From the VCC Newsletter on 9/24: The Rise of the Religion of Nones

“The religion of none” is a fastly growing faith in America. A quick browse of the internet will reveal numerous studies that point to a rise in the number of people in the US, Canada, and other western societies who claim “None” under religious affiliation. The assumption of most polling organizations is that faith is in trouble and secularism is on the rise. I don’t agree. Today I am encountering more people with a pagan worldview than a secular one. Typically those who abandon Christianity are not believing in nothing, they are trading organized religion for superstition (disorganized religion). If you look at these studies carefully people have not stopped believing in the supernatural world; they have traded faith for a faith of their own convenience, with their emotions (or sometimes their own reasoning) as the final arbiter of truth. This “cafeteria spirituality” is free to believe Jesus is the Son of God, yet doubts the Bible that teaches that he is. They can redefine morality to fit cultural acceptance, thus making many Christian values essentially immoral while embracing behaviors that have been viewed as perversions for millennia by every culture in history.  The absence of Christianity (or any organized religion) does not lead to atheism or agnosticism; it leads to superstition.

Some would argue the transition in American religion from Christianity to “none” is a  new invention and that superstition is hanging on because of Christianity. Yet if we observe China as an example, we see a different story.  China has been committed to atheism as the official position of the Chinese Communist Party since 1921 (the party itself being the only official political party of China since 1949). They have had more than 69 years of freedom from religion, and yet most people are not actually atheists, despite their documentation. In the 1980’s, when I was teaching conversational English to Chinese students at Texas Tech University, I found that my most ardent communist students were not actually atheist, despite their insistence, but rather the most superstitious people I had ever met. From lucky numbers to being haunted by ancestors, these Western educated, hardcore Mao Communists were not actually atheist or even agnostic. They had fallen into patterns of believing a hodgepodge of unconnected spiritual ideas. Fast forward to my trips to China in 2006-2007, I encountered this same superstition. Even now in 2018, among the Chinese students in America, this same superstitious outlook prevails.   Instead it has been nurtured in the hands of atheism.

My point is this: the primary exodus from the Christian church is mostly about two things. The first is the rejection of the Church and the Bible as an authority. The second is a lack of critical thinking coupled with insistence on dogmas that are not specifically biblical but philosophical and theological when it comes to topics like science, politics, and social issues.   I hope you will join me as we look at a world reverting to superstition and secularism, and how we can engage this world in meaningful dialogue, especially with those who have left the church.

From the VCC newsletter on 9-17-2018: A Living Sacrifice

It has been wisely said that if everything is worship than nothing will be worship. Still the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In this passage there is no limit of worship to an assembly. Instead it is the constant awareness that my life is not my own, not in the assembly or out of it, but rather a gift to be given to God. That does not negate the idea of assembly as obsolete or irrelevant. It simply says that what we do together should not be done in a vacuum but rather as a reflection of my life; my whole life lived as one continuous act of worship. If I am living this way then the assembly isn’t an add-on but a microcosm of my real life. In contrast, when the gap between who I am Monday through Saturday versus who I am on Sunday morning gets too wide, my tendency will be to find fault with church, the worship service, the preaching, etc and to withdraw from fellowship for fear of being discovered to be a fraud or a hypocrite. But the truth is that on some level we are all of us struggling between the awesome man or woman of God we can be, and the person we actually are. No one escapes this struggle but by closing the gap between the daily me and the Sunday me, will we not only relieve the tension we feel, but it will also make it easier to enter into worship in the assembly when we gather together the rest of the saints.

I hope you have enjoyed this series on worship and that you have grown in your experience of God.      

Tongue Tied in Corinth (1 Corinthians 14. 1-25)

This past Sunday (9/9/2018) I spoke on 1 Corinthians 14.1-25 and made a brief mention of the differences between tongues (glossa/glossolalia) and languages (dialektos) but gave little explanation because of time restraints, and then promised to address this in a blog article. So here is the explanation that I didn’t have time to expound upon on Sunday.

As I understand it, in Acts 2, On the day of Pentecost, we read that the disciples having been filled with the Holy Spirit began speaking in tongues (glossalia) and that the crowd gathered below was having a mixed reaction to the glossalia. Some were calling it drunken noise, but others were hearing them speak in their own (dialekto) language. It does not say that the disciples spoke in all the dialekto of the Jewish diaspora that was present. It says that some of the diaspora heard the message in their own dialekto. In the text it says they spoke in glossalia, tongues, that some described as drunken-babble.  

As I have studied this verse, my understanding of the text is that all the people heard glossalia, but some of them also heard their own dialekto of Persian, Parthinian, Latin, Aramaic and what have you.  The traditional view is that each disciple spoke a different known language: Parthinian, Persian, Mesopotamian, Libyan, Cyrene, Latin, Aramaic, etc. Yet the indication is that people heard one thing in the natural that many people responded to with mockery, while others heard something (dialekto) that they responded to with wonder.  

Likewise, I have studied a few languages other than English. As well, I have traveled a bit of the world, been to many countries, and spent time in some international cities, right here in the US, like Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc. I have heard many languages spoken that I did not understand, but I never did hear a foreign language that sounded to me like drunken-babble, unless of course the person actually was drunk. In contrast, the first time I first heard someone at a church speaking in tongues I did think maybe they were drunk. It sounded like drunken-babble to me. The indication here in the text by reason of the two different words: glossalia  and dialekto suggests that two different things are happening simultaneously which would be a sign to those who did not believe but were receptive, while those whose hearts were hard only heard the babble of tongues and called them drunk.

Consider again the passage of 1 Corinthians 14.13-19 about praying in glossalia in the assembly, the Apostle Paul said that nobody, not even the speaker understood what was said, but that the spirit of the speaker was edified, while yet their mind was unfruitful, and that the speaker should pray that they would interpret for the other believers. Then he said, if they should speak in a tongue, but an unbeliever would hear (I assume in their own dialekto) they might believe and be saved. Thus, the primary point of tongues (glossa) is about either edifying the person doing it (self edification) or to convert unbelievers. So Paul admonishes them to pursue things in the assembly that will primarily edify the whole body of believers, not just a few.

There are plenty of folks who do not agree with my assessment of the text and opt for  glossalia and dialekto being  essentially the same thing but this only seems to leave more questions than answers. You are free to disagree. This is not a salvation issue. It’s my interpretation,  not inspired, although I do believe it is accurate.

From the VCC newsletter on 9-10-2018: Altar Life

Last week I wrote about the eucharist, commonly called the Lord’s Supper or Communion.

This week we will talk about the altar call and ministry in the assembly. It’s kind of a funny name, “altar call.” In the New Testament there actually isn't an altar nor any  examples of people coming forward in the assembly for ministry. There also isn’t any reference to lay burdens down at the altar. The imagery is a very priestly picture of one person helping another to lay down his or her burdens and to pass off his or her guilt to the scapegoat. However, there is nothing in the New Testament that suggests the early church did anything like it.

At the same time there is plenty in the Bible about bearing one another's burdens, of praying for one another, even calling the elders together to anoint someone with oil for healing. Therefore the modern church’s imagery of an alter call isn’t necessarily wrong. It is about making time in our service to pray with people on a personal level, and as it is often in response to the message, a time where the word of God brings conviction. Hopefully, the response is genuinely Holy Spirit-led repentance, a recognition of need, or a genuine desire to request prayer for anything.

All of those are good, but what does it have to do with worship? Well, hopefully over the past several weeks we have seen how worship is much more than just the songs we sing.  We have learned that worship affects our whole lives, as well as the lives of those we assemble with. So then, this gathering at the foot of the stage (also not in the Bible) for prayer and care is a great way to intentionally unload our burdens, find hope and healing, and care for one another. Over the years it has personally been of great benefit to me and others.

Let me invite you, to take advantage of an altar call.  Make the most of it, without attaching any stigma of mourning or public confessions, but instead use it to bless and to be blessed as an act of worship in our assembly. With one thought, let us put our whole life at the feet of Jesus: the good, the bad, and the ugly.     

Next week I will focus on worship outside of the assembly (personal worship & lifestyle).  

from the VCC Newsletter on 9/3: Give Thanks

In the New Testament the bread and the wine used for communion is most often translated from eucharisto.  This is where we get  the Holy Eucharist, which is not as popular among evangelical churches, preferring the Lord’s Supper or Communion. The word eucharisto literally translated is “thanksgiving” or “to give thanks.” Any of the three references are biblical, and each tells us something about the celebration itself.   We say the Lord’s Supper because it is his invitation for us to partake, and the word Communion references an experience of fellowship with Christ and his church. Likewise when we look at 1 Corinthians 11.17-34, we see a picture emerge of the central nature of the bread and the cup to the gathering of the early church. It is a clear articulation of Paul that remembering our fellow Christians and waiting for them is critical to authentic communion and thanksgiving. The implication of its sacramental nature is that partaking without communing, remembering, and giving thanks leads to sickness and death. Whoa!

Isn’t it interesting that all three major schools of thought on the nature of communion (memorial, presence, and sacrament) find evidence in this single passage? And in this same passage it strongly warns about dividing the body of Christ.  Yet all three major schools use this very text as a pretext to divide over how we practice it. How sad . . .

Moreover, isn't it interesting how all of the oldest church traditions practice communion every time they gather, and it is the protestant church who has  reduced it to once a month, once a quarter, or once a year. And why? Well most often they claim if they do it too often it makes it not special. Really? Yet we sing every week (which entertains us),and we preach every week (which also entertains us). Communion does little to entertain us or occupy us. Instead it asks us to think about one another. Instead communion asks us to consider what God has done for us.

In the early church the Lord’s Supper was the centerpiece of the assembly: to gather to break bread and to have fellowship and do life together. But in the modern church we are busy with our videos, our offerings, our comedy routines, and our amusements that we spend little time on reflection or actually connecting.

That’s why here at Vineyard Christian Church we have given all of our offering meditations over to communion meditations, preferring to spend our time worshipping God and connecting with one another. Maybe not just like the ancient church, but considerably less like fleecing the sheep.

Next week we will talk about the altar call and ministry in the assembly.    

From the VCC newsletter on 8-27-2018: More than a Song

When it comes to worship in song, the New Testament actually says very little. Its verses tell us to sing to one another, to make melody in our heart to the Lord, but not much else. The Bible does mention several kinds of songs: psalms, hymns, and spirit songs. As mentioned in previous weeks, words such as psallo, psalmos, hymneo, pneumatikos ode, and ado speak of songs of praise, singing songs speaking to God, and spontaneous singing of unwritten songs by the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is important to note that one kind is not better than the other. It is important to note that songs sung to one another are as important as songs sung to God, and songs with deep theological truths are important but so are spiritual songs expressing feelings of the heart. When a church gets hyper-focused on one kind of song, they actually miss out on so much of what God has for the church in song.

In the Old Testament there are multiple verses about the congregation reading aloud. In fact, most of the songs were actually more like Psalms and were read aloud in a rhythmic manner. When there was music it was mostly about the musicians (priests) playing songs for the congregation and people listened as an act of worship. (Something people today tend to reject in favor of congregational singing.) The point is, singing, playing, and listening were all seen as acts of worship when done unto the Lord.  The last part being the most important (done unto the Lord). When we gather together to worship the Lord, we do so on three levels. One, as unto the Lord; two, as a way to connect with the Lord; and three, as a way to encourage one another in Christ. Our musical expressions in worship should do the same.

Over the last decade there has been debate about the posture of our worship (mostly referring to when we sing songs). As I mentioned before, the Hebrew and Greek words translated as worship in English do suggest physical postures as a reflection of the heart.  Bowing down, raising our hands, and even dancing with all of our might like King David express with our bodies the very things we express in our words and hearts to God. While the physical expression of those feelings is by no means a command of the Lord, they are normative. In contrast, the extreme reserve of Western Christianity (heads bowed, eyes closed, hands folded, etc.) are relatively new innovations (over the last 500 hundred years vs. more than 2,000 years of church history). With so little indication in the Bible of what is required, what we might ask instead is, “What does the Lord desire from our worship?”  The Lord asks for a whole heart, our whole being, our everything. For reserved persons this may look very different than it does for an expressive person, but the heart should be the same.

Next week we are talking about the eucharist.

From the VCC newsletter on 8-20-2018

Last week we talked about getting here early, engaging with people, and then praying for the service. Now let’s talk about how we enter into worship.

Entering into worship begins with that first “call to worship.” Before a single song is sung, during the welcome, worship has begun. There is a misunderstanding in our culture that worship is only music. But in truth, in all the words we discussed that are translated as worship, hardly any of them have to do with music (psalmos, aineo, hymneo). Most of them were relational (sebomai, doxa, eucharisto, megaluno, agallio, chairo, kauchaomai, prokeneuo, therapeuo, yare, darash), some were service oriented (caged, abad, shacah, atsolo, pipto), and others were sacrificial (leiturgio, latereuo, thusia). But the weight of these words points toward what we do to others more than what we do for ourselves or what we get out of it. The real thrust of worship is serving God and people, and only a small portion of that is about what we sing. Let’s go back to the beginning and discuss when the call to worship is made, when we welcome our guests, and share news: these things too are worship. They are inclusive  because you chose to to engage the people around you. After the call is when we pray and begin to sing songs of praise, give thanks in communion, spend time in the the Bible, and minister to the body. Being present through all those elements is part of worship, not only for the sake of others, but it is part of your offering to God. To be present, to engage with others, to say that everyone matters.

Next week we want to talk about the role of the songs and the words we sing.   

From the VCC newsletter on 8-13-2018: Heart Check

How do we enter into worship and experience the presence of God? Last week I mentioned a very practical issue of being physically ready, meaning that we are well-rested, undistracted and focused on giving God what is due him.

Another way to experience more of God in worship is to prepare our hearts. For most of us this is difficult because we are rushing to make it to church on time; there isn’t much time to prepare. Let me encourage you, if you are able, to plan on arriving a little earlier. This will allow you time to engage with other worshippers and get a sense of what is happening in their lives.

When the countdown starts find your seat. Take that last five minutes to sit down and pray. Ask God to encounter you and the other worshippers. Ask God to inhabit the praises of his people. Pray for others to experience his love, provision, and presence. Tell the Lord how much you are looking forward to spending this time with him. Make a connection with God.

By using these practical tips you have connected with God and with others around you;you know what is needed; you're not rushed; and your mind is wholly focused on God, as is your spirit.    

If you really want to make a difference in worship, then let please pray in the prayer room during the service you don’t normally attend. Can you imagine what would happen to our worship if you, as a servant, prayed for the worship and the message? Can you imagine how many more people might encounter God, experience his presence, and be impacted by the teaching? How many more people might get saved?  

Prepare your heart.  It will make a real impact.

Next week we will focus on the call to worship, and how we engage God in the service.

From the VCC newsletter on 8-6-2018: Encountering God in Worship

As a child I remember going to mass, sometimes at 6:00 am for the a-capella mass in Latin. My dad had to learn Latin so we were forced to learn it as well. (For which I am actually grateful now.) My mother preferred the high mass with full choir and pipe organ; so did I. Even as a child I was aware of the many styles of worship. I went with my neighborhood friends to a Baptist VBS, cub scouts at the Mormon church, and attended a church in Canada that used guitars. So I knew there were a lot of ideas about how to meet God. I enjoyed the high quality music of high mass at St. Patrick’s.  However, in my teen years, when we moved from El Paso to Midland, Texas, I sensed the presence of the Lord in worship for the first time. I still remember the song, On Eagles’ Wings by Josh Groban. It was beautiful. For days I sang that song, and I even volunteered to go to church the next week because I wanted to experience worship like that again. For many weeks I searched of that connection.  Eventually it faded back into “just church,” and I lost interest. My friend attended a charismatic church he thought had cool music. It was weird for me, as a Roman Catholic, but not terrible. Still, I did not sense the presence of the Holy Spirit as many others did that day.

Years later, long after I made my commitment to Christ and became a pastor, I still wondered about the sense of God’s presence I felt for those few short weeks in St. Anne’s in Midland, Texas.  It wasn’t until I met a man named Dennis Jernigan who led us into the presence of God on a Friday night of worship at a local church. It forever changed my life and set me on a course of study about worship and the presence of God. Like my On Eagles’ Wings experience he was an anointed worship leader, full of the Holy Spirit, singing a simple song.  I wondered how I could continually enter into this encounter with God. Was it about the worship leader? Did it require certain songs? How do I experience God in worship?

I certainly believe the worship leader matters and the songs matter, but even more important than either is the worshiper’s heart, readiness, willingness, and relationship with God. While it is possible to get caught up in a wave of other people’s spirit-filled worship, nothing can quench your encounter with the Holy Spirit like distraction, tiredness, anger, or worse yet, your own sin. For many years it has been my practice to get to bed early on Saturday night so I could enjoy worship. Most people assume it's because it is a work day for me, but this is a huge miss. My goal is to encounter God on Sunday morning. I want to be in his presence wholey. I want to sense the Holy Spirit’s power, follow his lead, hear his voice, and most importantly, support those around me being drawn into his presence, experiencing the overflow of my worship.

When it comes to worship, the best way to encounter God is for you to come rested, undistracted, focused on meeting him, and determined to minister to one another. That last part is probably the most important. The reason a great worship leader makes a difference is not just through anointing but by desiring others to enter in. The best way for you to have a great worship experience is to do the same. Come prepared for the sake of others.

Next week, we will continue with part two of how to experience God in worship.  

From the VCC Newsletter on 7-30-2018: Give Him the Glory

So far we have talked about worship being inherently about God’s worth. Then we talked about more than seven different words translated as worship in our English Bibles. (There are actually more than twenty words , but I won’t cover all of them here.) This week is our last translation lesson as we will talk about doxa, which is most often translated as glory and sometimes as worship.

The word doxa occurs over 155 times in the New Testament, mostly as glory, this is the root of doxology, a song of praise to God. Over the years many songs and liturgies have been written as doxology. Probably the most famous is:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise Him all creatures here below

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost   

When you say doxology this is usually what western Christians think of. It has been translated into numerous languages and is sung all over the world.

Doxology in worship is when God is given glory — distinct from praise — that recognizes God’s actions in the world and in our lives.  Glory recognizes God for who he is: Almighty God, Eternal Father, King of Glory (Doxa), Creator, Healer, Provider, and numerous other titles which give him glory. These acts of worship are to declare who he is--not just telling him that we know who he is, but  raising our level of appreciation, hope, and expectation. To glorify God in worship gives perspective. It helps us remember who we are, so we do not begin treating him as less or assuming we know everything about him and his ways. It helps us avoid treating him like a genie who grants our wishes. All of the ancient hymns focused on this form of worship. Today many of our modern hymns focus on praise for what he has done or intimacy with God, which is all valid and good, but these themes also need the proper place in our worship.

Many great modern songs have been written on themes of praise and intimacy, and I love when we sing them, but how else can we incorporate doxa in our worship beyond songs? We can begin our prayers each day with a time of remembering just who we are addressing. We can extol the greatness of his name so our faith might be enlarged and his name glorified.

Now that we have expanded our vocabulary with elements of worship I will spend a few weeks talking about the how and why of worship.  So this next week we will begin looking at how we enter into worship so that we encounter God and experience his presence.

From the VCC newsletter on 7-23-2018: Overflow

I hope that you have been enjoying our series on worship. I remember the first time I took a course just on worship and I wondered how we could have a whole course just on the theology of worship, then another class to follow on style and forms of worship. With each new word I began to understand just how much more there is to worship than I ever realized before. Today we look closely at the Greek word aineo.

In modern church pop-culture we talk a lot about praise and worship, to which almost everyone asks me, what is the difference between them? Well, let me help answer that by saying the word for praise is also translated as worship.  Aineo, sometimes translated as praise, is always used to denote worship that is loud and joyful. Think to yourself, make a joyful noise unto the Lord. That is the kind of worship we are talking about when we express ourselves loudly and joyfully. This word occurs 8 times in the New Testament. In Romans 15.11 and Revelation 19.5 it is a command to give praise to God because he is worthy. In the gospels and Acts the word tells us about moments of loud, joyful, spontaneous worship in response to healing, salvation, or deliverance.  Each spontaneous act tells us about normal responses to God’s action in the life of believers, while Romans and Revelation speak of the expectation that God deserves our loud, joyful praise for who he is and what he has done. We see this in times when we cheer God, or the words on the screen provoke our emotional response to shout out loud and give praise to God for who he is and what he has done in our lives. This kind of worship is not Charismatic or modern, this is biblical worship that overflows from a heart that wants to express the worthiness of God.

So let me invite you to step outside of your comfort zone, be loud and joyful, in your praise to God this next week. He is worthy!

Next week we will talk about doxa.

from the VCC newsletter 7-16-2018: Intending to Worship

Continuing our series on worship, looking at the many words from Hebrew and Greek that we translate in our English Bibles by the single word: WORSHIP.

This week we are looking at the word leitourgia from which we get the English word liturgy and it conveys the idea of ritual service, referring to those things done in the temple as sacrificial ceremony (especially in the Septuagint or Greek version of the Old Testament). This word is most often used with reference to the activities of the priest serving at the altar. In the New Testament the word is used primarily in reference to serving others as an act of worship, but is also used in reference to putting our own lives on the altar as a living sacrifice.  

So how do we apply this to our worship? Of first importance is that real worship is costly. I give of myself, my time, my resources (so it could involve money). King David once said, he would not offer to God a sacrifice that cost him nothing. So for us this kind of worship means we put ourselves into it, and we spend ourselves on the worship of God.

Secondly, it means being intentional, even if doing some things regularly, becomes ritual, it does not make it less meaningful. It only becomes less meaningful when we do them mindlessly rather than intentionally and that can never be considered worship anyhow.

You and I are called to make our worship intentional and costly. It can be spontaneous, it can be ritual, and it can be somewhere in between, but anything less than intentional and costly just isn’t worship.

Next week we will talk about aineo.