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Worship » Music

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Question:

I’ve got a question regarding music. I had a friend that recently told me that there was only one certain type of music sound that we should be listening to. Of course, it’s got to be of the spirit. He was referring to that we’re not supposed to be listening to Christian Rock or Christian Rap or music of that sort because it’s supposed to be a certain type of sound.

Answered on 04/13/06:

The Bible says in Psalm 149 and 150, “Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord.” So if an instrument has breath, if a sound has breath, it should be praising the Lord. And if it’s praising the Lord, if it’s truly honoring God and glorifying God, it doesn’t matter what kind of style of music it is as long as it truly is clearly honoring God, glorifying God and bringing the Word of God and the power of God to people. So I don’t find that in the Scripture where there is only one or two styles of music that we should be listening to. But it clearly says, “Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord.” So if it’s praising God, if it’s bringing honor and glory to God and focusing on God rather than the singer, focusing on God rather that whatever’s going on, if it’s focusing on Him, then it’s a good thing and it honors Him.

Question:

Should Christians listen to secular music?

Answered on 04/13/06:

Well, Christians should do things that edify them, that build them up. You know, there are a lot of Christian songs that aren’t biblical. So I wouldn’t just say that, “Well, you should just listen to Christian music and not listen to secular music.” What you need to do is listen to music that is edifying, that’s going to build you up in God, that’s going to encourage you and draw you closer to the Lord, and draw you to pursue the things of God. But whether you can make a hard and rule that you should never listen to secular song, I wouldn’t.

But you should evaluate what are the lyrics? What are the seeds that are being sown into your heart? And that’s what you need to realize is that it’s not secular versus Christian. It’s what are the seeds that are being planted? Because those words are seeds. And if those seeds are good seeds that are going to provide a good harvest, then you should feel free to listen to those songs.

But if those seeds are not going to produce a good harvest, if they’re seeds of heartbreak and seeds of “my girlfriend left me and I don’t know what I’m going to ever do.” Or “my momma hates me and my daddy’s trying to kill me.” No, those are bad seeds that you’re sowing into your heart and you’re going to get a bad harvest from that. And if it’s just “I need you and I love you and I can’t live without you.” If the song’s about a girl or a guy, “I can’t live without you,” well, that’s lie. Because you can live without that person.

So I wouldn’t encourage you to listen to stuff that’s going to manipulate your emotions and make you feel sad and happy and all those things. You need to get grounded in the Word of God, and that’s going to give you stable emotions, and then you should listen to music that is going to build you up and edify you, not things that are going to play with your emotions.

Question:

What kind of music is acceptable for church service? Are only the Psalms acceptable? And is one taking away or adding to the Scripture when they write the lyrics for songs that are out of the Word of God?

Answered on 04/13/06:

Here’s the thing. The Bible says “all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable.” All music is good if it honors and glorifies God. It doesn’t have to be an exact Scripture from the Bible, but it has to be biblical. It is wrong to sing something like, “Lord, I praise you even though you killed my husband. Lord, even though you killed my baby, even though you caused all these problems in my life, I just want to praise you and worship you anyway…” Well, that’s unscriptural because God doesn’t take life, He gives life. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus said, I have come that you would have life and have it in abundance.”

So all kinds of music are acceptable in church provided that they are within the boundaries of what glorifies and honors God. Is it biblical? It doesn’t have to be a Scripture or a Psalm from the Bible, but it needs to support the Word of God and be in agreement with the Word of God. That’s what makes it acceptable.

Worship » General

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Question:

How should we worship God because the Bible says that He is a spirit? And worship isn’t just what we do on Sunday - can you enlighten me on that?

Answered on 08/02/06:

" Yes, that’s a good point. Worship is not just what you do on Sunday. The word “worship” means “to hold nothing back.” The point is that one of the best illustrations of worship in the Bible is when God speaks to Abraham and says, “Abraham, give me your son. Bring your son, Isaac, to the mountain and offer him up there.” And the Bible says that when Abraham offered up Isaac on the altar, just as he was about to slay his son, the Lord stopped him and said, “now I know, Abraham, that you truly worship me because you did not withhold your son, your only son.” And the key there is “you did not withhold your only son, you did not withhold what you had.”

And so, what God is telling us is that worship is that we do not withhold from God the most precious things that we have. It’s not just praising God. It’s not just singing a song. It’s not just lifting our hands, but it’s holding nothing back from God. If you’re really worshiping Him, that means you’re holding nothing back. It doesn’t mean that you’re perfect. It doesn’t mean that you do everything right. But it means that you’re not keeping anything back from God.

You know if a police officer came to your house and he said, “I have a search warrant here to search your entire house.” And you said, “Okay, officer, search everywhere except this backroom closet.” Well, obviously, that is the only place the police officer is interested in looking now is the closet, right? It has to do with keeping God first in everything, honoring God, putting Him first in our time, in our treasures, with our talents. It’s a life of worship. Worship is a lifestyle. It’s what we were created to do – to live for Him, to adore Him and to hold nothing back from Him.

Is there anything that you’re holding back from Him right now? Let it go. Surrender it to Him. Trust Him and He will answer you. Worshiping God means that you’re not holding on to your life but you’re surrendering it to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Question:

I am confused about the "presence" of the Holy Spirit. Why is there such an emphasis on His being present, particularly during worship, and not so much emphasis on His being present at other times? Since, I believe that Worship is the entrance to His presence, is that how we stay in His presence?

Answered on 07/21/06:

The church needs to understand that worship is not the entrance into God’s presence. Preachers have preached that and churches have believed that. They thought and practiced that, but it is unscriptural. What brings us into the presence of God is Hebrews 10:19, we come into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus. It is the blood of Jesus that brings us into God’s presence.God’s presence is not something that should be only emphasized during praise or worship. The presence of the Holy Spirit should be emphasized at all times because He lives in us. Because we put our faith in the blood of Jesus, the blood removes the veil between God and man. So we can be in the holy place and the holy one can live inside of us through His goodness and grace because of the blood of Jesus. Now we can be in the presence of God for ever and ever.

Question:

In the Bible, it says God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. How do we worship Him in spirit and in truth and what is spirit and what is truth?

Answered on 04/13/06:

How do we worship God in spirit and in truth because God is seeking, in John chapter 4, those who worship Him in spirit and in truth? The way we worship Him in spirit and in truth is by worshiping Him with the right understanding of what brings us into the presence of God. For example, there are people who actually believe that if we sing the right song or if we carry the right note, or if we praise God loud enough or if we sing with all our heart, that somehow that’s worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.

The opposite of worshiping God in the spirit is worshiping God in the flesh. So, how do we worship God in the flesh? The flesh tells us, “If I sing loud enough, if I sing the right song, then God will accept me, then I can come into God’s presence. If I sing, then my worship, my praise will bring me into the presence of God.” That’s worshiping God in the flesh.

But worshiping God in the spirit is to say, “Alright, my singing will not bring me into the presence of God. I’m in the presence of God because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 10:19 says, ‘We come in to the holy place by the blood of the lamb’ and therefore, by the blood of the lamb, I’m already in His holy place. I’m already in His presence, therefore, that’s the reason that I sing.”

So let me just break it down. If I think that by singing and by worshiping I’m going to get into His presence, that’s the flesh. But when I realize I’m in His presence through the blood of Jesus and that gives me a reason to worship, that gives me a reason to thank Him, that gives me a reason to sing, that’s worshiping Him in the spirit and in truth.

Question:

Are we permitted to worship the Holy Spirit? Should prayer be reserved for Jesus and God the Father?

Answered on 04/13/06:

Can we worship the Holy Spirit? The answer is, “Absolutely.” Because He is God as much as God the Father and the Son are. And so He deserves and is just as worthy of the worship that we would give to them. But, being the gentleman that He is, the Holy Spirit constantly wants to direct us to God the Father, just as Jesus does.Ultimately, everything is to the Father, and the role of the Holy Spirit is to bring us into intimacy with the Father, just as the role of Jesus is to introduce us to the Father. I think that praising the Holy Spirit and worshipping Him are absolutely fine. It’s not bad or wrong to pray to Him; it’s just not necessary. We pray to the Father in Jesus’ name through the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit helps us to pray and prays for us and through us. That’s the biblical answer from Romans 8 . . . He prays for us and through us. So to pray to Him is a little superfluous because He’s the one doing the praying, interceding for us, “with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

Question:

In the church, is there a way to distinguish between when the members are going kind of almost goofy and rolling on the floor and seeing someone truly worshiping God?

Answered on 04/12/06:

I think that we have the responsibility as Christians and as ministers to defend the faith. And the faith does not lend itself to absolute craziness and everything being out of order. The Bible says “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

And I think whenever we create an atmosphere that makes it extremely uncomfortable for people to truly worship God freely and it becomes something where we’re getting attention drawn to ourselves and our rolling around on the floor or our demonstration of our exuberance, when it’s drawing attention to ourselves rather than drawing attention to Jesus Christ and His honor and glory, then I think it’s out of balance.

If somebody falls down, if somebody gets on their knees, if somebody worships God, I think that there’s a place for that. But when it’s done as a spectacle or when it’s done as a religious practice and a religious habit, rather than truly spontaneously, genuine move of the Holy Spirit, then I think it’s unhealthy. Then it’s just religion rather than genuine Christianity.

And I think that we have to be careful of that in all of our lives and in all of our denominations that we don’t just put on a show of religion, but that our Christianity truly comes from our heart. There is a balance that we have to find in God.

Question:

Would you compare worshipping God and praising God? How do they differ?

Answered on 04/12/06:

Praise is more of a celebration and thanksgiving for what God has done, and worship is more of an adoration for who God is. Worship is a lifestyle. It’s an attitude of adoration, an attitude of affection and love that we should constantly be pouring out towards God. Worship is also to hold nothing back as we see in Genesis 24 when Abraham gave Isaac up on the altar, the Lord said, “Now I know that you truly worship me or truly reverence me, because you have held nothing back. You have not held back your only son.” So real worship is an attitude of holding nothing back from God spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically. That’s a real life of worship.

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