Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

7 February, 2007   comments: (0) Today's Worship   News, Notes & Comments That Make You Say Wow Last week was one to remember, as far as comments are concerned. But in the midst of them all, here's an interesting one that flew-in under the radar. Also some links and blog news including my acquisition of SeekerSensitive.com. I'm also announcing my forthcoming "Megachurch Jumbotron Challenge" which will be a call for biblical balance, in the messages that get projected on those giant screens in our largest church buildings. See update at bottom of article (before the comments) I'm hoping to have the Jumbotron Challenge post ready on Monday. For those giant screen equipped megachurches that are still claiming that they preach a well-rounded biblical message based on the whole counsel of God, this will be an excellent way for them to show their resolve towards that end, and demonstrate that their big screens are not just entertainment devices. So I'll be providing a video clip that would look and sound great on their EXPEN$IVE A/V systems. The video I'm going to propose would definitely leave a lasting impression on their audiences, and would be very seeker-relevant. But the question is, are these churches willing to use their screens to present the part of the bible that I'm going to mention? And what would happen if they did? Now on to the comment posted towards the bottom of a page on Old Truth last week. Being that the commenter is young, I'm going to spare my own commentary, as it's usually the case that what we are really hearing is the influence and training of their church leaders coming through. If her knowledge one day catches up with her zeal, she will be an inspiration to everyone. ...I'm a worship leader at the age of 17. I look at my generation as a generation that is desperately hungry for love and security. They are looking in all the wrong places and my job is to usher them into the right place, which is in the presence of Jesus Christ. Worshiping God is my favorite thing to do in the whole world. He has set me free and delivered me from many things and sometimes I can't help but dance before God and sing at the top of my lungs. I'm also a songwriter. God has personally inspired songs into my life that have impacted many. And guess what? They aren't hymns! I think Hymns are great and it's nice to sing them occasionally, but folks, there is a new generation that is arising! There is CHANGE in the atmosphere! So many people are afraid of change. They want to stick with their traditions that have been passed down and anything that comes along that is different freaks them out! Isaiah 43:18-19 says, "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?" My heart is for the youth of this nation. As a worship leader reaching out to my generation, I know that if I start singing Great is thy Faithfulness with an out of tune piano behind me, everyone is going to fall asleep. Now don't get me wrong, sometimes my worship team does put a hymn or two in there and it definitely fits. We just have to accept the fact that if you want to draw people to God, you have to relate to them in some way. ... The world out there does not know that worshipping God can actually be fun! Sermons can actually be interesting! Being a Christian is actually a rewarding thing! That's because the world knows the church's traditions and are not yet aware of the change that is taking place in today's sanctuary. Pastor Rick is simply letting people know that they can come as they are. Jesus never rejected people who didn't dress nice or who didn't have a lot of money. So wake up people and quit holding on to traditions. Dig in the word of God, let him inspire new things in you. I can't wait to see all the new and awesome things that He has in store! And now for something completely different. Here's an excerpt from Church historian Merle D'Aubigne on the true story of the French Huguenot woman that I've been posting about. He found her story in a very old library archive in Geneva. So far I've posted parts 1, 2, and 3 in the series, and it looks like I'll be continuing with it for another 4 to 7 more posts. It's online elsewhere in French, but nowhere in English that I've found. "We think that the history of Blanche Gamond deserves to be read and thought over, and that it may be useful. The profession of Christianity is easy in our day. We live in peace, and in the midst of enjoyment. Such was not the case with Christians in early times, and with a great number of the disciples of the Reformers. It is well that works written in that season of persecution should appear from time to time, to remind us of the truth of the Savior's words: "If any man come after me, let him take up his cross daily and follow me". If God gives us all things in abundance, let us learn to give ourselves entirely to Him; and let us work night and day, and say with the apostle, "Lord, I will lay down my life for thy sake"." Blog news and notes: The owner of SeekerSensitive.com has given me ownership of his website. The web address is now mapping to the Pragmatism section of Old Truth until I have time to do something more effective with it. For now, it continues to drive additional traffic into Old Truth, and so I'd like to welcome it's audience to this website. I'd also like to thank the previous owner for this very generous gift and for his past efforts. It's a very strategic web address, and one that the Church Growth Movement folks would love to get their hands on. Instead, I'm committed to using it as a showcase for the harmful biblical incompatibilities that are inherent in that movement. I've recently been invited to be a writer on StrangeBaptistFire.com and I'll be writing theology postings on that blog, probably once a week or so. How reliable is the bible?: James White has recently begun a series of audio programs on the reliability of the bible. In one of his recent programs he addresses some of what Christians need to know about textual differences between biblical manuscripts. A couple of things that I found interesting from his program: There has always been a great deal of harmony between new manuscripts that are discovered versus those we already have. This is apparently not the case with the Koran. So whenever a new Koran manuscript is found, it tends to make their scholars a bit nervous. I also thought it was interesting that the Catholic Greek scholar - Erasmus ran out of time when translating the Greek new testament, and had to borrow sections in the book of Revelation from the less reliable secondary source of the Latin Vulgate. As you might know, the New Testament of the King James Version derived from Erasmus' Greek translation. If you've seen some of the Emerging Church folks on Old Truth recently "asking questions" about the bible's reliability, you get the sense that this area of study is going to be an important battleground for the future. A humorous salute to other bloggers in my church: After recently labeling myself (in jest) an "ESV Only'ist" in the comments of a post on Old Truth, Chad V. has responded by writing "warning emails" to various leaders in our church; he imagines a book like this is forthcoming. Chad, maybe you should invest some of that writing-energy on your blog; it looks like your last post was written around the same time as Luther's 95 Theses! Tom Chantry (whose blog is always up to date) talks about what it was like growing up as a Reformed Baptist, noting that he was spared the confusion of thinking that a "chief end" is a football player of some sort. Meanwhile Heather's family just seems really confused about football, or perhaps is thinking that there is some cryptic "bible code" based on NFL team names that will predict the date of the apocalypse; I do hope it's the former. I must also mention Matthew, not only because his great blog is a veritable bastion of Reformed thinking, but also because he is the longsuffering teenager (every church has one) who gets asked by everybody to carry heavy stuff in and out of the building. Though he's a good musician, I'm so glad that Matthew isn't yet another advice-toting teenage 7/11 song writer and leader of "fun worship"; one of those is enough for this post :-) Update: Our singer and song writer responds: "Wow, if only my knowledge would catch up with my zeal? Harsh. Let me rephrase some of the things I said earlier in my post. When I said God has personally inspired songs in me that aren't hymns, I didn't mean they weren't worship songs. Every one of them are praise and worship songs that have come straight from the word of God. Ever heard of Chris Tomlin, Jeff Deyo, Darlene Zschech? I'm right along with those worshipers who have recieved inspiration from our heavenly Father. I'm sorry if you don't believe in "this type of worship" but when I see people face down at the altars, crying out to Jesus with all that is in them, some even giving their hearts to Him for the first time, I know that God is pleased. When I see people dancing before God just like David did in the Old Testament, praising God with all they have, I bet all the angels in Heaven are singing along and dancing before the throne of God. I'm at the point where I am coming to understand the heart of God and what He longs for us. I'm realizing that God just wants our hearts. He desires us. It's not about the "style" of worship music. As long as we worship with all of our hearts whether it is with traditional hymns or with modern Praise and Worship music, just love and worship HIM alone. We all have the tendency to make worship what we want it to be and to make God who we want Him to be. "I'm going to worship God on this song because I like this song" "I don't like this style of music so I'm just going to stand here." I know I'm guilty of that. I know I'm young and I have a heart for my generation. Most of you are probably alot older than me, but can I challenge you to dig deep into the very heart of God and His desires alone. Stop putting your own styles and traditions above God, because when we do that, it clogs up our ears with religious gunk and we can no longer hear the clear voice of God and what He truly wants. So whether you're in church with hymns, or church with modern songs of worship, whether you are in your car, or a hospital bed, or wal-mart, or work, wherever you are, WORSHIP JESUS!" A few questions off the top of my head: What does she mean by saying that her songs are inspired? If all styles are fine, why did she protest against ours? True or false. This statement of hers could also be made by Benny Hinn (see video): "when I see people face down at the altars, crying out to Jesus with all that is in them, some even giving their hearts to Him for the first time, I know that God is pleased". I don't mean to pick on her, but rather I want to question how we judge our methods and content for worship music, all of us. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.609   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism