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But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he." -- John 4: 23-26 (ESV)
As a discernment minister (There is no such thing in Scripture.)
I spend a great deal of time researching and reacting to the latest whims and waves of doctrine that can shipwreck the faith of my brothers and sisters or those who otherwise might encounter the real God. (That is, he spends inordinate amounts of time looking for people who aren't toeing his doctrinal line.)
I have several websites I monitor daily who hold great sway over the minds of the sheep and who are leading them down the broad path that can only lead to their destruction. Nothing brings me more joy than the occasional email from someone I do not know, who has come out from the darkness or sometimes cult like experience and into the glorious light of salvation and the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every now and again though, the Lord reminds me of an area I am overlooking. (This surely will be that he is overlooking something in his "discernment ministry," not a personal conviction regarding something lacking in his own spiritual walk...)
This past week I was visiting a church, where I had promised to meet some old friends. The main worship set consisted of two songs from Elevation Church and one from Jesus Culture. (No mention of which songs.)
The conviction from the Holy Spirit was thick that night. (Conviction that the author's heart is not right regarding his treatment of doctrinal opponents? Probably not...)
We just do not give proper consideration to the theology and topic of worship. There is no reason for this beloved as we spend more time worshipping collectively than listening to doctrinal sermons. (Given the above quoted Scripture, which says the Father is seeking such people to worship him..., one might conclude that spending time worshiping Him is of paramount importance.)
The average sermonette in a purpose driven church is probably about 20 minutes. The time spent worshipping God well exceeds that as that is the more entertaining portion for the goats the service is marketed to. (It's this kind of scorch-earth rhetoric that offends us. The author cannot know these things, but he's happy to pass judgment on them without any evidence at all. This is a surprisingly common attitude of so-called "discernment ministers.")
(The next two dozen sentences is a muddled stream-of-consciousness mess.)
While the sermon content is vitally important it is still man speaking to man. Worship is man speaking to God. (No, prayer is speaking to God. Worship is προσκυνέω, (proskuneó), to kiss the ground when prostrating before a superior; to worship... ready "to fall down/prostrate oneself to adore on one's knees.")
Consider that for a moment. There was a mega church pastor who was quoted once saying there were two types of worship songs he would refuse to play in his church. One was the Jesus is my boyfriend genre and hallelujah to that decision. The second however was the ones that ask for serious things from God that the worshippers often do not even realize. Don't sing Oceans to God about wanting to go deeper. If you want to go deeper stop listening to Hillsong! Realize what we sing forms our theology. (We don't accept this as true. The author is case in point. His theology determines what he will sing.)
Don't believe it? How many millennial Christians base theology is formed around their belief that they are a friend of God, (Jn. 15:14-15 You are my friends if you do what I command.
Jn. 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. The author will try to explain away this verse later.)
who loves them so much, (1Jn. 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are!)
and owes them the blessings of Abraham? (Who claims this?)
Quite a lot I would wager. ("Wager?" Because he doesn't know. He's certainly happy to throw around vague assertions and undocumented claims, however.)
Why is the reverent awe of the Lord lacking in the newer generations of "churched" people? (Undocumented assertion.)
Certainly, you can point to the sermons being watered down and the Gospel being sugared up but it also has to do with worship music focusing on us instead of Him. When you spend a half hour singing How Great Thou Art, you just develop a better sense of awe than if you spent it singing How Much He Loves Me. (I thought the author didn't like extended worship...)
Why? Because one song is about God and the other is about you! (Here are the lyrics to the great hymn "How Great Thou Art:"
Verse 1
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Chorus:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Verse 2:
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
Verse 3:
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Verse 4:
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then shall I bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim, "My God, how great Thou art!"
Notice two things: 1) The profound statements of the grandeur of God, and 2) how many times the hymnwriter refers to himself [18xs]. In fact, verse 3 is all about the hymnwriter. We would therefore suggest that it is difficult to express worship without considering the personal implications of the great work God did for each of us through Jesus' death on the cross.)
To get into this subject I went to the section of scripture where Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman and while this story is rich in theology from many different angles, I will focus on worship. You see the Samaritans were considered half-breeds by the Jewish people, who wanted nothing to do with them. This is despite the fact that the Samaritans claimed lineage and descent from a few of the tribes of Israel. When it came to worship, the Samaritans believed the proper place to worship God was Mount Gerizim, which the Samaritans held in reverent awe as the real place God wanted the temple built. The Jewish people obviously disagreed and swore that Jerusalem was the only place to worship God. The Samaritan woman recognizes that Jesus is a prophet and asks Him essentially who is right in this age-old dispute and the answer from Jesus is our key verses today. Within this answer we can learn a lot about the true nature of worship.
The first thing we see is God wants people to worship Him. He is seeking people to worship Him correctly. This is important in light of the false relationship that churchianity sells today. Jesus is not your wing man. Singing Friend of God does not make you a friend of God. Regarding the two men who wrote Friend of God; one is an atheist today and the other an adulterer. (The author wrote a previous article about this, and we responded here.)
Before people think this is a matter of not liking new music, think again. There is a lot of buzz in the purpose driven landscape about being in relationship with Jesus and people use this to undermine religion -- which God established. (This statement makes no sense.)
Let me explain now to the disappointment of many who really worship themselves -- if your relationship with Jesus is not one of servant and Master than you have no relationship with Jesus. (A statement undocumented with Scripture.)
Wait a minute preacher! Jesus told His apostles that He now called them friend! (John never uses the word "apostles" in his entire gospel.)
Yes He did. I could point out that you are not one of the apostles He was talking to that day but instead will remind you of the verse that precedes His declaration of friendship:
You are my friends if you do what I command. -- John 15:14 (ESV) (John chapter 15 is in the middle of a long account starting in chapter 13 and lasting through chapter 16, and continuing into Jesus' prayers in chapter 17. The author would have us believe that these 155 verses do not apply to us today. So list what the author thinks was spoken only for the apostles:
Jn. 13:34 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Jn. 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
Jn. 14:2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
Jn. 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Jn. 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
Jn. 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever — 17 the Spirit of truth.
Jn. 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.
Jn. 14:23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
Jn. 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Jn. 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Jn. 16:7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Jn. 16:23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Jn. 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.If the author thinks we're not friends of God, then none of the above applies to us either.)
Here is the hard lesson for today. If He is not your Lord -- you are not His friend. (Waaiit. The author just denied that we are Jesus' friends. Now he tells us that He must be our Lord in order for us to be His friend! Which is it?)
The second point from the key verses is that we must worship God in spirit and in truth. Well what does that mean? First of all, they go together. You cannot worship God in spirit and not in truth or vice versa. Let's start with truth. When this word is used it means the knowledge of who God is. It is directly referring to the word of God. (Well, no, not if the author thinks this means Bible knowledge. We shall not permit the author to make up his own definitions. Truth is ἀλήθεια, ας, ἡ (alétheia), which means truth, but not merely truth as spoken; truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed to man, straightforwardness. )
When Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, He said the spirit would lead us into all truth. (Same word, ἀλήθεια. So why does the author use the word "us" here when he just finished telling us that being a friend of God only applied to the apostles?)
This is not our perceived truth based on personal experience, which can be corrupted by our wickedly deceitful hearts but rather from the immutable, unmovable, inerrant and all sufficient scriptures. (The author gives us a false binary equation. There are not our only two choices.)
Beloved, our worship at a bare minimum must be theologically correct. (That is, theology that agrees with the author's.)
According to the Gospel of John Jesus is His Word. Bill Johnson likes to say we do not worship the bible because he does not know God to understand that He is the very word. (Undocumented assertion.)
So, what are we saying to God, about God, when we sing things that are simply unbiblical? For your consideration:
He is jealous for me. Love like a hurricane I am a tree.
We are His portion and He is our prize.
You didn't want heaven without us. So Jesus, You brought heaven down.
Speak revival, prophesy like it is done
The first two lyrics are both from what has to be the worst worship song in decades, "Oh How He Loves Me." Written originally by John Mark McMillan, all of the hip worship outfits have copied it and play it regularly. The song is a lyrical train wreck with virtually nothing biblically redeemable about it. (We shall not defend the song lyrics, but we shall examine the author's comments regarding them.)
God is not jealous for you beloved. one can make a biblical case for jealousy for His collective people but personalizing removes the truthfulness and creates a self-worship atmosphere. (Weak. So God is jealous for all of us collectively but not individually? Does the author have a Scripture that backs this up? How about a quote from a theologian? A link to an article written by a wise, mature Christian? No? Hmmm.
We shall perform the work of the author. Scripture speaks often of God's jealousy, especially in terms of His people and their idolatry, but also regarding His passion:
Ex. 34:14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
De. 4:24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
De. 5:9 ...I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God...
So. 8:6 Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
Ja. 4:5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that God jealously longs for His Spirit to live in us?)His love is not like a hurricane, (Again an undocumented assertion.
The author apparently doesn't understand the concept of artistic license. Nor does he seem to understand the many references to the wind moving at the behest of God, or even wind as a representation of the Holy Spirit.
Ps. 135:7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
Song of Solomon 4:16 Awake, O north wind, And come, wind of the south; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, Let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden And eat its choice fruits!
Jn. 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
Ac. 2:2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.which would depict something violent and out of control. (How about incredibly powerful?)
This is the same argument against the equally vapid song "Reckless Love." We are not His portion either as the lyricist has this backwards and neither is God a "prize." These concepts are all part of the self-worship model promulgated by the Friend of God theology. (The meaning of metaphors are determined by those who created them. Maybe the author should ask the songwriter what he meant?)
The third lyric is from Hillsong. The notion that God did not want heaven without us is beyond narcissistic and has nothing to do with worshiping the almighty. (Since the author is wont to offer undocumented, summary assertions, we shall not longer entertain him. Our response instead will simply be summary denials.)
It once again exalts man instead of God. (Summarily denied.)
Here is today's deep theology. God is perfectly fine without you or me. (Summarily denied.)
The purpose driven worship complex insists that God is chasing after us like He needs a prom date. (Summarily denied.)
I read a defense of this song from a worship leader who just did not get the point. Her central argument was the "context" surrounding this poor lyric. You cannot defend an unbiblical lyric by saying, "Look! The lyric after that is completely biblical!" (Summarily denied.)
While we are on this subject the same argument applies across entire song spectrums. Hillsong has some completely palatable and biblically sound songs. That does not change the fact that others are completely unbiblical, nor does it change that as a church they are one of the most egregious heresy spreaders in the entire world. (Summarily denied.)
Why in the world would I want to point anyone back to Hillsong? This is the same argument for false teachers. The majority of what a false teacher teaches is probably acceptable. Someone like Joseph Prince might even be 80% correct. The other 20% however will send you straight to hell. (Summarily denied.)
No one walks into a church with a sign around their neck saying wolf. The worship leader of Jesus Culture will swear she loves Jesus but if you ask her for a testimony she might tell you about the time that Jesus whisked her away to the thrown room of God where she met the Father face to face. This allegedly was a waking visitation where God the Father ripped out a piece of His own heart to show Kim Walker Smith how much He loved her. Now we know that Walker-Smith did not meet the Father face to face. How do we know this? Because the bible says no man can see the Father lest they die. (Summarily denied.)
Now, I will assume Walker-Smith is not lying which means she had a very detailed demonic experience that she could not tell was from the devil. I say this to ask the simple question -- why would you want to direct anyone to Jesus Culture?
The last lyric is from Elevation Worship, who is pastored by the heretical Steven Furtick. The king of narcissistic bible interpretation is it any wonder that the musical outfit Furtick heads up would also not be biblical. (Summarily denied.)
There is so much wrong with this one short lyric. First of all, it promotes the false chasing of revival, which is part of the NAR dominionist teachings. (Summarily denied.)
Second it promotes word faith heresy that says we can speak things into existence. (Summarily denied.)
Lastly, it promotes the false signs and lying wonders network and their unbiblical belief that anyone can prophesy. (Summarily denied.)
That is a lot of heresy packed into seven little words! Truth matters beloved. What we say to God matters. It is not worship to tell Him how much He loves you. It is not worship to tell God you are going to prophesy something He has not told you -- in fact it is arrogant. (Summarily denied.)
It is not worship to tell God that He could not bear to be in heaven without you. (Summarily denied.)
Worship is what we say to God and what we tell Him is what we believe. (Summarily denied.)
God deserves better than Steven Furtick, Brian Houston and Jesus Culture. We ought to care to bring Him better. Worshipping God starts with the truth.
God also deserves to be worshipped in spirit. The key verses actually tell us why! God is a spirit and therefore those who worship Him must do so in spirit as well! We are connected to God through His indwelt Holy Spirit. This is no small point beloved. The fact is that most in churchianity are unsaved. (Summarily denied.)
The things we speak of require the indwelt Holy Spirit. This is why lyrics that elevate man are preferred. This is why worship has become narcissistic entertainment. (Summarily denied.)
This is why the church needs smoke machines, disco lights and countdown clocks. It is false worship driven by the spirit of this world. (Summarily denied.)
That is why spirit is tied to truth. This is why as believers we should feel convicted of the bells and whistles that are only used to attract goats. We know what worship is!
The conclusion of the key verses shows the woman acknowledging she has some head smarts about the Messiah but no spiritual wisdom to discern that He sits right in front of her. Wow, if that is not prescient or prophetic I do not know what is. Millions sit in pews every Sunday convinced they are saved by some charlatan. (Summarily denied.)
They sing songs about themselves, designed to elevate themselves and feel better about themselves. (Summarily denied.)
There is no conviction and no sense that what they are doing is even offensive to God because they do not have the indwelt Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth. (Summarily denied.)
The problem is that real believers sit right next to them with hands extended to the skies, worshiping man right along with them. I understand the difficulty. These songs are what is played on "Christian" radio. So much of the lyrical content sounds right. What's the big deal about a line here or there that does not pass biblical standards? That is a real dangerous road to travel beloved. What we say to God ought to be the one area where we are the most cautious. Where we lead our friends ought to matter to us. Blasting Hillsong in our car is the same as posting the Joyce Meyer meme on our Facebook page. (Summarily denied.)
It might be permissible but how many people have we now led to slaughter? Singing along to that Jesus Culture song at church may seem innocuous but how many people are being tacitly told they are ok by doing so? We need to realize also that the huge organizations behind these music movements use the music to infiltrate the church in order to draw people away to their false doctrines. (Summarily denied.)
Most do not know about the heresies of Hillsong but they can rattle off their top ten favorite songs! Then when they hear a Brian Houston or Carl Lentz sermon they are more inclined to listen and not have their guard up. (Summarily denied.)
Jesus Culture promotes the wild heresies of Bill Johnson and Bethel Church. Elevation worship promotes Steven Furtick and IHOP music promotes Mike Bickle. Take Johnson for example. He promotes gold dust, gemstones, angel feathers, glory clouds, mandatory healing, dead raising teams, grave sucking, prosperity gospel, false signs and lying wonders, the NAR, dominionism and experiential Christianity just off the top of my head. (Summarily denied.)
Bethel Church is a cesspool of false teaching that operates their own supernatural school where they pretend they can teach you the gifts of the Holy Spirit! Now you may say that you don't follow Bethel or Johnson but who do you think taught Jesus Culture! Who do you think is their pastor?
Jesus Christ sits in the churches and says, I am He, and the church goes on worshiping idols, and false doctrines, and anything but the risen Savior. Discernment is crucial when it comes to sorting through what teaching is from the spirit of God and what is from the spirit of this world. We are wise to learn how to discern such but how much more important is what we actually say to the God we profess to love and serve. Let us never get casual about worship beloved. God deserves so much more.
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