The Pros vs The Priests

There are generally two viewpoints in today's church. There are those who follow a view of doing church a very specific way, it is called professionalism. It is making sure that we follow a certain liturgy, a way the church service operates. This is kind of like left side of the brain in the church body. It is all about what is done and how it can be done efficiently. The other viewpoint is based on the idea of a biblical priesthood. The priesthood is really what we are called to by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the right side of the church brain. It is about the heart of the church. The priesthood wants to serve God because it loves Him, the professional wants to serve Him but it is the most logical.

In the Old Testament, the priests are the only ones that God had ordained to perform certain sacrifices. They were the ones who were allowed to make the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. In the New Testament, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of himself to atone for our sins. He has made us a new priesthood, because it is now our responsibility to sacrifice our own lives of worship of Him. 

These two views work best when they are balanced. You can't be too spiritual or too legalistically. If you are more one than the other, you cannot come minister to the Lord in an adequate way. They seem like opposites at times, but professionalism and priesthood work very well together. When we understand the certain ways of doing church, we can clearly see how to praise God more appropriately.

In the book of Hebrews, the author talks about the priests of Melchizedek. He calls the priesthood back to the promise made and fulfilled through Christ. It says in verses 19 and 20 that we have an anchor of the soul, and that is hope. It is a hope that takes into the holiest of holies where, in the Old Testament, only the high priests were allowed. Christ's death made him the greatest high priest and it left the curtain open for us to enter His holy presence. 

Worship Set It All Off

Jesus' final words to His friends, the disciples, in Matthew 28 were, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." This is known as the Great Commission. This is what God has called us to. But due to fear of persecution after the man, Stephen had been killed for the gospel. In Acts 11:19, it says that they were scattered and the gospel was only being shared with Jews. Earlier in the book of Acts, the explosion of the church happened. But since these events, believer had grown fearful and the fire in them died down. Their faith was dead and in need of a revival.

In the church in Antioch Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, and Saul are praying and fasting about the situation. It is after this time of worship, they feel the Holy Spirit's voice telling them to send Barnabas and Saul to bring the gospel to those who have not heard. It was through worshipping God that they heard God calling them to the task at hand. This shows us the power of our worship. Worship is the key to changing to world. When we worship the Father, God will set us on a course to change the world. Worship unleashes God's presence to the world. It isn't that our worship is some magical thing. But giving God all of the glory he deserves makes Him want to bless you and use you in ways you could never imagined. 

John Mark McMillan is a worship song writer, he wrote the very popular worship song, How He Loves. The story behind that song is quite amazing and was born out of prayer and worship. He says that he was having a prayer meeting with some friends. He had prayed God would use him to change the youth of the nation. And on his way home, he got a call that his best friend was in a terrible car accident and he died. This shook John to his core. It was this song that inspired him to write the song How He Loves. 

Through his prayers God took what was a horrible accident that killed his friend, and inspired him to write a song that has affected the whole Christian community. God uses circumstance we will never understand to further His kingdom. We can never count God out in using us. He will always think of boxes that we cannot even imagine. This is our encouragement to always pursue the glory of God and He will use us how he sees fit. 

Out With the Old, In With the New

Worship has always meant the same thing, it means to humble yourself and give yourself up to the glory of God the Father. What worship looks like has changed a little bit between the Old and New testaments. The physical acts of worship have changed because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us. But our expressions of worship have changed little. In the Old testament David is probably our greatest example of worship being expressed physically. David wrote most of the books of Psalms, which went on to be the go-to guide for worship for new testament believers. David wrote about coming before the Father, and kneeling, lifting his hands, shouting, and singing to God. David was the original Chris Tomlin. 

Our expression in worship have changed less over time and more culturally than anything else. New testament believers have the benefit of having the Psalms before them. Old testament acted only what God was calling them to do. They had the initial joy of knowing that God told them to lift their hands to him, where we see their acts and want to lift hands as well. The ways we worship have changed, but it hasn't all changed. David would arrange music to be played while they sang songs praising God. That sure looks familiar. Songs are still being sung to this day in honor of our God. Songs might be the most evident expression of worship that has lasted over time. And God always works through the power of His songs.

We see this in Acts when Paul and Silas were imprisoned and they sang worship hymns in their cells. God was glorified by this and made the earth shake and their prison doors open. God is and always has been an amazing God. He has never changed. He is the same God of the old testament and the New. He has always been worthy of our praise and that will never change. Throughout culture and time, forms of worship may change. But they will still be there to glorify the one true God.

We Will sing! Sing! Sing! pt.3 Release From Bondage

David told in Psalm 32:7, "You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah" Here David is proclaiming the power of worshipping God with song. It has the power to set us free and break our chains of bondage. Lifting up God's name will bring us our freedom, but in doing so will show the world what He has done for us. It not only is it a tool to free us, but is also a tool for evangelism.

This is best illustrated in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas are imprisoned at Philippi. Here in their imprisonment, they are singing hymns of praise in their most desperate hour. All of a sudden, the earth shook and all of the chains were broken and all of the cell doors were opened. And Paul and Silas were shown their freedom. In the midst of prisoner being freed, the guard awoke from his sleep to see that all of the prisoners were escaping. Thinking that he had failed, he raised his sword to take his own life. Paul calls to him with a loud voice, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." 

The prison guard ran for them and fell down before Paul and Silas. He asked them, "What must do to be saved?" They told him, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." Right there and then, the guard was saved and his whole family had been saved. He and his family were immediately baptized. 

This event shows us the great power in singing song of praise. We can't think that Paul and Silas were just sitting in their cells, so desperate because of the obstacles they faced, singing songs out of hopelessness. They sang out of hope and they sang out of their faith. They knew that God could release them at any moment, but they chose to sit their cells and sing praise to God. And God used their singing to bring the Gospel to this guard. God used their circumstances to bring people to Him. 

Here we learn that worship is a key to breakthrough evangelism. The power of worship unleashed God's power to free them and give them the opportunity to lead the guard to Christ. Singing songs to God allow us to be used by God in ways we could never comprehend. Worship is the key to break us free from the bondage of our sins, and it frees us to bring the Gospel to the rest of the world.

We Will Sing! Sing! Sing! Pt.2

The power of the songs that we praise God with have the power, through Him, to make mountains crumble. When we praise God with a true heart, miracles will happen. He will make His presence known. God's song has the power to heal our loved ones, to restore broken relationships, and to ignite a passion for the Living God. In Isaiah 54:1-5, the Lord tells us to sing in times where we are hurting because something we want to strongly is not happening to us. This has been the case for many married couples that struggle with conceiving children. 

In the passage, God is telling Abraham that his wife will conceive a child soon even though she is far beyond the age of childbirth. God says to sing, and to make room in your tent because it will soon be filled with a family. God makes a covenant with Abraham that He will make a nation of his descendants, and they will be God's chosen people. You can place yourself in the place of Abraham and his wife. They struggled till they were in their old age with having a baby with no success. This had to be hard on their marriage and relationship. But God told them to remain faithful, and He will work a miraculous conception. 

This scripture is not only for those who are barren from children; it is for those who are barren of life in Christ. We sing and pray over the people who have not felt God's breath in them. We need to make room in our tents because God knows that our church will grow and expand and glorify Him. 

We see here how God really calls us to sing worship to Him, especially in our doubts and our fears. These are what we lay down at the feet of the cross in worship. Life is something that we cannot overcome by our own ability. We worship God with song because He is our redeemer and our access to true life. Through the power of song God will unleash amazing power even when we feel there is no hope. 

We Will Sing! Sing! Sing! Pt.1

Singing songs in church isn't just something we do because we like to sing or because it is fun. Our songs are meant to be uplifting and glorifying songs to God the Father. And in our worship through songs, God is pleased. God does miraculous things when we worship Him through music and through prayer. We see numerous references to singing throughout the whole bible. In Isaiah 54, God tells the women who cannot bare children to sing and to not become weary. He is telling them to remain in faith, God will provide through some way, maybe beyond what the women would initially think of. The powerful songs that King David wrote brought him back into the goodness of God. It was through his songs that he knew when he failed and asked God for forgiveness. In the New Testament, we see Paul and Silas imprisoned. So as they are singing songs of praise, God causes a tremendous earthquake and the walls of the prison are broken open to their freedom. And even through the process, God uses the circumstances to allow Paul to lead the prison guard to Christ and even baptize his family.

There is no arguing the power in our true worship through songs. We are not saying that certain songs are magical, but that God is pleased to hear His name rise from our lips. And when God is pleased with us, He will answer our praise and our prayers. 

In the book of Job, Job loses everything he has because the Lord has allowed Satan to take it all from him. God knew that Job would remain faithful to Him. But after all Job had been through he called out to God, telling Him of his displeasure of the situation. So God speaks back to him (paraphrased), "Were you there when the earth was spoken into existence? Were you there when the morning star sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy?"(Job 38:7) It gives you a picture of God telling Job that when He created the earth, He had praise filled music playing in the background. 

Songs and creativity are inescapable linked together. Songs can fuel our creativity and make something beautiful either for our own glory or the glory of God. Since we are created in the image of God, we have the capacity to be creative beings. God allows us to create for Him. We may write a song or paint a picture that points to the Gospel, it is something that brings Him praise. So because we are created in the image of an awesome God, then we are abled to sing songs that give awesome praise to Him.

Neither Height Nor Depth Can Tear Us Apart

While reading through Romans 8, I came across a section of verses that I have read through numerous times. It always has weight in the words. They are convicting but in the same light, the words are so comforting. The power of Jesus Christ is proclaimed in verse 31. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" It is ironic because everything of this world stands against God. Our sinful being is against the will of God. Yet if we are to side with God, what could possibly stand a chance against us? When we align ourselves with the will of God, we are aligning ourselves with the creator and the one who gave us our salvation. God gave us His only Son to die and rise for our salvation. He is the One who justifies us; He is the One who can condemn us. He is almighty and all-powerful. Paul tells us that we should not let anything come between our great God and us. 

Paul's words continually call back to Jesus at the cross. Nothing can take away from what Jesus did on the cross did for us. When we live life and don't forget what Jesus has done for us, Paul says that we become more than just conquerors. Paul tells us what can't stand against us, "...neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

According to these words, nothing of this world can tear us apart from God's love for us because of what Jesus did on the cross. His death and resurrection made a way to salvation for us that we could never do on our own. 

In our times of need, we can feel like God is not with us. Sometimes we can feel abandoned by Him. We feel the opposite of what these words say. We become overcome by the chaos of the world, that we allow ourselves to feel separated from God's love. But when we dwell on these verses we should allow these words to sink into our souls. Paul's words tell us that God is near, and He protects us from the sin of the world. God will protect us and will not allow anything to break apart us from His love.

Jesus as the Center

The New Testament is all about Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross. Everything from before the Resurrection to the end times, it all builds up to his death and that affects everything else. The worship of the New Testament is centered on the Lord's Table. Our worship is lifted up to God because of what begun at the Lord's Table before Christ went to the cross. Reference is given to Jesus and the cross many times after He died and resurrected. Paul speaks of Jesus and the cross in Galatians 6:14," God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Paul did not want what he was teaching to the people, to glorify him. Paul wanted what he taught to bring glory back to what Jesus did on the cross. 

When we look at Jesus as the central point of the New Testament, we see the Lord's Table and the centerpiece is the bible itself. With Jesus as the central point, we know that He was God in the flesh. He was God. It says in Colossians 1:19, "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” God came to the earth as Jesus, why wouldn't we focus on Him as the center point? 

Communion is where Jesus met with his friends, his disciples before he was taken to the cross. It was at the Lord's Table that Jesus foretold them was about to happen. It is where he broke the bread and told them that the bread represented Jesus' body that was about to be broken for the sins of the world. And he told them the wine represented Jesus' blood that was about to be spilled for the sins of the world. His body and his blood were the instruments that purchased and secured eternal salvation for all who will come to him. In John 6:56, Jesus says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."

Jesus came as the Word, and the Word was good. Jesus says in John 5:39, "...it is the scriptures that bear witness about me." The words in the bible are not just words. They are the inspired words of God. Scripture is how the Holy Spirit speaks to us and it is an essential part of the Trinity. And throughout the entire bible, through prophecy in the Old Testament, and fulfillment in the New Testament, the Messiah is key to it all. Christ is the Word and the Word is good.