Worship Music: Who Are We Really Worshiping?

  

Worship Music: How much of what we hear and sing is truly directed toward God?

I was in my car running some errands and turned on a talk radio program. I'm not even sure what program it was. The program was more than half over and the host introduced a young woman. She said something that struck a chord (no pun intended) with me. She said something to the effect that most of the Christian "worship" music we hear on the radio is all about what God can do for me.

Ouch! Sadly, that is true. Also sadly, I've been such a needy child of God for the past year that I really have been guilty of spending more time focused on my needs and neglecting to send back that thanksgiving and praise to Whom it belongs.

Heal me. Make me feel better. Take away these hurts. Show me what You want me to do. Help me understand. Protect me. And the list of needs goes on and on...

Don't get me wrong. All of these are legitimate needs and sincere requests to be made of God. But, they can definitely get us "out of balance" if it's always one-sided. (FYI: I'm not condemning modern Christian music.)

Someone once pointed out that very few songs are written with the singer giving direct praise to God. Most are written with a "let's all praise God together" focus. Even the Doxology, "Praise God to Whom all blessings flow," is all about us telling each other how great He is. Corporate worship is great, needed, and Biblical. I also need intimate worship where I am directly telling God how much He means to me. This also put God back in the throne where He belongs. Singing "How Great is Our God" together is fabulous. But sometimes I need to turn that into "How Great are YOU, God!" By the way, I can do this corporately or alone in the car!

If you begin reading through all the Psalms, you'll notice that most of them will include a good balance of all these things (Psalm 109). And some are strictly all praise focused toward God (Psalm 104).

I realized today that I need to be more intentional about worshiping God directly, praising His name, and exalting Him because... "It's all about you, Jesus." This means in song and in prayer, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14.

The speaker on the radio said something else that was very interesting. She sometimes likes to listen to Christian rap music. Why? Because with that type of music she is unable to sing along with it. It forces her to listen to the words. Hmmm. Interesting.

That got me to thinking about my own life. I'm a singer and help lead music at my church. I've been doing it for a long time and truly love singing. However, last fall I sensed God was leading me to make a few changes. I simply did not feel like singing any longer, so it was time to step down from my leadership position and take a sabbatical.

I did just that and an amazing thing happened: I listened. I tried to sing, but could not bring myself to do so most of the time. So I really listened. However, I did sing inside my heart and mind. I paid close attention to the words and I still worshiped. I particpated even though my mouth wasn't moving.

This listening was not limited to church services. The same thing happened to me when I was in my car. Instead of singing along with songs on the radio (which I always do), I listened. All of this listening was part of the long process that God was taking me through to give me rest, but it was also a time when He wanted to teach me. In the process I was being spiritually renewed. (I'm slowly going back to singing and serving again.)

Well, just wanted to share these things that I'm pondering in my own life. What do you think about all of this? Or have you ever thought through any of these things?

Waiting, Waiting, and Waiting Some More

I've posted about the topic of waiting several times in the past. If you've ever noticed my "topic cloud" on the right side of this blog page, the topics I've written about most often appear much larger than others. The subject of waiting is not in the top five, but it's definitely been visited a lot on this blog. And, if you're curious about those other posts, here's a link to them: Waiting.

I've been trying to think of something to write about for the past few days. I've listened to some great sermons, read some very interesting devotionals and blogs. However, the thing that is uppermost in my mind is this topic of waiting. As a matter of fact, I went back to a book that I read last year on this topic. It's called Waiting On God by Cherie Hill. I've marked it up quite a bit and went back to read the highlighted portions. I was in need of some encouragement and it helped. (There's a link here directly to the book if you're curious about it.)

Then today I was checking Twitter during my lunch hour and saw a tweet from a fellow writer that really got my attention. It was "I'm Tired of Being Single." Dun-dun-dun!!! GASP! That's exactly why I was tired of waiting. Tired of waiting for a mate. Tired of being alone. Just tired of it all--plain and simple. [I included a link above if you'd like to read his article.]  That article pretty much sums up my feelings.

I'm a very patient person. Seriously! Once I got out of my teen years, I managed to live and wait three decades for a mate. THREE DECADES! And I'm still waiting as I enter decade #FOUR.

Now, before you think I'm just ranting and raving like a lunatic (she's lost her mind and we'd better have an intervention), I'm mostly okay with the waiting. I mean, I have a good--very blessed--life. I have wonderful friends and family. I have meaningful work and hobbies. I do my best to glorify God in whatever I do. The key here is the word mostly.  I do have days--sometimes weeks--in which I'm not really okay with the waiting.

I do understand that "the other side" is not a bed of roses and won't be the answer to all my problems. Life doesn't suddenly get better simply because of a relationship. In fact, it probably gets much more complicated. None of that still takes away that desire to share your life with someone who's closer than a roommate or good friend.

So I continue to wait on God's best for me. I wait for God's timing. And I pop the waiting Bible verses like tic-tacs after a spicy meal. Yes, I've got a list. And then I devour books like Cherie Hill's. In parting, I want to share a few of her thoughts on waiting:

"While you’re waiting, God wants you praying, 

drawing nearer to Him, and resting in the peace 

that He provides in the midst of a raging storm. 

As you wait, God strengthens you because you begin 

to realize that God IS at work . . . He’s growing 

your faith and He’s purifying your heart. And faith

is rarely grown with anything other than 

overwhelming circumstances, and typically not 

found in any place other than the 'waiting place.'"
~ Cherie Hill

"You can’t say that you’re praying for God’s will 

and trusting in His timing if you’re not willing 

to 'wait.'"  ~ Cherie Hill

This is a paraphrase of one of her thoughts: The waiting place is where God tests our faith. But, we can know that God will not leave us in that waiting place any longer than absolutely necessary to accomplish His purposes. 

"...no eye has seen a God like you,
    who works for those who wait for him!"

 Isaiah 64:4b

Just being real...

Guard Your Heart

In Christian circles we've all heard the phrase Guard Your Heart. In fact, I've almost exclusively heard it used in reference to single girls/women. As in, Be careful that you don't get hurt. Well, sistah, that's impossible unless a girl completely shuts herself off from relationships. Even if she did manage to avoid all relationships, there will still be a different kind of "heart problem" because the hurt will come from the lack of relationship. The fact is, we were created to be in relationships (See Genesis 2:18). And any sane married person will tell you that relational hurts still happen after the vows are made.


So what in the world does it mean to Guard Your Heart?

First, let's look at Proverbs 4:23 in a couple of different Bible translations.

Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life. NASB

Guard your heart above all else,
    for it determines the course of your life. NLT 

Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life. NKJV 

Keep vigilant watch over your heart;
    that’s where life starts. The Message 

Watch. Keep. Guard. Preserve.
To keep secret. To be kept close.

The original Hebrew word is used here in the sense of a caretaker who watches over a vineyard. Picture how a caretaker keeps watch and defends. He would be diligent about carefully defending his vineyard from elements or pests that might harm it.

Okay, so based on these definitions, it's very possible that we may need to guard our hearts from someone, but not necessarily to avoid possible hurt. We should guard our hearts from anything or anyone that can mess up our relationship with God. So it's way bigger than just about a boy/girl relationship.

So what are we guarding our hearts from? I won't go into an exhaustive list here, but basically we should be careful about anything we let into our minds (what we see, hear, etc.) and the people we allow to get too close who may influence us to make wrong choices. Perhaps that children's song Be Careful Little Hands What You Do isn't so far off base. 

Why are we guarding our hearts? Proverbs 4:23 continues by saying...For from it flow the springs of life. Come again? Our thoughts and actions can shape the way we speak and live. Wrong choices can lead us down the wrong path. Springs of life sounds pretty nice in comparison to the bottom of the dry pit. One is refreshing and the other...not so much.

How do we guard our hearts? This whole chapter of Proverbs 4 is advice from a father to his son about being wise. If you keep reading beyond verse 23 it sort of all comes together (that's the beauty of reading this in context). It tell us what we should do and what will happen when we do it.

²⁴ Avoid all perverse talk;
    stay away from corrupt speech.

²⁵ Look straight ahead,
    and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
²⁶ Mark out a straight path for your feet;
    stay on the safe path.
²⁷ Don’t get sidetracked;
    keep your feet from following evil.

P.S. Don't stop reading here. The entire book of Proverbs is full of wisdom!


Ultimately, I believe that we should be like a shepherd over our own hearts. A shepherd leads. Likewise, we should lead our hearts and not let our hearts lead us. It's dangerous to allow our hearts to lead us into making decisions. Think about it. I'm positive that you have made at least one heart choice and lived to regret it. 

While I was researching this topic, I came across this great quote from a blog I recently started following. 

"Guarding my heart does mean 

allowing no one access to that 

most central place of my affections 

but God. It means keeping 

the first commandment first—and 

 loving Him with all my heart, soul, 

mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5)." 

~ Paula Hendricks 

You may read the entire blog post here:

 http://www.truewoman.com/?id=792

 What do you think?

Friendship

I try to make a point to write something meaningful on this blog at least once a week. Sometimes that goal becomes challenging when life gets busy. This past week has been no exception.

My day job kept me pretty busy last week. Then I took some time off to celebrate a milestone birthday. The celebration included a very, very fun karaoke party with people in attendance from infants to octogenarians and everyone in between! The music included a wide variety of styles and there were even a few costumes, too.

As an self-professed introvert, I really stepped out of my comfort zone to allow myself to become the absolute center of that much attention. Admittedly, I was emotionally and mentally exhausted when all was said and done. However, I came away from that party having learned a lot about myself and about friendships.

As I reflected over the weekend of celebrating, I was truly humbled by the number of people who took time out of their busy summer schedules to celebrate with me. Those who could not be in attendance were with me in spirit.

I have also learned in the past decade that even though most of the time I feel invisible, I really am not. People really do notice. I may linger in the background much of the time and not speak up as often as the extroverts, but when I do step up and speak out, people listen. It's actually quite frightening! (I mean that in a funny way.) A weird sudden hush comes over everything because, well--the mummy speaks! All eyes are suddenly on me. Ha.

Not only do people listen closely to what I say, they also observe how my life is lived. They notice what types of choices I make--how I act and react, what types of clothes I wear (modest or immodest), and who I choose to date or not date.

The funny thing is that it's easy to think that all these little choices I make in life are just that--little choices. These choices only affect me. Wrong. All these little choices add up to represent who I am to others.

At times I have often felt as if many people haven't seen the real me. They get to see the me that I allow them to see. Then when I feel comfortable enough around them, they get to see the other layers that I have reserved for my inner circle of family and friends. I suppose that's a self-protection mechanism because I wonder now why I want people to know that side of me, but I'm still afraid to show it. Hmmm. Perhaps it's a fear of rejection? (Okay, this is getting too heavy now.)

Moving on...

What I really was trying to get at was the blessing of friendships. Some of the friends who attended my party I've known 20-25 years. Others were newer friends. However, each friendship is a treasure. And it's interesting to me how God has woven our lives together like a tapestry. The threads overlap and intertwine--all different colors, textures, and sizes.

Had you asked me a few weeks ago how many friends I have, well...

I might have started with the number 175, which is the number of friends I have on Facebook. At least I can give you a concrete number because of social media. But, my circle of friends extends way beyond Facebook.

I also would have confessed that I only have a few really close friends. You know, those who I've let into my layers of craziness. However, after this party I may have let a few more people into that layer of silliness. LOL

Like this quote says, it really doesn't matter how many friends I have. Just knowing that I have one, ten, or a hundred friends that I can count on to be there for me is priceless.

I'm suddenly remembering that wonderful song by Michael W. Smith. "Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them."

I had so much fun singing and playing with friends in just a few short hours this weekend. I cannot wait until we're all in heaven together singing and playing together for eternity. What a joy that will be!

To my friends: Thank you for the blessings you have been to me and allowing me to be part of your lives!

P.S. Maybe this was a meaningful blog after all!