Tag Archives: worship

May 22 2013

The Degeneration of Modern Worship Music

What is happening to worship music in the last 1o years?

Many modern worship songs are no longer about bringing praise and glory to God.

Many modern worship songs are no longer about theological truth taken off the pages of Scripture.

Unfortunately, much of modern worship music is a copy-cat of the tunes and cliché phrases in current pop music.  Thanks to Gabe Bogdan, check out the worship song below:

“I can feel your presence here with me

Suddenly I’m lost within your beauty

Caught up in the wonder of your touch

Here in this moment, I surrender to your love”

That is a far cry from theologically correct worship as in the song “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” from just 25 years ago:

“You came from heaven to earth 
To show the way 
From the earth to the cross 
My debt to pay 
From the cross to the grave 
From the grave to the sky 
Lord, I lift Your name on high”

Even without hearing the “lost within your beauty” song, it reads much like a teen pop song, the kind that rolls at 140 bpm and sets the stage for lust…

Speaking of lust… Let us define lust…Webster’s dictionary defines lust as “intense or unbridled sexual desire.” Then what would be the purpose of the following lyrics in Jesus Culture’s “I am in love with you” song?

“Everyday my heart is in lust for You, So I will abandon myself to You”

Such songs do not describe the “Holy, Holy, Holy” God of Isaiah 6, but a god of lust, a god of personal relationships, and a god of emotions.  That is not my God.

The Triune God of the Bible will not receive the worship of “strange fire” brought about by compromising the message of praise and worship with lyrical content from the world.

Instead we will continue to delight in songs such as this one:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

image credit: metrolyrics.com

Jan 22 2013

Delight in Truth: Most Viewed Posts and Pages

These have been the most read articles on Delight in Truth through January 22, 2013:

Rick Warren on Homosexuality: “not everything natural is good…”

What Would it Be Like to Hold Baby Jesus?

Truth

Perspective on Halloween

Theology 101: What is Double Predestination?

Mark Driscoll’s “Puff or Pass?” on Recreational Marijuana

Come, and you will enjoy… great “worship!”

Jan 13 2013

Worship the Great I AM

Glory to the Lord Most High
King of Power and Light
Angels sing as Heaven bows
Earth resounds their song

Worthy worthy, Jesus is worthy
Praise to the Son of Man
Glory and Honor crown You forever
Worship the Great I Am
Alleluia, Alleluia

Glory to the Prince of Life
Sacred Son of God
Risen to glory, vowed His returning
Christ shall come again

Glory to the promised One
Holy Spirit of God
Pour out upon us power from heaven
Fill us with Your love

___________________________________________________

Very nice lyrics. Nice melody. Beautiful instrumentation.  One question… Why do they turn the lights off and fill the stage with orange light during worship?

Dec 29 2012

The Commander of the LORD’s Army

The people of Israel have just entered Canaan and have celebrated their first Passover there.  The manna from heaven has just ceased to come down.  God has just decreed to Joshua that “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you” and “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life” Joshua 1:3,5.

Joshua is about to undergo the first military conflict in the promised land (now this is where our modern atheist and agnostic moral relativists interject to accuse God of sanctioning war crimes and atrocities against the ancient Canaanites… more on this later).

As Joshua is getting ready to besiege Jericho, the crown jewel of Canaan, a mysterious yet awesome Person appears to Joshua:

Joshua 5:13 “When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?”

This marks the beginning of a great mystery.  Joshua does not know who he is.  He is clearly a warrior of great stature as Joshua looks up to see him with his sword drawn.  Previously commanded by God to “be strong and courageous” Joshua now inquires if he is one of “us” or one of “our adversaries.”

Surprisingly the mysterious Person answers “No” to the two possibilities presented by Joshua (one of us or one of them):

14a And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.”

Many commentaries (but not all) ascribe the title of “commander of the army of the LORD” to Christ in this passage. Lets look at the textual evidence pointing towards this Person being the Christ.

  •  This Person receives worship and He does not stop Joshua from worshiping him.

14b “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?””  People are strictly prohibited from worshiping other idols, humans (Acts 10:25,26 Cornelius is prevented from worshiping Peter), or even angels (Rev 22:8 John is prevented from worshiping an angel).

  • An objection can be noted here.  Joshua calls him lord (adon) and not Lord (Adonai) or LORD (YHWH).  The word lord (adon) can be used for both divine and non-divine according to Strong’s.  Some think the Commander of the army of the Lord is a superior angel like Michael for this reason.  However, in an almost corrective manner the Commander clarifies:

15 “And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.”

  • The Commander uses the same terminology as the great “I AM” in Exodus 3:5 when He commands Moses before the burning bush to remove his sandals because Moses is on holy ground in the presence of God. This supplies overwhelming evidence that the Commander is a divine Person.

In light of Revelation 19 where Jesus, “The Word of God” commands the heavenly armies we interpret that the divine Person appearing to Joshua is none other than the pre-incarnate Christ.

It is a crucial moment where Joshua receives not only approval from God, but the impetus to boldly engage in a war against Canaanites which is to include genocide and infanticide upon their tribes.

Why would God command Joshua to commit such atrocities against women and children in ancient Canaan?

 

to be continued…

Dec 8 2012

What Would it Be Like to Hold Baby Jesus?

Every born-again Christian may have imagined at one point what it would have been like to live 2000 years ago and see the God-Man, Jesus Christ dwelling on earth.

To see Him as a baby, to see His ministry, to hear Him preach, to see Him carry His cross, to see Him on the cross…

If you could have been there to hold the divine baby in your arms… you would have held the One and only YHWH, the Lord God, the great I Am, the Holy One of Israel, the Son of Man, and your personal Redeemer.

At the same time that you would be holding baby Jesus, He would be holding “the universe by the word of his power” (Heb 1:3).  You would be looking at the “radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb 1:3).

You would be caressing the One who created all things (Col 1:16).  Your hands would be upon the “Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6).

You would be holding the eternal Word, God Himself (John 1:1).

There was a man in Israel who had revelation from God, a man who understood things that we understand today by the Holy Spirit and the Bible about who Jesus was.  His name was Simeon.

Luke 2:25Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

By the power of the Holy Spirit we understand today what Simeon understood 2000 years ago.  When we think about this great miracle we are overcome with awe and worship for God.

Holding baby Jesus would have been the act of holding God your Creator in your arms, and perhaps the ultimate act of worship.