Do you ever wonder?

Do you ever wonder what worship sounds like in Heaven?

As a musician and worship leader I often wonder what the heavenly worship of God sounds like.  Is it musical or simply spoken?  Acapella?  Elaborate instrumentation?  If so, who plays the instruments?  Is there a leader?

One of my favorite pictures of worship we find in the Bible is in Revelation 4...

 ¹ After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” ² At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. ³ And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. ⁴ Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits^[a] of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.    In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
   “‘Holy, holy, holy
   is the Lord God Almighty,’
   who was, and is, and is to come.”
 ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
 ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
   to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
   and by your will they were created
   and have their being.”

Interestingly enough I find no mention of music in this passage.  Whatever is sounds like we know that worship is always and only directed towards Jesus.  Period.  End of story.

Real Worship Part 1

Recently I picked a book off of the shelf in my office and decided this was the time I was actually going to read it.  I had picked this book up many times before only to stop at the boring cover and the name of the "old" author who wrote it.  The book is "Real Worship" by Warren Wiersbe.

I can't believe my own ignorance.  I have been encouraged, challenged, shaken up and I haven't even finished the book yet.  There is way to much "good stuff" crammed in the pages for me to share in such little space here.  I want to quote his prayers at the end of each chapter.  They have left me praying and seeking the Lord more honestly in my private study and worship.

Father,

Thank You for Your patience with me!

When I think of how many worship experiences I have wasted - and how many worship services I have criticized - I feel very ashamed.

Thank you for inviting me on this "worship pilgrimage," and for those who are going with me.

Guide us.

We have so much to learn!

More than anything else, we want to learn to worship You.

In the name of Jesus, Your Son,

Amen

-Warren Wiersbe-

If those ring true with you, like they do with me, I pray that this would become our prayer today!

Did anyone else notice....

This last Sunday we had the privilege of having the Watoto kid's choir from Uganda at Grace.  Did anyone else notice how completely sold out these children were to worship?  I was overwhelmed and even moved to tears as I watched children worship with more passion than most of the adults I see in our worship services.

"Wait a second, they must have been acting or faking!  After all, they do this day in and day out for six months at a time." 

When a well intentioned someone shared that nugget of wisdom I had to keep myself from screaming!  The tears in the eyes of the children and the joy on their faces was proof enough for me that this wasn't some elaborate facade or circus act.  What we experienced was the kind of worship that our Heavenly Father longs for.  And now let me address my favorite part of the quote...   

"After all, they do this day in and day out for six months at a time." 

How sad it is to find ourselves in a paradigm that implies worship is only something we do at church once or twice a week.  If God is the center of our life and we spend time each day communing with Him it should be natural that our response is uninhabited and totally abandoned worship.  Every day.  The kind of worship that is filled with every ounce and morsel of passion we can muster.      

Struggling with Mortality

Yesterday I found out that a 19 year old friend of mine was taken to the emergency room when his heart stopped.  It was a phone call that started me thinking about how for granted I take my life.  As I sat in the ICU waiting room I was overwhelmed by how important church family really is.  Friends and relatives of the Andersons sat praying for healing and for a miracle.  Please continue to pray for Ben Anderson and his family during this tough time. 

Ships Ahoy!

Tonight I start my maiden voyage into the mysterious and somewhat boring (just my opinion) world of blogging.  Why?  I have no idea except that I am always wishing I had a place to record my "new" discoveries about God and what's going on in my life.  Like most of my peers, I grew up learning to replace my pencil with a keyboard and find it down-right painful to journal.  So here I am.  Typing during the late hours of the night (like I imagine the professionals doing it) depriving myself of sleep just so my page doesn't look so barren.  


Watch out "Blog-dom" here I come...