Singing Scripture

Recently, I posted on this blog about God-centered songs. I would like to share my experience a number of weeks ago when I attended a missions conference in Kasungu. There was one singing group, Joy to the World Choir, from Dzuwa Village in Lilongwe that really impressed me. All the songs the group sang at the conference were taken from the book of Psalms. As a matter of fact, the group sang psalms. It was reviving, and I, strongly, believe that God was glorified.

This is one of the ways in which we can achieve God-centered worship in our churches. When we sing Scripture, we sing God’s Word and God is, definitely, glorified. As I earlier indicated, songs should direct our focus on God and not an individual or anything.

As we wrap up this series of God-centered worship , I would like to implore all those who have been entrusted with the responsibility of leading worship in churches to strive, by Christ’s grace, for God-centered worship in all the areas of the church. This is what glorifies God and satisfies us as His children. John Piper once put it, “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.”

The worship in our churches will never be satisfying until God is glorified by it. Indeed, as the deer pants for the streams of water, so pant our souls for God to satisfy (Psalm 42)

Is Home Unclean for Worship?

Last Sunday, I was reading the newspaper, Nation on Sunday, when an article titled “I don’t want to go to church” by Christian Psychiatrix caught my attention. The author of the article argued that people should go to church and not worship in their homes because “homes of men are unfit for worship.” He contended:

“The home is unworthy because every minute of every hour in every day the home is unholy or unclean for one reason or another. Let me illustrate. The parents of the home might have spent the morning today making love and the material their body fluid touches is made unclean and it in turn makes what it touches unclean until the whole house is unclean from flesh to cloth to utensil (Leviticus 15). It will be afternoon before the house is declared clean by Levitical Law and that is if they take a bath and pray for a cleansing of the home, if they don’t then the home in unclean till the next day.

“Or it could be that the maid starts her monthly period the next day. A woman during her monthly flow is unclean by Levitical Law, that is why men are not supposed to have sexual relations with women during this time (Leviticus 18:19). In her function as maid she will touch 90% of the house making everything she touches unclean before God’s eyes” (Public Pulpit of Nation on Sunday, Sunday, August 12, 2012, Religious Perspective page 7)

All I can say in regard to this statement is that:

There is a need for every believer or Christian to fellowship with fellow Christians in a church. God’s Word requires of us to do so in Hebrews 10:24, 25. From the birth of the New Testament church, believers have always assembled together to among other things hear the teaching of God’s word, break bread (Holy Communion), and pray (Acts 2:42). The importance of the church can also be seen in the whole of the New Testament in which two-thirds of the epistles (letters) were addressed to churches where believers met.

We should also not forget that the church is also responsible for administration of Sacraments namely baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion). These cannot be administered outside the church but only within the church by ordained men called by God to lead his flock. Sacraments are very important in every Christian’s life as they are means or channels established by God in which He uses to give grace to his children.

Furthermore, general overview of the Bible also shows us that meeting in a church helps Christians to be accountable. On our own, we can easily fall into various temptations and sins without someone warning or helping us; however, in church, fellow Christians help us remain faithful to Scripture and God uses the church to discipline and restore a believer when he, temporarily, stumbles into sin.

In a church, we also encourage one another through sharing of God’s Word and testifying to the good work that the Lord is doing in our lives. In the same set-up we are also able to carry each other’s burdens as commanded in Galatians 6:1-3. These things cannot happen if we are on our own.

However, we should also bear in mind that the Bible encourages us to have time when we can personally fellowship with God in prayer (Matthew 6:6) and meditation on his word ( Psalm 1:1, 2). This too is important.

Therefore, church should not replace personal time of fellowship with God just as time of personal devotion should not substitute God’s requirement of believers to assemble in a church. All these two activities are required of every Christian by Scripture.

Now, in response to Christians Psychiatrix argument that worshipping God at home is defiled by a married couple having sex in the home or a maid experiencing her monthly period, I would like to point out that in the Old Testament, there are three types of laws namely ceremonial, civil and moral law. The laws that my friend cited in his article fall in the ceremonial law category.

Ceremonial laws related to Israel’s ceremonial purity, diet and sacrifice. They pointed forward to Jesus Christ hence were fulfilled and no longer necessary after Jesus’ death and resurrection. These laws, symbolically, showed how man falls short of God’s holiness. But when Christ came, he fulfilled the requirement of God’s holiness so that everyone who believes in Christ is regarded as holy because of the righteousness of Christ (Hebrews 10:1-14).

It should further be known that God ordained sex to be enjoyed in the confinements of marriage (1 Corinthians 7:3; Hebrews 13:4) and there is nothing unclean when a married couple has sex. A woman also remains clean and holy in Christ and before God the Father even if she having her monthly period because Christ fulfilled the ceremonial law on behalf of all believers.

God-Centered Worship: Liturgy

Today, I would like to continue discussing God-centered worship by looking at liturgy. Liturgy basically refers to the order of worship or the program of how we do various things when we meet to worship God in our churches.

Having a program is a very good thing and God loves order (1 Corinthians 14:33); however, sometimes what we do in our order of services hinders us from having a God-centered worship. For instance, in some churches you find that more time is spent on various activities and preaching of God’s Word is given a very short time. How can we have a God-centered worship when the time we allocate to God to speak to us is very minimal while all the other activities are given too ample time?

In our churches, we have singing groups. These groups when they sing God-centered songs are very essential part of worship; however, sometimes they hinder a God-centered worship. I have seen with my own eyes groups singing just to entertain instead of leading people into God-centered worship.

Then there are announcements. I have gone to churches where almost one-half of worship service goes to announcements regarding finances and other things. This is a problem because it’s supposed to be a service of worship where believers are allowed more time to focus on God rather on matters which can equally be handled in different forum.

What is Wrong with ‘Prosperity Gospel’?

On the onset let me say that I know some true and sincere believers who have bought into ‘prosperity gospel’ for various reasons. Some of these are personal friends and I know that this post will break them. I, strongly, do pray that it breaks you not because I have written it, but because the Word of God contained in it, powered by the Holy Spirit, has come with full force in your life to break you and thereafter mold you according to God’s will revealed to us in Scripture alone. Now here we go:

What is wrong with ‘prosperity gospel’? Before answering the question, it is good to put the record straight that ‘prosperity gospel’ is no gospel at all. The Bible is clear that there is only one Gospel (Galatians 1:6-8)and if I were to take at least one verse that summarizes this Gospel, I would go for John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is the Gospel. Anything that adds or subtracts from it is no gospel at all.

In light of this, Apostle Paul warns us of ‘other gospels.’ His words in Galatians 1:8, 9 echo with great emphasis: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (ESV)

Now, what is wrong with ‘prosperity gospel?’ First, it misses the mark on God’s chief plan for a sinner. It emphasizes that one should come to Christ in order to get material blessings not what is big in God’s plan of salvation namely eternal life.

God gave his Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life on behalf of a sinner like me and die on behalf of a sinner as me and later rose from the dead so that every believer should have eternal life. Therefore, God’s chief plan in redemption is that man should be saved from sin and death and not to prosper materially. If that was the case John 3:16 would read: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should be healthy and wealthy.”

Secondly, ‘prosperity gospel’ robs God of his Godhood and renders Him as a vending machine. If one takes a closer look at ‘prosperity gospel,’ they will notice that it emphasizes on faith as means of obtaining blessings from God. So, God becomes a vending machine and the currency for buying on this vending machine is faith. You put faith in this vending machine and out comes a very big mansion. You slot in faith, and boom you have a top-notch job. You push faith in and the machine gives you an ‘all-eyes-on-me’ car. The moment you slot in faith, the vending machine spits out good health. If you a bachelor or spinster, you just have to put in faith, and the vending machine will give you a beautiful wife or handsome husband and a happiest marriage as a bonus.

So, people become followers of God because He is like a vending machine that gives them their wants and not because they have experienced His true and amazing love and grace in their lives. It is similar to what Christ experienced while on earth. In John 6:1-71 we read that after Jesus miraculously fed 5000 men, He withdrew to a lonely place and later at night walked on the sea and joined His disciples as they crossed over to the other side of the lake.

The next day, when some people noticed that Christ was not among them, they got into boats and followed Jesus to the other side of the sea. Upon meeting them, Jesus rebuked the people because their motive for seeking Him was wrong. He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (26, 27 ESV).

In other words, Jesus is telling these people and us today that we should not follow Him because we want to prosper. Doing that is missing the mark. Rather we should follow Him because He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:16). Jesus is not the vending machine that dispenses out material blessings at our will. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

Material possessions, not matter how huge, cannot satisfy us. It is God who satisfies. King Solomon explains this outstanding truth very well in the book of Ecclesiastes. King Solomon was a very prosperous man in every way (1 Kings 10:14-29). However, despite having all those riches, Solomon still felt that life was useless and was like chasing after the wind because he did not allow God to satisfy him.

Eventually, God enabled him to realize that silver and gold cannot satisfy but only God and Solomon confessed and said: “All has been heard, here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments for that’s the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NIV). We should realize that only Christ and not the riches of this world can satisfy us. For sure, “Our hearts will remain restless until they find rest in Christ” (St Augustine).

Thirdly, ‘prosperity gospel’ robs God of his sovereignty. By God’s sovereignty, we basically mean that God is in full control of what happens in heaven and on earth. He carries out all that he wills and nothing can stop His plans. In other words, when we say that God is sovereign, we mean that God is God.

Now do proponents of ‘prosperity gospel’ recognize God’s sovereignty in the lives of his people? No, they don’t because they teach that if you are a Christian you should prosper and be rich. By such emphasis, they usurp the place of God and start determining the destiny of God’s people. They teach that it is God’s will for you to be rich.

Now, is it true to say that it is the will of God that every believer should be rich and prosper materially? Turning to the Bible, which by the way is a final rule of faith and practice for Christians, we find so many examples of believers who were very dedicated to God but were not materially rich including Jesus himself who reminds us : “The poor you shall always have,” (Mark 14:7).

Does this mean that Christians should always be poor? No, that’s another extreme which the Bible does not teach. Instead the Bible calls on Christians to work hard and trust God for their both spiritual and physical needs. In the model prayer which Christ taught His disciples and is also commonly known as the Lord’s prayer, Jesus teaches us to trust God to provide for us and He encourages us to ask: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3 ESV). God knows our needs; we should trust him to meet such needs one day at a time.

Jesus also warns us of focusing our eyes so much on riches that we are blinded to the fact that God is the sole provider and sustainer when he says: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

Another warning comes to us through the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 6:6-10:

“Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desire that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (ESV).

Apostle Paul continues with the word of admonition regarding focus more attention on riches than God in 2 Timothy 6:17: “As for the rich in this present age, charge then not be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (ESV).

And what is this ‘everything to enjoy’? Is it big mansions, expensive cars, and excellent jobs? No, it is Jesus! Jesus is everything that a Christian needs to enjoy. Jesus is the greatest provision that God has made for his children far richer than material blessings which are temporal. That’s why a Christian should echo the words of the Psalmist and say, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25, 26, NIV).

God-Centered Worship: Songs

In my previous post, last week, I began discussing God-centered worship. Today, I would like to continue by looking at God-centered worship in the songs we sing, especially, in the service of worship.

Songs are one of channels which man uses to worship and glorify God; however, we need to be very careful because songs can also easily do the opposite. Songs that are not God-centered draw our focus away from God to other people or things. Although such songs might contain some elements of Christianity, in reality, they take our attention from God and do not honor Him at all.

For instance, there is this chorus, in Chichewa, which goes:

Zungulizunguli pamakwelero anzanga

Aye, ena adzatsala popita kumwamba.

Eeh, ena adzatsala ayee

Ena adzatsala popita kumwamba

(Meaning: Going around the rudder to heaven, some won’t make it to heaven)

This is one example of songs that are not God-centered. The beat of the chorus sounds great but the message is not God-centered. In the chorus, the singer seems to rejoice that some people won’t enter heaven. Does this honor and glorify God who doesn’t want anybody to perish (1 Peter 3:9)? Now imagine singing that song as part of your worship.

The above example illustrates how some of our songs can defeat the purpose of honoring and glorifying God. All Christian songs should lead us to focus our attention on God not on ourselves or anything else. This is what it means to have God-centered worship in songs, hymns and choruses.

God-Centered Worship

Question number one of Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: What’s the chief end of man? The answer is: the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

This is indeed the summary of the Bible’s teaching concerning us. God created us to glorify him or to worship him (1 Corinthians 10:31). But here we need to guard against a certain teaching which suggests that if we don’t worship God, God is incomplete. This is a very serious fallacy.

God is still glorified even if we don’t worship him. In theology, the glory of God is categorized into two namely intrinsic and ascribed glory. Intrinsic glory refers to the glory which God has always have had from eternity past and will always have forever. Even if we don’t worship him, God is still glorified. Ascribed glory refers to the glory we give him through our worship.

Therefore, we should never think that God needs our worship for him to be complete. Never! He is complete even without us worshipping him. Our worship is a response to His intrinsic glory. When we truly know God, we always marvel at his glory and His glory leaves us with no any other choice but to bow down in adoration.

But sadly sometimes, in our churches, we have ‘worship services’ that are not God-centered hence don’t qualify to be called ‘worship services’ in the first place. God willing, in a couple of weeks coming, I will take time to cite examples of some activities in our worship services which are not God-centered. To God alone be the glory!

God Opposes the Proud…

The Bible is very clear on the sin of pride. God hates pride. One of the reasons why God resists pride is because it blinds ones eyes to the fact that only God deserves all the glory and honor. This fact is demonstrated clearly in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

The detailed account of King Nebuchadnezzar’s life is recorded in the book of Daniel chapters 1 through 4. As you ransack these chapters, you will find out the devastating consequences that pride can bring in ones life. Nebuchadnezzar was too proud to acknowledge that God is exalted above his creation and has no equal in this world.

God, at first, showed his greatness to Nebuchadnezzar when the Lord, through, Daniel was able to tell and interpret the dream which Nebuchadnezzar had one night. All the magicians in Babylon who were also the servants of the gods of Babylon failed to tell and interpret the dream. But Daniel after praying to his God, the Lord revealed the dream and its meaning to Daniel. After seeing this, the king acknowledged; “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings.”

However, due to pride, Nebuchadnezzar failed to live according to his confession. Some time later, he set up an image which he forced everybody in Babylon to worship. But the three friends of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, refused to worship. Nebuchadnezzar was furious with what the three did; he ordered them to be thrown in a fiery furnace. But the Lord saved them; they never got burnt by the fire. Nebuchadnezzar again acknowledged that The Lord is the most high and great are his signs and wonders.

But pride was still at work in the king’s life, and God send a warning to him in a dream (Daniel 4:4-17). In interpreting the dream, Daniel advised Nebuchadnezzar to repent of his sin of pride. The king was, further, advised to swallow his pride and admit that there is no one like the Lord in the whole world. Contrary, to the warning, Nebuchadnezzar continued to be puffed up with pride.

Then came a pay day for the king. A year after Daniel’s advice to the king, Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of his palace and was praising himself for setting up a great kingdom. “What a mighty and great kingdom I have built with my own hands,” he thought. As he was doing that, a voice came from heaven and told him that because of his pride, God would humble him by driving him away from the people to live with wild animals. He would eat grass like cattle until he would acknowledge that God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.

This really happened. For seven years Nebuchadnezzar ate grass like a cow, his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. After the seven years, God restored sanity to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar’s kingship was restored too.

Nebuchadnezzar then praised God and admitted: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the king of heaven, because everything he does is right and his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble,” (Daniel 4:37).

One major lesson stands out in this story of Nebuchadnezzar. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). May we learn from Christ the Savior true humility. May God’s grace be sufficient for us to know our place and humble ourselves before him for all the glory and honor belongs to Him and Him alone.

TAMING THE TONGUE

There is one part of our body that has always proved too difficult to handle. This part has dipped some of us into hot

soup before. It has often brought great remorse in our lives. Even the Bible agrees that this is indeed a part that many of us have failed to master its proper use.

The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.

Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.

It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and it is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt flow from the same spring? (James 3:5-11).

For sure, a tongue can be a great problem at times. It can destroy in seconds that which took many years to build. It can turn best friends into worst enemies. It can bring regrettable divisions to a once united and harmonious people. It can shatter into pieces the long-held hopes inside our hearts. The list is endless.

However, there is only one man who can help us use our tongues graciously. This man used his tongue for 33 years here on earth but never sinned in his words. In fact, he used his tongue to heal broken hearts and bring hope to the hopeless. Above all, this man has transforming power that can change us from bad users of the tongue to better ones. The man is Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Tips can be shared on how best we can control our tongues, but without the transforming power of Christ, the tips will prove to be useless. Therefore, let’s acknowledge our failure to tame the tongue; then, we should turn to Christ for mercy and help, and we will be amazed with what Christ can do with this small part of the body. Of course, the transformation will not only be concentrated on the tongue. It will be a total transformation that will eventually see the tongue being tamed like never before.

So, taming the tongue is impossible without Christ. Without Him, our tongues will continue to be the world of evil that sets the whole course of our lives on fire.

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Nettleton But woe to those ministers who do not feel the weight of this charge-and woe to those wincing hearers, who (having itching ears that will not endure sound doctrine, heap to themselves teachers that prophecy smooth things, and say peace, peace to the wicked, when God hath declared that there is no peace for them. Against such preachers and hearers the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke, and all the curses that are written in this book shall be upon them, and the Lord shall blot out their names from under heaven. If ye cease to warn the wicked, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Mark: the consequence of withholding the warning, is the destruction of both the preacher and the hearer.

Asahel Nettleton-The Destruction of Hardened Sinners

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