Jeff, dude, when did you start leading worship like that? It was sweet...
B.R.: Please elaborate.
Me: My friend Jeff has a pro-level voice, and plays excellent guitar. We were visitors at a church where he led worship yesterday. He's always been a master at being in the pocket, but yesterday he also allowed time for improvisational worship and spontaneous singing. I had never heard him do this before.
B.R.: Awesome! Literally haha. I am so blown away when performers go off script not to show off their own abilities, but because one spirit or another is obviously moving through them. Is there a word for that? I mean "inspiration", I guess, but that doesn't quite cut it.
Me: In jazz it would probably be called a vamp, or perhaps an interlude.
B.R.: Well...I think that's the musical term for going off-script in an inspired way, but I'm looking for the term for what happens when someone is so filled with a holy spirit that they shout, sing, praise, laugh, etc - a temporary possession of the most benevolent kind.
Me: In the Old Testament, the phrase used was, "the Holy Spirit was upon him." or "rested upon him." There was no requirement for the recipient to be righteous or even a believer.
In the New Testament it is referred to as being "filled with the Holy Spirit," which can be a condition of ecstasy, but more likely is the continual refreshing and empowering of the Christian.
Relating this to worship, traditional church services follow a liturgy which is regimented. More and more, churches are moving towards contemporary music, and many of them have learned that leaving "white spaces" in the worship is an appropriate spiritual practice to allow God to have the agenda.
B.R.: Hmm I like that. White spaces. Air between the coals.
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