Performance or Worship?

It amazes me how sinful humans can be. We are selfish. Lately it seems everywhere I turn, I see musical performances during a Worship service, one after the other. Is it true genuine Worship? In my opinion, no it is not. As someone who has experience in singing and playing guitar for people, I realize how daunting of a task it can be. I know the down fall of failure due to a missed note and I know the successfulness of an amazing job. But where does Worship come in? First off we have to figure out what exactly is a performance? To be honest, I do not know. Is it the flashy lights or the loud fancy music? One could make an argument that those "qualities" enhances the Spirit. Does the Spirit need to be enhanced? I for one say no, the Holy Spirit is God. God moves on whom ever He wants at a random time. So maybe the question should not be about performance, but Worship. Worship is not a style of music. Style is expression only. While a particular type of style might facilitate Worship to a specific people, True Worship has a SPIRIT animated life of its own. True Worship is transcendent through any culture or ethnicity. No mater how horrible a style can be, or awkward a ritual, when the presence of God HITS His people as a congregation of believers, those blessed few will TRUELY Worship their maker at an unexperienced depth. Jesus in John 4:23-24, "yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in Spirit and in truth". These words show definition and qualification of TRUE Worship. According to Jesus True Worship is an act of ENGAGING the Father in Spirit and in truth, not engaging the preacher, the music, nor the praise band. True Worship does not exist where the motivation/ENGAGEMENT of God, is absent. GOD IS SPIRIT, GOD TRANSCENDS THROUGH THE SPIRIT. This is how God interacts with His children. Those who Worship Him, must Worship in Spirit and Truth. We must relate with God in Spirit. Our Spirit must be consumed in God's Spirit; however, this is impossible no matter how hard the effort, There is nothing WE CAN DO TO CREATE TRUE WORSHIP. We can Honor and Facilitate, but not Create. THE GOOD NEWS: What is impossible with our carnal humanity is POSSIBLE with God. For those people who Worship in Spirit and Truth the Father SEEKS those Worshipers. Just as God SEEKED ADAM, God takes the initiative in Worship. God is actively seeking. Through the transcendency of the Holy Spirit, He calls and seeks True Worshipers. SO, maybe if we take our selfish eyes off our performances/styles, then God might Seek us. Lord help our unbelief.

This Is Not Church?

This morning in chapel... our speaker, a local Baptist Preacher, made a statement that surprised me. He said chapel, referring to the congregation he was "preaching" to, was not church. What exactly is a church? Is it a building? The answer is no. It is a BODY of Professing Christians who are worshiping God/praying to God/in fellowship with one another. Acts 2: 42-47 "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were SELLING their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved". If this is an example of what a Church should be... then how many True Churches are in the World?

Have we been taught a lie? Why do you follow God? What caused you to surrender your life in dedication to God? Was it the fear of Hell? If so, that is not true salvation. You are living for yourself. Salvation is then used for your benefit. God created man perfectly. Man fell into sin and therefore God and His creation could no longer be together. The only way for reconciliation to occur was through God's sacrifice upon the cross. He died for the sins of the world, conquering death. For this we should follow God. He is our only hope. So Preachers who put TOO much emphasis on Hell... (In My Opinion) I can not listen to.

Church/Scared

So church this morning was extremely interesting. I had a 50 year old man say the "F" word. I really don't want to hear that in church. As of right now I'm curious in what my church is doing. Are they just standing there or are they actually worshiping. I want a church where we as a congregation experience true worship.

Now on the other hand. I just saw Paranormal Activity, and it was probably one of the most scariest movies I have seen. I do not think I will be able to see tonight. I do not recommend it to anyone. It has have to be the scariest movie ever. I know this is at 1 30 in the morning but I hope it counts to my grade. I have no clue if I will be able to sleep tonight, and I might skip my 1st class due to my room mates behavior. We will see. To finish, please do not see Paranormal Activity, unless you want to be scared for a few nights.

Rest and Relaxation

Had a stressful week of school and I am glad to of had an amazing weekend of rest. I needed this weekend so much. Both my parents went on vacation so I had the house to myself. As of right now I am in a bad mood, but I am well rested. Halloween weekend was great even though I did not receive any candy. However, I did get scared when I heard my cousin was rushed to the ER due to him passing out because of his diabetes. I called him today and he is doing much better, so that was a big relief. I can not wait till Thanksgiving gets here. I am ready for fellowship with my family and I am ready for some amazing food. School has been a blast, but due to the stress from homework and papers, not to mention a disrespectful room mate, I am ready for Christmas Break. I know God will not give me more than I can handle, so I know I will be safe in his arms.

Weekend

My friends and I went to the state fair this weekend and we all had an amazing time. Even though it rained on Saturday, I was still having the time of my life. We all had an amazing time of fellowship and we bonded even more closely. Besides the fair and having fellowship with my friends, Clemson beat number 10 Miami in college football. Saturday had to be one of the most amazing days I have experienced. College is getting hardier but less stressful at the same time. This weekend coming up shall hopefully be stress free and relaxing, and maybe clemson will win once more. I have to finish two journals by tuesday and study for a test on wednesday. Looks like a busy week and I hope I can get over this sickness and cough that came on later last week. I hope I get a lot of rest for this extremely busy week.

Busy Day/ Random.... VERY RANDOM IDEAS

Today definitely mirrored my hectic weekend. I accomplished so much on this beautiful Monday. I can not wait for this coming up weekend when I get to go to the State Fair. I am looking forward in trying fried pepsi. I had three classes, chapel, homework, worked out, cultural event, I made sure I was caught up in class, and scheduled a meeting to sign up for classes. After getting little to no sleep, I have yet to catch up from staying up all night friday. Recently, I have been trying to work out to lose weight. Hopefully, I will see results soon. I can not wait for Christmas break. I will have no clue what to do for an entire month with no clue. I hope I get great classes for the Spring Semester and Chapel was very interesting today. We had a war hero and I heard many people fainted from his gruesome tales. Glad I have a strong stomach. Not to mention I am tired and cold. It's time for bed. Sorry for the randomness. My mind is not here.

Too Tired

Last night my roommate and his friend decided to stay up till 2 am playing x-box. I received a refreshing five hours of sleep. I am so tired. I missed my eight o'clock class just to add on to my hours of sleep. Sorry Mrs. Lopper. The worse part however, is that my impact team is helping a church do a lock in. Now, I have to stay up all night. I am excited to teach and give insight to the youth but I am not looking forward to staying up all night.

God give me strength to make it through the night. I know you wont give me anything I can not handle. Thank you for Your Blessings that you provide.

I am very excited to see what God has in store for tonight and this weekend. I look forward to making new friends. This should be an amazing weekend, despite my weakness.