Worship

What’s Good in Contemporary Worship? Day 2- Bilingual

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Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” Mark 5:41 NLT

I have always been intrigued at the various times within the Gospels that Jesus switched from one language to another. After all, why would Mark tell us in today’s verse that these specific words were spoken in Aramaic, if that were not the language Jesus was already using? Hebrew was the language Jesus would have been spoken earlier, and ironically the Gospel of Mark was then recorded in Greek. Throw a little Latin into the mix, as the tongue of the ruling authorities in Judea, and you will begin get the idea of the linguistic world that Jesus lived in.

Having attended a Brazilian church in Pennsylvania for sixteen years and serving on the worship team there for several of those years, I had to learn to move from one language to another daily. Quite often the set of worship songs we practiced included both English and Portugues as well a few that had verses which flowed from one to the other. What I learned in those days was that while praising God this way, our differences didn’t disappear, but that we began to mirror the verse in Revelation of people worshipping from every nation, tribe and tongue. (Revelation 5:9)

Today in America, there are over 43 million people whose native tongue is Spanish, and that number is growing rapidly, both through immigration as well as by birth. While the primary language of our nation remains English, it certainly won’t hurt, especially in the church if a few more of us could at least blunder along a bit in Spanish. Remember, Jesus commanded (not suggested) that we make disciples of ALL nations (Matthew 5:19). I have found that one way of making disciples is through bi-lingual worship. Our churches should not be where we battle, over which language is better. Rather, the Church of Jesus Christ is where including everyone means being able to communicate with them, and what better place to begin than during our times of worship? One of my favorite examples of this is called Be Alright (“Todo va a estar bien”). In this delightful song, Danny Gokey, Evan Craft and Willy González Cruz, combine to present the message that we can trust God’s goodness in the midst of difficulties and changes. With everything going on in the news lately, their message is never more important than right now. Once again, I welcome everyone’s input, but I do suggest that your comments will be more helpful if you listen first. Thanks so much! Be blessed, Dios lo bendiga, and Deus te abençoe!

What is Right About Contemporary Worship?

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As one of the older folks in our church, I have lived long enough to see an enormous change as decades have passed. From disputes over using hymn books versus displaying lyrics on the wall, to whether drums should be allowed inside the church, it sometimes feels as if we have been in a running battle over the subject of worship. Lines have been drawn, verbal weapons stockpiled, and strategies devised to prove that others hold inferior opinions and worship styles to ours. It is certainly easy to find something wrong. In fact, the secular press has done a bang-up job at pointing out the failures of Christians. And without dispute, there have been instances of compromise, worldliness and confusion that have crept into our corporate worship experience. But that is nothing new. Every generation has had its failures, including my own. But our hope is not in styles, talents, or personalities. Our hope lies in the Spirit of the Living God who has never left. He has remained with His church, generation after generation for the twenty centuries since His outpouring on the Day of Pentecost. He has always been at work renewing, restoring and remodeling as pleases Him best. Despite those things that annoy and irritate we older saints, about contemporary worship, our energies might be better employed in discovering what is good, lovely and of good report among those newest offering today. I will be delighted to hear others weigh in with their ideas, song suggestions and even disagreements this week as I endeavor to share a few songs that I have found to be a blessing. So, I thought, “Why not begin this series of the newest and best with a new version of the oldest hymn that we know of. ” Here is Chris Tomlin’s rendition of the ancient text of what has come to be called, “The First Hymn.” Have a blessed day everybody!

 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. Psalm 145:4 NLT

The Fairest of Ten Thousand

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My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. Song of Solomon 5:10 KJV

Singing “The Lily of the Valley” this Sunday, brought back memories from fifty years ago, of the occasional Sunday night when we would pile in the car with friends and head off to visit the Blue Bluck Pentecostal Church. Though it was a little church out in the middle of nowhere, we would find it packed to capacity every weekend. The “worship team” consisted of the pastor, playing bass fiddle, accompanied by three guitars as well as piano. When the people sang, “Lily of the Valley”, they would clap and stamp their feet. In that little church with its wooden floors the energy would cause the floorboards to roll beneath us in waves. But of all the memories, what stands out most was of one older gentleman, who would get so excited during the singing that between stanzas he would shout out, “O glory! Hallelujah!”. His voice practically shook the rafters and had me jumping out of my skin every time he did it. Now, we may be far too proper for such an outburst in our church today, but I don’t think Jesus minded a bit. In fact, if we have truly put all our faith in Jesus, then on the day that we sweep up to glory to see His blessed face, I will bet my bottom dollar that, “O glory! Hallelujah!” will be one of the most timid expressions of our worship! Try to imagine that we will see those Seraphim and Cherubim, that Isaiah told us about crying “Holy! Holy! Holy!” so powerfully that the threshold of God’s throne room will be shaken. Then Abraham, Issac, Jacob, along with Peter, John, James and Paul will fall on their faces and cast their crowns before the feet of Jesus in worship and God’s glory will fill the place. Then, for a certainty, we will know the depths of the truth behind the lavish words of praise in this old hymn. We will be reminded of how He never forsook us, that He fed us with His manna all along the way and that His presence remained a wall of fire protecting us and that His mighty hand led us safely all the way.