A Few Thoughts On Modern Worship Music: What Really Matters

Recently, it seems that there has been a ton of opinions on what worship music should be sounding like.  From the young, trendy, boutique-driven, “hipster” worship musicians that are my age, to the older generations, there is a divide in what the musical style should sound like and be appealing to both sides.  And including the past’s music into today’s musical arena.  I have outlined my thoughts, and these are just my thoughts.
Music is actually just a repetition with variances over time.  Today’s music is influenced by music that was produced 25-30 years ago.  In the 1980’s, New Wave was a synth-driven relic to the jangle of the 1960’s for the most part.  “Hard Rock” that emerged in the mid 1970’s was simply humbucker-driven hard blues riffs that were from well before their time, as well as over-driven sounds of the 1950’s.  In the 1990’s, music was just odd. (We need not go into that, as I loathe 95% of the music from the 1990’s).

I give that context to say that all the young yuppies in CCM using delay and chorus have to know that sound was most popularized in the 1980’s.  (See The Police, Duran Duran, U2, etc.).  So, let’s just already know that what’s being done today isn’t anything mind-blowing, nor is it something that is so detached from an older generation. 

Hymns will never get old.  There was a movement I remember to modernize hymns, and in my opinion , it didn’t sound that great.  “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” is one of the most beautiful songs ever written and is more than relevant today. Why? Because there’s power in the written words that stand the test of time.  Sure, you may not have your Ebenezer readily available, but you cannot deny that Jesus sought you out when you were a stranger.  Everyone can enjoy hymns, if you have piano, acoustic guitars, or voices, and this is also true as well with heavy ‘verbs, delay, and rich ambient sounds. 

What I admire about some of today’s worship music is that it’s risky.  When I first heard Jesus Culture a few years ago, that really shocked me.  I’m a musical critic and snob.  My first reaction wasn’t to think “Man! What’s he running? A Tele through a Fender amp with modulation!?”. No. It was “Man. I feel the Presence. This is good.”  I believe everyone can agree on the whole point of worship music is to bring us into the Presence, without that, it has no point.   Good music isn’t hard to find.  What is more challenging is devoting music to the purpose of worship; it’s a challenge that is exciting. 

Musical worship is very important to me.  I think it’s important to God in that it’s celebration.  All things are meant for worship.  When the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, this was the response:
“David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.”- 2 Samuel 6:5.

I would imagine those were modern instruments of their time, but that proceeds the most important part. “…were celebrating with all their might before the Lord.”   To me, this shows that there is not a disconnect between age and worship.  The ultimate goal is bring people into the Presence of God, not a musically appealing experience.  Don’t get me wrong, I love music. And I enjoy music that’s relevant and doesn’t make think it’s 1999. However, the tension always lies in the personal state of the worship musicians.  I don’t honestly believe there are more people meeting Jesus (and experiencing Him) simply through ultra-relevant music.  If that’s what we believe, then the Church has serious issues.  The Gospel is wonderful and it’s been around for 2,000 years.  It’d be a shame if we felt we had to modernize it or dress it up.  What we need is to be is more committed to being worshippers instead of relevant.  I think Jesus was relevant, even though He wasn’t a sinner.  Maybe His humility and humanity were enough to reach people. Maybe that’s what we should be after.  I think of this verse when I think of how we should align ourselves:
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”- John 4:24. 

I am also very inclined to spontaneous worship.  But, let’s be honest.  That’s been around forever.  I mean, David was pioneering this.  He was honest with God and he dared to go farther in to His presence.  I feel like that’s how we should approach worship ourselves. 

I don’t want to come across as cynical, but I do want to share my thoughts in regards to how musical worship does not have to be narrow but rather, authentic.  In the future, we need to be people in pursuit of His Presence and we must lead out of that desire and passion.  When we do, we can create an environment in which people will develop their own experiences and history with God.  That’s what I look for in a musical worship experience.  

A Rough Beginning; A Hopeful Ending

It has been awhile since I have blogged. It has been a very difficult transition from graduation. I did not anticipate still being unemployed so close to my birthday, nor did I anticipate an end to a relationship, or that life would be so hard. It’s one thing to be in the will of God and to think you are. Often, I dabble in my beliefs of where I am at.  I am in His Will, not because the world is handed to me, but because of the relationship I have with Him.  When things just seem to go wrong, you have to look at yourself.  You certainly can’t blame people (been there), blame God (been there for sure) or your circumstances (seems to be a reoccurring theme).  It’s been a hard summer/beginning to fall.  Not having a job is hard, especially when you are sincere in your efforts and in your motives (meaning you’ve prayed about, not saying your motives are the purest thing).  Giving all you have to someone is also difficult when that relationship has run into the cliffs of another’s decision. 

I hope that introduction has set the stage for the rest of this post.  It’s been mighty difficult, but there is much hope in the midst of it. As there always is.  With every trial, comes ample and adequate Hope attached to it.  I’m beginning to learn how fickle I really am.  I used to believe I was consistent, but now I see more to myself than before. I see how quickly I point the finger at the Father. “But, the timing?! But, my feelings?! But…” And that’s gotten me nowhere. Rather, it’s resting in the character of God that keeps me afloat.  To go back to the Cross in a different way and to be able to believe because of the Resurrection is what I’m learning to do. There’s a huge gulf between what has been spoken and what is felt in the present.  God speaks on His own authority.

 Just like in Genesis 22:16-18:

“…By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,  I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, ^and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

So, there’s that Truth to rest in. It’s not a void word we can put our Hope in. It’s an accurate Truth.  God is an accurate God; He is a Father that will pursue His children until what He has said will be done.  It’s a battle to believe that sometimes when the anxiety is knocking on your door.  I am presently reading Hosea.  In the very first chapter, God tells Hosea to marry a whore, named Gomer.  We know this story.  God says marry her, and this will mirror the love of God to the Israelites. But there’s a lot more.  God tells Hosea to name his children names that are really a drag. Names that mean, “Not My People”, No Mercy”, “Not Pitied”, etc.  But the very first child, Jezreel is really interesting. This name is different.   Jezreel means “God soweth".  That is, in the midst of their prostitution, God was going to sow a seed much larger than they could see.  That would grow out of His own love, His own power and through His presence.  This has encouraged me quite a bit in the middle of not understanding what’s going on in my own life, I can take refuge that God is sowing a seed much larger than I can imagine, see or understand that will reap huge success later on in my life. 

Additionally, the Boston Red Sox have won the World Series (YES!).  The Sox are my favorite team, but I am firm in belief that the Lord used this team to encourage me a lot.  In 2012, the Red Sox ended the season with a record of 69–93, finishing in last place in the American League East for the first time since 1992, and as the third worst team in the American League.  In 2013, they finished as the best team in the league, winning the World Series.  I remember in March of 2013 stating that this team made me unsure if they would be much better.  They signed a few guys who seemed to be on the tail end of their career, hired a new manager, and of course faced a hard division.  But, they won it all.  Let me connect these dots.  When the Red Sox handed over authority to a better manager, added new players to the lineup, and were under the belief that they could finish as champions.  How much greater is our inheritance when we surrender control, are open to change in our life, and have belief that God can change our circumstances?  It’s infinitely different & better. 

I hope that this was encouraging and it helped in some kind of way. He will finish what He has started, and He isn’t afraid to dig in with you in the mean time.

Forgiveness & Atonement: How We Don't Really Forgive

Just today, I was convicted pretty good about the idea of forgiving others & still trying to make them "atone" for what they've done to hurt us.  This seems drastic, but I'm pretty sure everyone struggles with this.  It's the idea that "I forgive them. However, when it comes to that day, they had better apologize for 'x', 'y', and 'z'.  And I want them to truly feel what was done to me. Otherwise, it's not going to work."  This is the subconscious, I don't really believe anyone actually verbalizes these things.  They are the underlying message that is being projected when true forgiveness hasn't happened. 
I didn't really know what the standard, dictionary definition of atonement was. So, being responsible and not writing a blog without a good definition, I googled this.

"a·tone·ment  (-tnmnt)

n.

1. Amends or reparation made for an injury or wrong; expiation.

2.

a. Reconciliation or an instance of reconciliation between God and humans.

b. Atonement Christianity The reconciliation of God and humans brought about by the redemptive life and death of Jesus.

3. Obsolete Reconciliation; concord."

 

That's heavy. I thought it was interesting that even a secular source noted Jesus Christ, and the relationship between God and man. So, we see here that amends, reparation is made by Jesus in the most impossible way at Calvary. As Christians, our forgiveness should never leave this truth, and should never deviate from Jesus and who He is. Forgiveness is empowered by the Holy Spirit, and atonement is always handled at the Cross of Christ. He completes us; both the wronged and those who have done the wrong.  It's faith in Him to bring about the reconciliation that lasts, that is free of sin, that is free of guilt, and not our own ability to make someone pay for what they have done to us. He is the mender of hearts, the healer that we all long for and need.

Our love is conditional when we make another atone for what they did to us.  Firstly, let's be honest with ourselves; they couldn't have done what was done by us to Jesus! Secondly, we aren't trusting in the Lord, but we are instead trusting in our own selfishness and revenge to make things right.  This is contrary to the Spirit and will damage any relationship. 

We have to remember that the God of the universe saw atonement much differently than us, and His example has provided us with a Kingdom mindset. Additionally, the flesh mindset does not comprehend a resurrection.  There's no way we can have a resurrected, reconciled relationship without the love of God found in Jesus. 

So, let's do a better job of loving each other and allowing God to reconcile things in His love, not in our flesh.

Peace, Power, Presence

Recently, I have learned, and reasoned that life without His presence, peace and power is a life full of gifts but lacks a giver.  Even if we get what we think we need, or what we think we truly want, we will fail to really enjoy them.  In a sense, your birthday gifts when you were younger were awesome, but you really wanted a party that included your friends and family along with them.  Gifts require presence.  Otherwise, they are simply gifts that don’t satisfy a deeper longing; the longing of belonging.  Sounds redundant? Interesting that belonging includes the word “longing”.  We all want to belong to Something, Someone, or Someplace.  This is our nature, and also our destiny.  And Jesus knows this more than we know.  He wants to give us more than we really can comprehend in life.  I’m not preaching prosperity gospel, so don’t get scared.  What I’m saying is that His love is more real than the frailty of the circumstances in life.  In this I want to say that yes, the Lord will honor people’s desires of their hearts so that they can best worship and serve Him, and I also want to say with an even stronger yes, the Lord will give us Himself.

 Brokenness cannot be substituted.  I think our culture has taught us absolute numbness leads to absolute happiness.  In this, “If it’s not there, then it doesn’t exist.” This couldn’t be further from the truth, though.  I think I have tried that more than a few hundred times.  I try to believe a lie that the pain that is present can be ignored, so long as I say it isn’t really, truly there.  The longer we isolate from the healing, the longer we remain hurt.  It’s only natural that healing can be painful, but this is the pattern of metamorphosis.  It isn’t easy, but it’s worthy.  Being honest with ourselves and being honest with the Lord is what will release the power of His healing in our lives.  I’m not going to include all of 2 Peter 1: 3-11, but you ought to read it.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”- 2 Peter 1:3 & 4

We have been given everything to live out that which we were called to.  We are asked to live in the faith that the things that we seek in the gifts themselves have already been provided to us in Jesus.  I just want to say, life isn’t easy, especially in waiting for the things you feel you’re going to be given.  But, I think of Jesus’ life, and the joy that He carried.  He didn’t go through His life with the doom of the crucifixion.  Instead, He went forward with the love of God firm and overflowing in His heart, ready to enjoy the life He had ahead of Him (and more importantly), the life before Him in the present, and ready to share that infectious love of the Father with people He encountered. 

So now, you who are weary, rest in the love of God that is ready for you. The Lord has tailored His affections to each child to show them a personal kind of love, and it is ready for you.  Focusing on the Father and His infinite love will lead us to His heart. And this is good; His heart is full of peace, life and joy. 

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”- Philippians 4:7

Missing Meals

I had this thought today about eating and prayer.  Seems logical, to me anyway.  Nowadays, there’s a belief that we’ve been getting it wrong with eating three times a day.  There’s even room to say that maybe we ought to be eating more, say, six total meals, instead.  That would be more like grazing throughout the day, instead of only eating large portions at certain times of the day. Today, I only ate one meal.  It is after eating this meal and not feeling too well that I had a thought about the connection between prayer and meals.  How awful that felt to wait all day and then only to eat dinner. If I feel discomfort, I’m sure that this cannot be a healthy choice, either.  That discomfort and poor choice reminded me of Deuteronomy 8, where God talks about what we live on. 

“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”- Deuteronomy 8:3

I have loved this chapter since my sophomore year of college, but I thought about living on bread alone and living on the words that proceed from the Lord.  It is kind of profound to think that is what we live on.  I mean, really. Alive in Christ and that is our way of being sustained and satiated. 

Who could forget Jesus’ own words about who He is in regards to food. 

“but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”- John 4:14

Jesus is the Living Water, and we have the ability to draw from Him whenever we choose. There’s no well we’re waiting for.  The Holy Spirit dwells within every son and daughter and is there for the drawing.

To even address what was said way back in Deuteronomy, there’s another identity stated by Jesus in John 6.

“Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”- John 6:32-35

After reading everything, we see the dangers of eating once a day in regards to food. But, I am becoming more aware of the real dangers of only eating of the Bread of Life once a day, and drinking from the Living Water once a day. We ought to be eating and drinking spiritually more than just once a day, and continually at that.  Meeting at the well and at the table of God’s Presence all day, and frequently at that.