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The entire Bible is adamant that we should be worshippers of God. Our problem is
that we have been so influenced by religious tradition that we don’t really know
what the Bible says about how to worship God.
Psalms 150 says, "Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship, praise
him under the open skies; Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his
magnificent greatness; Praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming
soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance, praise him with banjo and flute; Praise him
with cymbals and a big bass drum, praise him with fiddles and mandolin. Let
every living, breathing creature praise God! Hallelujah!" TMB. This doesn’t
sound like most churches.
Worship was never dull and boring until the church became the official
Government Religion of Rome. Then it was paganized, ritualized and modified to
pacify the wealthy aristocrats. Major Biblical doctrines were dropped to make
Christianity easily fit into the polytheistic culture. Many of the leaders who
established church policy were not even born-again Christians.
The Bible is full of mighty men who were great worshippers. King David was a
mighty warrior and King, yet he was an enthusiastic worshipper. "David, … danced
before the LORD with all his might." 2 Samuel 6:14. The word dance used in this
verse comes from a Hebrew word that means to leap, twirl and stomp about wildly.
Worshippers have always used innovative, enthusiastic music to worship God.
There have always been those who did not understand enthusiastic worship like
King David’s wife. "Michal,… saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD,
she despised him in her heart." 2 Samuel 6:16.
The Bible is full of commandments for us to rejoice and dance before the Lord.
In order to dance you have to have enthusiastic music. "Let them praise his name
in dance; strike up the band and make great music!" Psalm 149:2, TMB.
Let The Whole Earth Be Silent
Religion approaches God in a sorrowful, pious manner as if it was a duty or
painful obligation. True worshippers are people who have fallen in love with God
and are not afraid to express it. God is looking for worshippers. "That's the
kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly
themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those
who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true
selves, in adoration." John 4:24, TMB.
The idea of standing silently before God came from the misuse of one scripture
and a carnal, religious church that was too uptight to enjoy God.
Don’t Be Solemn
We can’t take one scripture about coming before God in a solemn manner and
reject every other scripture in the Bible. The children of Israel were only
allowed to come before God in a Solemn Assembly two times per year. Every other
time was a party, a celebration. "On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of
laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. Know this: God is God, and God,
God. He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep.
Enter with the password: "Thank you!" Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him." Psalm 100, TMB.
Have a Party with God
The Bible tells us to sing, shout, leap, bow down, clap, kneel, laugh, lift our
hands; i.e. express ourselves before God. If you think He’s good, let Him know
it. If you’re glad you’re saved, let Him know it. Express your joy and
appreciation before God.
Even under the Old Testament, which wasn’t nearly as good of a deal as we have,
they had a party before God. When they brought their sacrifices, they would sit
down with their families and eat a portion of them. They would sing, dance,
pray, praise and rejoice at God’s goodness to them.
What Style of Music is Holy?
There is no such thing as holy or unholy music. There are holy and unholy words.
For centuries people have sung hymns that were full of unscriptural words. All
the while insisting that their music was more holy than something more
contemporary was. Words should be scriptural; music should be enjoyable.
The Psalmist wrote a song, inspired of God and put it to the tune of a popular
Philistine song. In the Amplified Bible the introduction to Psalm 84 says, To
the Chief Musician, set to a Philistine lute, or a particular Gittite tune, a
Psalm of the Sons of Korah. That means they put their words to the music of a
popular song of their time.
Habakkuk the prophet set his prayer to music. In Habakkuk 3:1 it says, "A prayer
of Habakkuk the prophet, set to wild enthusiastic music." AMP. God has never
been nervous or insulted by loud, wild, enthusiastic music. We have been led to
believe it is wrong to have fun with God. Religion tries to make you afraid of
God. Jesus sought to help you fall in love with God.
Music in History
Music has always been a significant part of history. The mood of every
generation has been reflected in their music. Every generation has had
particular styles of music that it found to be motivating and stimulating. The
church has always fought against those trends instead of enjoying them. Of
course, there are always exceptions.
In 1524 Martin Luther outraged the religious community by borrowing popular
drinking songs and grafting scriptural lyrics into them. Today those songs like,
"A Mighty Fortress is our God" and "Away in a Manger," are considered Christian
classics. Yet, in their day they were the contemporary tunes the church fought
against. It was considered vulgar and blasphemous that "Away in a Manger" was
played on a guitar.
The great revival of the Wesley Brothers which brought about the establishment
of the Methodist church was pushed forward by the use of music. It was very
common for the Wesley’s to take spiritual songs and sing them to the tunes of
popular tavern music.
In 1690 a teenage boy complains to his father that the church’s music is out of
date and boring. The father insisted that it was good enough for him and his
father it should be good enough for the son. The father challenges his son and
says if you think you can do better, then why don’t you. The young boy, Isaac
Watts, goes into his room and begins a writing career that produces "Behold the
Glories of the Lamb," "We’re marching to Zion," "When I survey the Wondrous
Cross," and "Joy to the World." In all he wrote 350 contemporary tunes that
later generations came to consider classics. Yet, in their day they were as
outrageous as electric guitars and drums.
One of the greatest revivals in modern history revolved around hippies and young
people turning to the Lord by the hundreds of thousands in the sixties and
seventies. One of the greatest factors in this movement was the music. While the
church fought to preserve its traditions and criticized their carnality, it
missed one of the greatest moves of God in our lifetime. The contemporary
worship of the charismatic and word of faith movement was born out of the Jesus
People music of the 60’s. The very people that fought against that music in the
60’s consider it the "anointed music" of the 90’s.
Loving God with your Whole Heart
When Jesus was asked to identify the most important commandment, without
hesitation he replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength....." Mark 12:30,
NIV. The Bible says in Romans 12:1, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice
to the Lord.
At Impact of Huntsville, we love God and we want to show Him. We are more
interested in giving you the freedom to express yourself in a Biblical way, than
preserving dead, religious tradition. We have selected the style of music that
is the most popular in the city. We make sure the words are scriptural. We have
a party before God.
Learn To Enjoy God
Many people come to Impact, love our services and then feel guilty. They are
afraid they should not have so much fun in church. We have been so influenced by
religion that we are afraid to live in the freedom Christ purchased for us.
Learn to enjoy God. Heaven is going to be the biggest celebration you’ve ever
seen and the party has already started. Get involved. We are serving God with
joy!
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