want you to do, if you had to add an 11th tip, what would it be?  Please leave your answer as a comment.

God Bless
Jim

A Tip From Paul Tripp

I was listening to a nice little podcast by Paul Tripp today.  Paul Tripp is a well known biblical counsellor.  He was sharing about the importance of knowing who you are, what makes you tick etc. 

So Paul Tripp's tip of the day is:

Treasure: know the treasure that you are seeking in life.  We all have a treasure in our lives that we seek, hoping that when we have whatever the treasure is it will give us meaning and fulfilment in life.  Of course as Christian we must battle to have Christ as our treasure, that only in HIM we will find the joy, meaning & Satisfaction that we crave.

Identity: Where do you get your worth?  What makes you feel good about yourself?  Is it your job?  Is it your kids? Is it your looks?  Is it your wealth? Is it might even be your church or how religious you are.  However, we must only find our identity in Christ.  In 2 Peter Chapter 1 Peter reminds God's people that they have failed to add godly attributes to their faith for they have forgotten who they are, that they have forgotten they have been cleansed from their sins.  Folks if we do not get our Identity vertically we will horizontally, looking for our self worth in all the wrong things that we find in this life.

Potential: How do you measure your potential? Do you measure it by your track record?  How you have achieved or failed in the past?  Do you measure your potential by how big your problems are?  If that is how you are measuring your potential then you have forgotten your Identity.  Our potential is not about horizontal things of life, but in who we are in Christ, Like Peter said God has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and Godliness.  Therefore, in the midst of that crisis or hurt or even success or joy, remember that you have all you need to deal with your current situation with Godliness, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

You can here the audio this came from here.

 

God Bless
Jim.