Holy Hormones Bible Study: Teaching — not Entertainment
PRAISE’N’WORSHIP
Pay the occasional compliment and sing a few catchy tunes?
Brace yourself! This is more of a teaching blog than an entertaining one. It may not be an easy read because there is more here than a normal, well adjusted person would normally want to know but it will be worth it. It is the detail which makes me a boring person that brings the Bible alive for me. But if you happen to like what you read, there’s more to be found here.
Part of my personal testimony for anyone who may be interested. (I won’t be offended if you’re not.)
I was harvested relatively late in life; a product of junk food, junk music and junk TV. The official language of Australia is English but it is a particular dialect because, in many places, we speak in stereo (out of one side of the mouth then the other) because we have to open the lips the minimum distance to keep the flies out. When you see Australians having a conversation you may think they are watching a tennis match as they turn their heads from side-to-side in time with the cadence of the side of the mouth the speaker is using.
The dialect caused me trouble at the beginning of my Christian Walk because it took a number of years to realise that praisenworship was not just one word. Then there was the problem of what was ‘praise’ and what was ‘worship.’ American preacher, Chuck Swindoll, gave the answer that resonated with me.
• Praise is you and God.
• Worship is just God.
And Worship is where the Holy Spirit does His best work. Surely many of you have discovered that when you surrender to Him in absolute abandon you enter a different Realm. And, because you are a Living Temple, He has gifted you with your personal Prayer Closet — The Most Holy Place where the Spirit of the One, True, Living God dwells within you. You can be alone in a riot with the Lord. You have His Undivided Attention. As far as He is concerned, you are the only person in His Kingdom. (The person worshipping beside you has the same undivided attention. God is God. He can do things like that.) Those of you who have been there know that you are not the same afterwards.
In the first Christian tape (it was that long ago) I heard an English Preacher, Graham Cooke, give a good description of the organisation of the function of the modern Church. “There is Temple Worship and there is Synagogue Worship.” We have combined them into one service but, in general, the focus is on the wrong part. Worship is the few tunes at the beginning before the important sermon. “We can miss those. They are not important.” All due respect to the Gun Preachers, without the Repair Work done by the Holy Spirit during spirit-to-Spirit Worship the very best you can do is give good advice — and that’s the best. Also, it is not the job of the band to bring the pews into the presence of God. Ezra 3:11 gives the model of how the priests (you are a Royal Priesthood) should worship, “And they sang together by course (H6030 — ʿānâ) in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yehovah.”
H6030 — ʿānâ to testify, respond as a witness. Technical term, ANTIPHONY. Psalm 106, 107, 118, 136. The flavour is one of a competition between the courses. Something along the lines of one course singing loudly, “This is what the Lord has done for me.” Only to be answered by another course, “That’s nothing. Let me tell you something.” And another course proclaiming, “Stand there and listen while I tell you a thing or two.” (I’m open to correction but I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t stand there with their hands in their pockets. I wouldn’t even be surprised if they weren’t concerned what the person next to them thought.)
But life is a bitch, you expect me to worship?
The scriptures say, “Yes.” Through your tears, if necessary. Perhaps I’m the only one that has happened to?
Why do you go to church?
“Where do you Fellowship?” is the question usually asked when Saints meet in my part of town. If the default question was, “Where do you worship?” there wouldn’t be so much lament about the Christian Church being in a state of atrophy. But that’s only my opinion. I have no formal theological qualifications.
The forgoing evidence has not been presented to convince any reader but to allow a personal decision to be made. There is much more to know about this subject. Perhaps you’ll pay another visit, sometime.
All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(We all have a plank in our eye. It’s bigger than we think.)
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