hey everyoneI have been having a really tough time with worship music over the last year and a half because I dont think worship should be about us, but about God. The problem is that so many of our songs are focused on us and how we feel instead of going and praising God for who He is or what He has done. Give me your thoughts...they would be very much appreciated.
So Called Worship?
- Thread starter potersclay219
- Start date
I'm not sure exactly what you mean. When worshiping God aren't you supposed to tell him how you feel, along with who he is and what he has done.
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I'm not exactly sure what the puspose of worship is (Iguess that is the purpose of this) but I dont see why God would have put it in place if there was another way of giving Him the glory in this manner. I believe the purpose of prayer is supplication (among other things). A lot of the songs that we sing today are "I want..." and "Do this...". It almost begs the question "Which one is the god?" Look at how the angels worship God in the Bible. Revelations 4:8-11 and 7:11. This is a glorious picture of how God is worshipped. I think we need a revival of that in our churches. I believe that Passion worship is doing a great job in leading that revival on college campuses...now we just need to break the mold in the adult services.
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Wait, what do you mean by revival? Break the mold?
The songs we sing at my church, if they say anything like "I want" It's something like "I want to see Jesus Lifted High" or "I want to walk in the way of the Lord" And then we have "I'm Free.... Where the spirit of the lord is there is Freedom" Sort of like giving honor and glory to the Lord while telling others of his great Glory!
I Go to a very upbeat church, and I haven't been to many other churches. I've been to a couple of services at other churches, but I can't remember anything we sang there... I Guess I'm not much of a help, but I think that the church I go to has "Broken the mold" If I can understand what you are saying...
Hehehe, I get to go to church in an hour and a half!!
The songs we sing at my church, if they say anything like "I want" It's something like "I want to see Jesus Lifted High" or "I want to walk in the way of the Lord" And then we have "I'm Free.... Where the spirit of the lord is there is Freedom" Sort of like giving honor and glory to the Lord while telling others of his great Glory!
I Go to a very upbeat church, and I haven't been to many other churches. I've been to a couple of services at other churches, but I can't remember anything we sang there... I Guess I'm not much of a help, but I think that the church I go to has "Broken the mold" If I can understand what you are saying...
Hehehe, I get to go to church in an hour and a half!!
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Worship isnt just singing songs
it's living for Him everyday
did you know that even when we sleep God looks down on us and smiles!
He loves watching us sleep
you can worship God by just setting your table for dinner or feeding your dog
it's way more than singing
it's living for Him everyday
did you know that even when we sleep God looks down on us and smiles!
He loves watching us sleep
you can worship God by just setting your table for dinner or feeding your dog
it's way more than singing
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I reject the notion that everything we do is worship. Yes it is supposed to be our lifestyle, but the idea that feeding our dog is worship is ridiculous because of the fact that I do not see how that glorifies God. In this forum I am speaking specifically about times of corporate worship. Once again I call attention to the passages in Revelation. I believe that their is a time for seeking God and asking him to do stuff for us, but I am not 100% sure that those times of corporate worship (congregational style worship) whould be one of those times. I believe that God has a place for supplication, but corporate worship should not be one of those.
Now in terms of dealing with specific songs "Meet with me", "In the Secret", and "Stir in Me" are all songs that can be sung to God, but are not neccessarily about God because the focus is on us. While they may be about our feelings and what we want, that doesn't neccessarily mean that that is what God wants.
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i've worship songs that focus on us in relation to God, that focus on God, that sing from God's perspective to me, etc. to me, it's too legalistic to mandate what has song can or cannot contain. if it ultimatley builds me up spirituality and brings me closer in my relationship with God, 
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corporate worship eh? well i hear you that not all songs we sing may not seem to directly praise God's name, but something that i have seen about songs that sing about the body of Christ or what we struggle with is that they do glorify God still. We sing about what God has provided us with (ex. community of believers, resources, etc...). Now take a song called 'faith' it's chorus is 'faith, i can move a mountain, i can do all things through Christ, i know,' and a verse says, 'im reaching for the prize, im giving everything,' ok etc... songs like this do focus a lot on our personal walk with God and our ambitions, and i think there is to be some sort of balance with how we worship, diction-wise. whether we acknowledge it or not, most worship songs that we do not see as worship to God directly are just that. His creation is singing of the gifts He gives and what He blesses us with. But personally i would like to see a more direct reference in some songs. Corporate worship should, in my opinion, be directed towards praise of what God has done for us and who He is. We should set aside times of personal worship for the struggles we deal with. As much as we need to focus on God, we need to focus on what He has given us. The body of Christ does not assemble all the time, and when it does, we should appreciate the time we get to worship together. I would like to say a bit about everyday worship if you'd allow it in this forum you started, or just somewhere else maybe? i hope this helps a bit
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SqueakyGerbil
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I can't think of one song that I've sung during worship at church that had to do with us other than ones like "I want to see jesus lifted high" but maybe thats just the church I go to (Vineyard).
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EliasEmmanuel
Gomi No Sensei
Maybe because you're taking a moment to care for an animal that's under your supervision, and when you do that well it makes God happy?potersclay219 said:
Personally, I think it's..... maybe not destructive per se, but unproductive, to seperate one's "Godly" activities from one's "secular" activities. Remember, Paul said "whatever you do.... do it to the Glory of God" (my paraphrase). So how do you feed your dog or type and e-mail or eat a sandwich "to the glory of God"? I don't know exactly. I doubt there's a simple formula, but if there is I havn't found it.... I'm not that great at this yet myself. But I suspect it has something to do with knowing that we can't give God anything in and of ourselves, because it all came from Him anyway.
Eh, think of it this way.... say you've got kids. The chores are done, homework's done, dishes are cleared, and you're hypothetical kids are playing in the back yard while you watch, sipping hypothetical coffee. Your kids playing around doesn't profit the family anything, or serve the needs of the family as a whole..... but it makes you happy to watch them, right? Same with the kids sitting down to draw a picture or do homework build something out of Legos or snuggle up next to you to watch tv; it doesn't serve you or the family in any tangible way, but somehow you see that it's good and part of loving each other. Maybe a big part.
And God's our Dad, not our C.E.O.
So, here's a question..... we talk about "Praise and Worship"..... but, are "praise" and "worship" the same thing, and if not are they necessarily a packaged deal?
Personally, I don't have a problem with worship/praise songs that include us as part of the equation.... heck, read the Psalms, which are really about the only "praise songs" recorded in scripture. 9 times out of 10, David related his Praise of God to whatever His circumstances were at the time, whether "God, I'm incredibly happy, thank you for all you're done" or "God, everyone's a liar and life stinks but nevertheless I will trust you".....
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BarbB
I stand with my brothers and sisters in Israel!
Michael W. Smith had an interview the other month in a Christian magazine (can't remember which one) and he totally distinguished between Praise music and Worship music. He said that praise music should move us into the presence of God and then we sing worship songs to God. His example was "Breathe" which brings me to my knees when singing! Check on the internet and see if that interview is out there somewhere. It was very interesting!
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EliasEmmanuel
Gomi No Sensei
I'm not a huge Michael W. Smith fan, but I loooooove that song......newlamb said:
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Breathe, as with just about all of Michael W. Smith's worship recordings, is not his own. I believe it's a Vineyard Song, and to be honest, well, let's just say that their version is remarkably beautiful. Smith's version got a lot more air time because he is far more commercial and marketable than Vineyard, even though their version of it is just as good, if not better than his.
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YouthPastor
Name = Brett
My wife is a worship leader and the problem she had is that alot of the songs are focused on "I" for example, "I cry freedom from the chains...." While that is actually a good song some are really focused on "I" meanign us instead of "you" meaning God.potersclay219 said:
is that clear?
Worship is the only part of the service that is directed toward God. Everything else is for man's benefit/edification. Praise and worship is the only thing in the service that is meant for Him.
My wife just did not like all the "I" songs that for awhiel were all over the place. It is like the music was focus more an us, what we can do instead of who he is and what he has done
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Hmmmmm....
worship is a form of prayer to god and know that some songs are not concentrated on god . like 'come on and celebrate' these songs are to help get our spirits prepared to concentrate on god. But there are also songs that are concerning god like' holy spirit rain down'. i think the most impt. part is not what type of music we are using but are we lifting up his name thru our worship.
worship is a form of prayer to god and know that some songs are not concentrated on god . like 'come on and celebrate' these songs are to help get our spirits prepared to concentrate on god. But there are also songs that are concerning god like' holy spirit rain down'. i think the most impt. part is not what type of music we are using but are we lifting up his name thru our worship.
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I can see where youre coming from, but (once again) I am talking about times of corporate worship. I agree with Youth Pastor that the time that is set aside for worship in the service is the only part that is meant for Him, the teaching, commmunion, and offering is all done for the edification of the body. What other times are there that we get to praise God for who He is.
I have been doing a little soul searching this weekend and have found that one of the driving forces behind my perspective on praise and worship is that I do not feel that we have been created to be in a relationship with God, but rather we have been created for God's glory (Isa 43:6-7). There are compelling arguments for the flipside, but nothing that directly states that we have been created so that God can have a relationship with us. (Please do not let this paragraph detract from the original purpose of this thread).
So in recognizing that our lives, as a whole, should be devoted to the glorification of God (Rom 12:1-2), in what other circumstances do we, as a body, get to praise God for who He is and what He has done?
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