The Ponderings of a Heather

Repetitive Thought Process

Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
An’ if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know!
Should I stay or should I go?
—The Clash

Application

Kindly refer to the Choose Your Own Adventure/Bob Ross post.

Music: Our Golden Calf?

Lately, I’ve been burdened by my need as a worship pastor to have an extremely deep understanding of gospel-centered theology. Early in my ministry my mind was focused on the practical aspects of being a worship minister. As long as I had a decent knowledge of the Bible, my lead pastor would take care of the hard questions and concepts. After all, my job was all about music, right? Sadly, in our current culture there is very little in church life that is messed up more than our concept of biblical worship. It is not acceptable for worship pastors to blindly lead their congregations into the abyss of idolatry and emotional relativism.

In many churches, worship leaders inadvertently train the church to believe that music ushers in the presence of God or that the presence of God is measured by the depth of emotional response brought on by the music. Because of our passion for the arts, we have raised the level of music to such high stature that it’s revered and enjoyed more than our God to whom it is being offered. This is a serious matter. This is idolatry. I love music. It is a beautiful gift from God, but when the creation not the Creator becomes the focus, we are in sin. Think about what happened in Exodus 32. God’s people took the beautiful gold that God created and turned it into a golden calf that they gave a higher place to than the Creator. It became their idol. Music has no magical or spiritual power by itself. Remember it is only a tool. Music is a tool used to direct our hearts and minds to the character of God, not a force which directs the power of God into our presence. As Christ-followers we must always remember that it is not because of anything except the power of the blood of Jesus Christ that we live in his presence. We all must pray that the Holy Spirit will direct our worship toward God and not his creation. Enjoy music. Offer it up to God in with reckless abandon in worship, but understand it for what it is. Test yourself within corporate worship. Is the music your focus or is God?

A couple of weeks ago Jon Goings and I had the opportunity to attend the Resurgence Continuous Worship Conference at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. This was an amazing conference. I’m still trying to get my brain around everything I learned during the two short days. It was the first worship conference that I’ve gone to which dealt specifically with the theology of worship instead of the “how to” of worship programming. The lack of emphasis on theological training within the worship leading training circuit is sad. I think it is representative of what is happening regarding worship within church culture.

My frustration is that I haven’t begun to cover all I would like in this short format. I’ve only briefly talked about idolatry in corporate worship. For a much more in depth discussion of true worship, I strongly recommend that you read the book Unceasing Worship by Harold Best. This book is a must read for any Christ-follower searching for a deeper relationship with Christ.

—Pastor Dennis

Tension and Release

In music we talk a lot about tension and release. What makes harmonic consonance so sweet – dissonance. What makes rhythmic order energizing – tempo rubato. Why does the tonic chord in a progression feel right – the dominant chord preceding it. Without tension and release power ballads would never have risen to greatness in 80’s hair bands. Listen to the prelude to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo or Pink Floyd’s Hey You. The masters know how to push tension to the perfect place. Too far and you drive away the listener. Not far enough and you rob the listener of the pay off.

Life is tension and release. We most appreciate the things for which we have worked the hardest. We celebrate joy more deeply because we have felt pain. Many times our deepest growth in relationship with Christ comes from crying out to God when we’ve been humbled. God’s sovereignty ultimately controls the tension and release in our lives. The Master knows our breaking point. He is profoundly attuned to what the release will bring to our life. Trusting God’s sovereignty is not always easy, but whether we like it or not God is in control. Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 says, “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him” I want to know and control what’s coming next so I can stop any unwanted occurrences. In music predictability can kill the release. God in His wisdom hides the future, freeing us to live by faith. When we are in the center of pain, our faith in Christ strengthens us. Don’t confuse faith with emotion. Satan uses emotion to convince us that God has abandoned us or doesn’t love us, but in the midst of these lies, faith screams out, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) Faith does not release us when we are through the tension. God holds on to us and walks us into the sweetest part of the song. He takes the excruciating circumstances that Satan wants wasted and instead uses them to help you minister to others in pain. In Galatians 5:5-6 it says, “But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” It is in expressing love for others that a Christ-follower turns heartache into happiness; grief into purpose.

The wisdom of God never ceases to amaze me. He could have made salvation erase all pain, heartache and struggles on this earth. Instead He uses the tensions in our life to focus our relationship with Him releasing us into the joy that comes from loving others. We serve a masterful Composer.

–Pastor Dennis