True Worship

I have been pondering what the true meaning of worship is. Is it just slow songs in church? Is it an attitude? Does it have to do with actions?

I think it is a mixture of attitude and actions.

It goes well beyond just a set of slow songs. That can bring on worship, but just because someone sings a slow song does not mean worship is taking place. What would make a slow song that someone likes in church any different than a soft rock hit on the radio?

True worship evokes a response that brings pleasure to God.

Acts 7:48 "However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands." (NLT)

Worship does not only take place in a church building.

It follows a person whose main desire is to love God and prove it by the way their actions make God smile. So worship takes place in Walmart, in the hair salon, in a theater, at the mechanic's shop, in the bathroom, etc. (I know someone who was filled with the Holy Spirit while on the toilet!) God will take our worship wherever we are.

Performance in Worship

There is definitely a fine line in a worship service that a worship band does not want to cross where the people in the crowd feel it is a performance. There is great validity to this concern. This concern brought to my attention a question that needs to be answered. What makes music a performance? (feel free to leave your thoughts)

• Is it excellence in music?
• Does it feel too much like a concert?
• Is it because people enjoy the style and presentation of the music?
• Do people sense arrogance from the leadership?

It is my opinion that if worship seems like a performance, it might just be because it is. The problem is when people get the wrong perspective. We need to broaden our view of who the performers are. The performance does not come from the band and singers only, but from every person in the room!

A worship service is powerful when every person is focused in to the audience of one, seated on the throne who lives in the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). Angels are constantly presenting a concert of singing and we join in with them.

11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon
thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and
the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" 13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on
earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:11-14)

When you think about it, our worship is just joining the performance that is already going on in Heaven.

Manly Worship

What words come to mind when I say the word "elf". Usually the words: cute, short, work, Santa, even Will Ferrell.

Why doesn't hero, cunning, valiant, warrior, manly or macho come to mind? Until 2001. Up to that point elves were only known for working in Santa's workshop and making cookies in a tree for Keebler.

In 2001, elves got a license to be manly. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings came out in the theater. Legolas entered the scene able to fire arrows like a semi-automatic and saves the day multiple times!

Why can't real men worship? Has there been a stigma put on the act of worship? Is it looked at as womanly to worship, just as men are not supposed to cry? Can a man truly feel like a man after coming to church?

What has placed this stigma on worship? Is it the songs? Is it because we sing songs like, "Oh Lord, you're beautiful" or "You're all I want...You're all I've ever needed" or use words like: love, desire, precious and words that men never say to other men?

Today I want to let you know that it is manly to worship God! Joshua (one of the manliest men in the bible) worshipped God when he said "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" (Joshua 24:2)

Today, I give you the license to break the mold of whatt you think is expected of you and truly worship God. Be who God has made you to be...a lead worshipper.