worship

The Balance of Emotion and Truth in Worship

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Now David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their strength, even with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and with trumpets.” (1 Chronicles 13:8, LSB) 

The modern evangelical church faces numerous challenges. Passion and “vibes” aren’t lacking, though. In fact, the modern evangelical movement emphasizes and showcases its emotional focus, often displaying its energy and excitement as proof positive that they love God. I’d argue that loving God with our hearts just as much as our minds is a biblical principle that many churches need to be reminded of. However, I’d also contend that too many churches ride the wave of emotionalism, believing that the outward expression of these “worship experiences” is God’s primary concern. It’s not.  

Now, if I were part of this movement of emotional excess, swaying to the moody singing with the lights down low and hands raised high, I wouldn’t need to provide any proof. After all, how I feel is enough. But I want to argue against that, and so I will offer biblical proof, the only true proof that really counts.

The passage from 1 Chronicles 13:8 is part of an intriguing section of the Old Testament. It is often cited to support emotion-driven worship. First, let me emphasize that God is concerned about us worshiping Him in truth. In John 4:24, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24, LSB). I am not suggesting that we must choose between emotion and truth, but truth takes precedence over emotion. To worship the Lord in error, even if we are excited and passionate about it, is egregious. 

Along with truth, we must realize that God is holy and not like men. Hosea 11:9 says, “For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, And I will not come in wrath” (Hosea 11:9, LSB). In Isaiah 12:6, the Lord states, “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12:6, LSB). Holiness doesn’t only mean sinless; it also means not creaturely. Although Jesus came as a man, He is the God-man. He is unique and not created.

First Chronicles 13:8 describes the passionate and energetic worship of a small group of worshippers as they attempted to bring the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. However, if you read a little farther in the chapter, you will find a shocked and terrified king standing beside a dead man. What happened? God struck down one of the men in the procession, named Uzzah, for daring to touch the Ark with his hands when it appeared to be falling from the cart it was being transported on.

Didn’t God see their passion? Didn’t God see that Uzzah only meant well? What happened? Again, God is more concerned with truth and His holiness than energy and passion. In chapter 15, we see that the lesson was learned. Verse 2 says, “And David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God but the Levites; for Yahweh chose them to carry the ark of God and to minister to Him forever” (1 Chronicles 15:2, LSB).

David had given up hope of moving the Ark of God, so he placed it in a nearby farmhouse after Uzzah died. It remained there for a time, but he wanted to bring it to Jerusalem again. This time, however, he remembered that God wants to be worshiped in truth and holiness as well as passionate energy. When he made his plans, he didn’t place the Ark on an ox-cart as he had done before. Instead, he enlisted the Levitical priests and informed them that this was how Yahweh chose to have his Ark moved. 

As he spoke to the priests, he ensured they were prepared to encounter this holy God. He instructed them: “and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; set yourselves apart as holy, both you and your relatives, that you may bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it” (1 Chronicles 15:12, LSB). 

We also read how David arrived at this conclusion in the next verse: “Because you did not carry it at the first, Yahweh our God broke out against us, for we did not seek Him according to the legal judgment” (1 Chronicles 15:13, LSB).

Some within modern evangelicalism dismiss all of this, believing that truth and holy reverence stifle emotion and passion. They’re mistaken. It channels those feelings properly toward God and away from ourselves. Worship isn’t meant to be performative, yet it often is in the church today. Instead, it should elevate the heart to God, humbling us as we offer ourselves in reverent love as His people.

Once David had everything in order, according to God’s prescribed rules for worship, the Ark was moved. Was it somber? Was it more like a funeral march because truth and reverence were required? Absolutely not. Joy was evident. In verse 25 we read, “So it was David, with the elders of Israel and the commanders over thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the house of Obed-edom with gladness” (1 Chronicles 15:25, LSB). That passion spread, and we read in verses 27-28, “Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod. Thus all Israel was bringing up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps, and lyres” (1 Chronicles 15:27–28, LSB).

What we observe is that even while adhering to the law, there was still joy, passion, gladness of heart, and a celebration of God. There wasn’t the wild and unregulated worship that the pagans practiced. Instead, the One True God was worshiped as He desires, in Spirit, Truth, and Holiness. 

Yesterday was Sunday. Now What?

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Yahweh thus you shall say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was soft and you humbled yourself before Yahweh when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become an object of horror, and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.’ So they brought back word to the king.”  (2 Kings 22:18–20, LSB)

How will we respond to the Word of God once we know what He has said? Many of us spent a good portion of our Sunday in our local church and we heard the Bible taught to us—possibly multiple times in different ways. In addition we sang biblical words, and prayed Scriptural truths. But, what happens to that truth we heard now that it’s Monday?

Josiah was a king who began his reign at the tender age of 8. His prospects for a long and godly reign didn’t look good. Many kings before him had been assassinated, and most of the kings who ruled David’s former kingdom (now divided in two) ruled in evil ways that looked more like the pagan nations around them. But King Josiah was different. His heart was set to obey the Lord, and the influence of godly priests around him hardened his resolve to follow God and lead his nation with wisdom and godliness.

At 18, Josiah began making some long-overdue changes. The temple had been neglected and he made arrangements for this to be corrected. In the process a copy of the Word of God was discovered and brought to the kings attention. As this mysterious book was read to the young king, he reacted with great emotion. He tore his robe in grief and anguish, and called the priest and his scribe to go and seek the Lord on his behalf.

What had disturbed this young king? The words of the Law of God spoke clearly about how God’s people—Josiah’s people—were to behave. They were to be a holy people, a godly people. They were never to worship any other gods, and they were to follow the Lord’s directions for life. But Josiah knew that it had been a long time since they had done that, and that the nation was guilty of great sin against the Lord God.

Imagine taking on a new job, and you start with anticipation of how well you will perform your duties. You work there for a few years, and you begin to learn that you are in a long line of serious slackers. Not only did they fail to do their jobs, but they stole from the company, sold secrets to the competition, and talked bad about the company owner. Some even called the company by the rival company’s name! Now you have the job, and you are a company man, and you hope to change things, and straighten up things. Then one day you find a book that not only has the company history, showing you the glorious past of your firm, but it also has all of the expectations that you should be meeting. As you read it, you become terrified! “We’re failing every metric in this book! Every worker in this company should be fired, and even sued for the damage they have caused to the owner. His losses are immense!”

This was Josiah’s dawning reality. He sent the priest and scribe to the Owner, the real King of his kingdom, to find out what He really thought about their situation. The word that came back was what Josiah feared—God was furious. Payback was coming, and it would cause the ears of those who heard about it to buzz.

Josiah, this righteous king, was overcome by grief. Yes, he was filled with sorrow for the coming judgment. But even more so, he was crushed by how his people had been toward their God. Josiah wanted to be a good king, obedient to all that the Lord had spoken—but he was in a long line of losers. It was almost payday, and not the good kind.

But God saw Josiah’s heart, and he saw his grief over the situation. The Lord told his ministers to tell the king that the judgment was so great that there was no avoiding it, but that it would be delayed. Josiah would reign, and he would be recorded as a good king. God would wait until after he was gone to bring the promised judgment.

How would you respond? Josiah was surely relieved. But even more, he was determined. He knew the judgment would miss him, but instead of sitting back and enjoying his royal life, he leaped into action. He leaned into the reforms he knew were needed. He tore down the centers for idol worship and reinstated God’s holy standard. He made godliness great again.

Let’s go back to Sunday—yesterday. What did God say to you through His servants? Do you have the zeal of Josiah? Are you looking at this week with anticipation for how you will carry out what God shared with you through His Word yesterday, or are you comfortable sliding back into your life, like the kings that came before Josiah?

Josiah is known to this day as one of the godliest kings of Judah. His reforms didn’t last long because the people quickly slid back into their wretchedness when the kings after him continued the long path toward paganism. But that doesn’t matter. Right is right, and God calls us to obey. What happens after we are gone isn’t our problem. He calls His people to walk with Him, and we need to strive to do so every day of our lives. We can prepare the next generation as best we can, but ultimately, they will need to do it themselves, and will give an account before God, just like we will.

Yesterday was Sunday. Now what?

5 Ways to Demonstrate A Thankful Heart

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

The history of Thanksgiving is interesting.

Although the tradition of Thanksgiving is being attacked like every other tradition in our land, it is still generally recognized that the holiday points back to the celebration of the pilgrims in the New World in 1621. The official holiday didn’t come about until a proclamation was made by President George Washington in 1789, although it was later discontinued. It wasn’t until 1828 that a campaign was begun to restore Thanksgiving as a national holiday, and formalized when it was proclaimed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln to be the official National Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday of November. What a roller coaster!

But even this wasn’t the first thanksgiving. We could go all the way back to the time of King David, found in 1Chronicles 16 to see another Day of Thanks that came far before Lincoln made his proclamation.

Israel’s King David had finally found peace from the homicidal Saul and his foreign enemies. He moved into Jerusalem and had built a house for himself. Life was good for the king! He had finally brought the Ark of the Covenant into the city and placed it into a special tent made especially for the worship of the Lord.

In a spirit of great thankfulness and gratitude, David offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings to His God. He distributed gifts of food to everyone in the nation of Israel, and along with these national festivities, David brought in musicians and singers to offer songs of praise to the Lord. This song, written by David is also found in Psalm 105.

As we begin to prepare our hearts for this season of thanks, I wanted to take the first five verses of this song of praise (vv. 8-12), and direct your heart, dear reader, to worship the Lord, as David sought to direct the hearts of his people.

As Christians, we are to have a thankful heart on a daily basis, and David would have agreed. But Thanksgiving in the U.S. is a special day set aside so that we might dedicate our hearts heavenward, because of all the people on earth, we as sinners saved by unmerited grace should be the most thankful for his electing grace and mercy.

In today’s post, I’d like to share with you Five Ways Which We as Believers Can Show Thankfulness in Our Lives

1. Depend Upon His Strength For Your Needs (v. 8a)

“Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;”

Part of giving thanks is recognizing that the Lord’s past gifts are a reminder of His future provision. It is interesting how quickly we forget the Lord’s past provision as we grow anxious about our future. Israel struggled with this as well. Look at Exodus 15:11 in what is called the Song of Moses. It says, “Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” Later, in verse 22 it says, “Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.”

Did you see how long has passed? Three days! Verses 23-24 continue, “When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” What happened to the great God they sang about only a few days earlier?

And we are the same sometimes, aren’t we? We gather on a Sunday and sing “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing, our helper, he amidst the flood of mortal ills prevailing.” And then we go home, and a few days later crumble in despair over our situations, trials, and circumstances.

We need to understand that our thanks and praise must not only look backward, but forward. We must thank the Lord and praise him for what he will do in our unforeseen future. Give him thanks for future grace–those blessings and the strength that you have not yet received, but like manna, we will receive in due time according to his perfect will.

2. Declare How He Has Answered Your Prayers (v. 8b)

“make known his deeds among the peoples!”

We ought to start thanksgiving in how we talk with one another, shouldn’t we? Part of stirring one another up in the community of saints is to share not only our needs but also the glorious ways in which the Lord answered our prayers. We have seen the miraculous deeds of God over and over again. Our living Savior has heard our prayers and satisfied our needs repeatedly. We should have words of praise and thanksgiving constantly on our lips.

But in this song, David was speaking primarily about our testimony to the unbelieving world. “The peoples” is a reference to the nations outside of Israel, the pagan world. Spurgeon wrote, “Let the heathen hear of our God, that they may forsake their idols and learn to worship him.”

Do you remember the name Dr. Kent Brantly? He was the Samaritan’s Purse doctor who recovered from the deadly Ebola virus that he had contracted while working with Ebola patients in Liberia, Africa. In 2015, Dr. Brantly and his wife published a book of their account, and Time Magazine wrote a short story about it. Listen as Dr. Brantly declares how God answered his and many others’ prayers:

“I know that some consider it controversial for me to claim that God saved my life when I had received an experimental drug and some of the greatest medical care available in the world. I can see how these two realities appear to contradict each other. I also feel the dissonance with claiming God saved my life while thousands of others died. These issues are not clear-cut for me. I wrestle with these tensions… Some may call it a grand coincidence, and I couldn’t argue against them. But when I see the unlikely and highly improbable events that occurred—not only during my illness, but also for decades preceding the Ebola epidemic in West Africa—I see the hand of God at work, and I give him the credit.” [http://time.com/3965989/ebola-survivor-brantly-book/]

Most of us won’t ever get that sort of stage to declare the glory of God to the world. But we have a small stage of unbelieving family, friends, and co-workers who are watching and listening. We need to declare to them how God has been working in our lives, so that as Spurgeon said, “that they may forsake their idols and learn to worship him.”

3. Direct Your Praises to Him Alone (v. 9)

“Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!”

Now, this might mean that we need to make sure that we don’t do what Israel did in Exodus 32, in redirecting our worship from God to something else, like a golden calf. This can happen the way it did for the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 3:3-5, where there were different factions in the same church, who weren’t really worshipping Christ, but their favorite teachers. That is a real danger for some.

But there is another pitfall that we need to avoid. We can see it in Jesus’ parable in Luke 18:9-12, where Jesus speaks about the Pharisee and the tax collector. Although this is called a parable by Luke, this scenario probably was enacted many times right before the people who frequented the temple. The godly-looking Pharisee prays with arms extended, speaking in pious tones, while the tax collector stood off in a corner looking as guilty as he was before God. To the casual observer or even the so-called worshipper, this looks like thanksgiving and praise. But it isn’t, is it? It’s self-worship and congratulations.

We need to be aware that when we sing or pray or speak about the Lord that we aren’t twisting worship to God into worship of self. We see this when a musician is all about himself, absorbing all the attention and praise–as he supposedly sings to “the Lord.”

Instead, we need to focus all our attention and praise on the Lord alone. Listen to Spurgeon again, “Bring your best thoughts and express them in the best language to the sweetest sounds. Take care that your singing is “unto him,” and not merely for the sake of the music or to delight the ears of others. Singing is so delightful an exercise that it is a pity so much of it should be wasted upon trifles or worse than trifles. O ye who can emulate the nightingale, and almost rival the angels, we do most earnestly pray that your hearts may be renewed that so your floods of melody may be poured out at your Maker’s and Redeemer’s feet.”[C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 88-110, vol. 4 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 336.]

4. Delight Yourself in God More Than Just His Gifts (vv. 10-11)

“Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”

Notice the focus here, “Glory in his holy name….those who…seek the Lord (2x)….seek his presence.” Today we will find ourselves giving thanks for many blessings and gifts, and we should. But our love and the thanksgiving that accompanies it, should be more for God and not only for what he can and has given to us.

Remember what it says in Habbakuk 3:17-19? “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.” (Habakkuk 3:17–19, ESV)

Our ultimate joy and thanks should be for receiving Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. That is the best gift we have ever or will ever receive. Everything else is simply grace upon grace. Jesus said, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?” (Mark 8:36–37, ESV).

5. Dwell on What the Lord Has Said and Done (v. 12)

“Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered,”

Our struggle with being discontent is usually a memory problem. The root of our discontentedness is most often found in our unwillingness or inability to recall all that the Lord has already said to us and done for us.

I always think it’s a perfect sign of the self-centered world we live in that the day after “Thanksgiving” we have the biggest shopping day of the year. We are thankful, but we must have more! And we as Christians can get sucked up into that same attitude. Instead of dwelling on the eternal blessings and gifts given to us, we look at the flashy bobbles everyone else seems to have and we want to know why we don’t have them. We want to know how we can have them. And it’s not just tangible “stuff” that we crave. We crave prestige, power, influence, friends.

But listen to the prophet Jeremiah: “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”” (Jeremiah 9:23–24, ESV)

Our greatest riches are not from the Lord: our greatest riches is the fact that we know the Lord. Let us give thanks for this most magnificent gift!

The Pastor and His Schedule

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

No matter where you serve the Lord, whether in a city or rural setting, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the many responsibilities that are required of a minister. For 12 of my 17 years as the pastor of a small church in an urban inner-city area of Los Angeles, I juggled two sets of responsibilites—leading our church in many of the main teaching responsibilities, which consisted of preaching for about 45 minutes three times a week from three different books of the Bible, along with men’s discipleship, and counseling. There were, of course, many other responsibilities which we could sprinkle in along with those, but those took up major chunks of my time.

Additionally, I taught pastoral ministry courses at a nearby seminary twice a week during the regular semesters. Because of Los Angeles traffic and the distance to the seminary, I would spend about 4 hours each day on congested freeways as I travelled to and from the school. That meant that on the days that I taught, I would spend most of my days either commuting to and from the seminary as well as teaching. When I returned I would most often drive straight to my office at church and pick up my duties there.

These two worlds, church pastor and seminary professor, required that I have a very good grasp of time management and discipline or else I knew that all those involved—my wife and children, my church, and my students—would suffer and I would not be able to faithfully discharge my duties.

Because of this, I understand the time constraints that are placed upon any servant of God as they seek to make the best use of their time to bring glory to God. To help those that might be working at doing this very thing, I’d like to share with you how I did this, even thought it was imperfect, in hopes that you might benefit from the lessons I learned.

I remember reading several years ago in a book by the famous productiviy guru Stephen Covey, the illustration of the big rocks and little rocks. It helped me to see the importance of prioritizing the big responsibilities in my life and ministries, and was a help in looking at the big picture.

In this illustration, Covey says he invited a seminar attendee to the front of the room to a table with a glass jar and several bowls with rocks, pea gravel, sand, and a glass of water. He asked the woman if she thought she could fit everything on the table into the jar. She said she’d try and made a few attempts, trying to put the sand and gravel in first. By doing this she found that the larger rocks wouldn’t fit. After a few more attempts she said that she didn’t think it was possible. Covey thanked her and then proceeded to take an empty jar and added in each element one at a time. He started with the larger rocks, then added the pea gravel, shaking the jar to settle in the gravel as much as possible. Then he added the sand. At each step he asked the women who had failed if she thought the jar was full. At first she said it was, then as she caught on, she answered that somehow she knew more would fit in. After the gravel and the sand, Covey once again shook the jar so the sand filled in all the spaces between the large rocks and the gravel. Finally, Covey added the water, which filled the microscopic spaces between the grains of sand, assuring his audience that the jar was now truly full.

Covey used this illustration to show that unless the large rocks, which represent the important things in our lives, are put into place first, we will never accomplish what matters most. And when what matters most is our families and our ministry to the Lord, we want to make sure that these things are placed in the most important place of priority in our life and limited time. The other stuff, the small stuff, can be added afterwards if we so desire.

So, for me, I set up a general day by day schedule that looked like this:

Mondays—Family Day. This was time that unless absolutely necessary due to a real emergency, I did not work or neglect the family. These focused days were filled with great joy and helped me to relax and spend time with my wife and children. I understood that if I lost my family, I lost my ministry.

Tuesdays—Seminary teaching in the day, church administration and counseling appointments in afternoons and the evenings.

Wednesday-Study and sermon preparation for Wednesday night, and teaching in the evenings.

Thursday– Seminary teaching in the day, study and sermon preparation for Sunday mornings.

Friday-Continue study and sermon prep for Sunday morning if not finished, study and sermon prep for Sunday evenings.

Saturday-Men’s Bible study and/or evangelism; finish sermon prep for Sunday nights if not done.

Sunday-Worship in the morning and evening, monthly leadership training and board meetings in between services.

This was my regular “big picture” schedule for most of my 17 years as pastor of my church. When the seminary had a break, then usually my involvement at church increased and I was able to divert my attention to other necessary needs at church.

And although I can’t say that I never struggled with being exhausted at times, or having too much on my plate, my schedule helped me to fit the big things into my days, and then the smaller “pebbles, and sand,” like phone calls, visitation to homes and hospitals, and pop-in-visits, fit in without losing sight of the important responsibilities that needed to happen.

Most people within your church will never have any idea how many hours and how much time you put into serving them—and that’s as it should be. We are servants after all. But the Lord knows, and we will all have to give an account for how we spent our time as ministers of the gospel. So, if you are a pastor of a church, take that seriously. The pastorate is no place for lazy men.

Hurl Grenades into the Enemy’s Ranks

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

That is what you must do with your sermons, make them red-hot; never mind if men do say you are too enthusiastic, or even too fanatical, give them red-hot shot. There is nothing else half as good for the purpose you have in view. We do not go out snow-balling on Sundays, we go fire-balling; we ought to hurl grenades into the enemy’s ranks.

—C.H. Spurgeon, The Soul Winner: How to Lead Sinners to the Saviour; Fleming H. Revel edition, 69.