Boisterous praise!
Yesterday I posted about a verse from my morning devotions. Today I’d like to address something else I see in that verse.
Nehemiah 12:43
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
Our OFRBC worship team discussed the concept of how loud we should play. We tend to play more and more loudly as we go on when we are really enjoying ourselves. Although we need to make sure we are not allowing our music to get out of control, I argued that we should not be too concerned with the idea that we might be playing too loudly. (I’m not arguing that we should be cranking out 120 decibels as if we were presenting some sort of rock concert.) We should not play so loudly that the congregation cannot hear themselves contributing to the corporate worship experience of music. But I think we conservative Christians tend to lean more toward the quieter side than we should.
The end of the above verse is of interest to this discussion. “The joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.” Even at our loudest, our worship team cannot be heard far away. In fact, I doubt that we could be heard across the street at any time. It must have been an awesome thing to hear the Israelites praising God with such gusto that their praise could “be heard far away.”
Boisterous praise!
Yesterday I posted about a verse from my morning devotions. Today I’d like to address something else I see in that verse.
Nehemiah 12:43
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
Our OFRBC worship team discussed the concept of how loud we should play. We tend to play more and more loudly as we go on when we are really enjoying ourselves. Although we need to make sure we are not allowing our music to get out of control, I argued that we should not be too concerned with the idea that we might be playing too loudly. (I’m not arguing that we should be cranking out 120 decibels as if we were presenting some sort of rock concert.) We should not play so loudly that the congregation cannot hear themselves contributing to the corporate worship experience of music. But I think we conservative Christians tend to lean more toward the quieter side than we should.
The end of the above verse is of interest to this discussion. “The joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.” Even at our loudest, our worship team cannot be heard far away. In fact, I doubt that we could be heard across the street at any time. It must have been an awesome thing to hear the Israelites praising God with such gusto that their praise could “be heard far away.”
God made them rejoice
Yesterday Old Forest Road Baptist Church commissioned our new pastor, Mike O’Brien. It was a wonderful day. The preaching (by Dane Emmerich) was outstanding, the fellowship was enjoyable (potluck dinner after church), and the singing was inspiring and enjoyable.
As the worship team practiced the music the week before, we all enjoyed the songs. The words were great, but the music itself was fun to play and we all had a good time. Yesterday morning we discussed the fact that the act of praising God is all about Him and not at all about us, so we need to make sure that we’re not enjoying the music ONLY because it is fun, but first and foremost because it is praising and magnifying our great God.
After church, a few of the members of the worship team discussed the fact that the congregation seemed to be very involved in the music and seemed to be genuinely worshiping God. So … was it because the music was fun (which we all agreed would not be true worship) or was it because the music led the people into a true spirit of praise?
This morning, God answered my question in my morning devotions:
Nehemiah 12:43
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
Why did they rejoice? —Because “God had made them rejoice with great joy.” The spirit of praise and worship among the OFRBC congregation was not because the worship team was playing well or because the songs were fun or even because the songs were inspiring. The spirit of praise and worship was because God moved in the hearts of the congregation to praise Him. It’s humbling and awesome to realize that God’s sovereignty stretches even to whether or not we are able to praise Him.
So … we must regularly ask God to grant us a spirit of praise and worship so that we will be able to do what is expected of us, even commanded in scripture.
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow.
God made them rejoice
Yesterday Old Forest Road Baptist Church commissioned our new pastor, Mike O’Brien. It was a wonderful day. The preaching (by Dane Emmerich) was outstanding, the fellowship was enjoyable (potluck dinner after church), and the singing was inspiring and enjoyable.
As the worship team practiced the music the week before, we all enjoyed the songs. The words were great, but the music itself was fun to play and we all had a good time. Yesterday morning we discussed the fact that the act of praising God is all about Him and not at all about us, so we need to make sure that we’re not enjoying the music ONLY because it is fun, but first and foremost because it is praising and magnifying our great God.
After church, a few of the members of the worship team discussed the fact that the congregation seemed to be very involved in the music and seemed to be genuinely worshiping God. So … was it because the music was fun (which we all agreed would not be true worship) or was it because the music led the people into a true spirit of praise?
This morning, God answered my question in my morning devotions:
Nehemiah 12:43
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
Why did they rejoice? —Because “God had made them rejoice with great joy.” The spirit of praise and worship among the OFRBC congregation was not because the worship team was playing well or because the songs were fun or even because the songs were inspiring. The spirit of praise and worship was because God moved in the hearts of the congregation to praise Him. It’s humbling and awesome to realize that God’s sovereignty stretches even to whether or not we are able to praise Him.
So … we must regularly ask God to grant us a spirit of praise and worship so that we will be able to do what is expected of us, even commanded in scripture.
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow.
The Forum – What a great group
Last night I visited the The Forum, OFRBC College Ministry’s bible study. The guys are doing a study of A.W. Pink’s book The Attributes of God and the little bit of discussion I heard after I walked in was fantastic. This is group of young men who are very committed to Jesus Christ and to their relationship with him and with each other. I’m proud to know these guys and I’m proud that they are part of our church.
Check out their first blog post of the year at The CrashForum. Make a comment. Join in the fun.
The Forum – What a great group
Last night I visited the The Forum, OFRBC College Ministry’s bible study. The guys are doing a study of A.W. Pink’s book The Attributes of God and the little bit of discussion I heard after I walked in was fantastic. This is group of young men who are very committed to Jesus Christ and to their relationship with him and with each other. I’m proud to know these guys and I’m proud that they are part of our church.
Check out their first blog post of the year at The CrashForum. Make a comment. Join in the fun.
They’ll know we are Christians by our love
It is uncommon in today’s world to find examples of people loving one another. This is no surprise and really should not be expected among nonbelievers. But it is often lacking among Christians. In fact, quite often it looks as though nonbelievers treat each other with greater respect and deference than Christians treat other Christian brothers.
This should not be! Not only should brotherly love be expected among those in the faith community—it is commanded.
1 John 4:7, 11-12, 20-21
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Christian love is evident and even obvious among a group of Christians my wife and I met in Lynchburg, Virginia. Allow me to tell you just one example that occurred this past weekend—Memorial Day weekend:
A medical issue has compelled us to travel to Lynchburg, Virginia, every weekend for the past four months. This will continue indefinitely. We have to be In Lynchburg at 2:00 on Sunday afternoons, which makes it difficult to attend church at home since Lynchburg is a 3.5 hour drive from our house and our home church is 45 minutes away from our home in the opposite direction.
We immediatley saw the need to join up with a church that we could attend there in Lynchburg so we wouldn’t have to miss gathering with other believers every Sunday. I researched Lynchburg area churches, looking specifically for solid biblical doctrine and expositional preaching. I came up with a list of three churches in the area that we wanted to visit to see where God would direct us for corporate worship.
God led us the first week to Old Forest Road Baptist Church. The preaching was great. The singing was energetic and passionate. The location was convenient to the hospital. But the thing that really stood out right from the first person we met was the almost visceral spirit of Christian love that eminates from the people of this church. We were warmly welcomed. Over the next few weeks as they got to know us and our situation, they quickly showed ongoing concern for our wellbeing. They prayed for us. They invited us out to dinner. Many of them even opened their homes to us for an overnight stay should we need to get some rest the night before or after our weekly visit to Lynchburg.
This past weekend the church had a Memorial Day picnic (actually the day before Memorial Day, since the picnic was after the evening service on Sunday). I lost my keys during the picnic. There were five or six families cleaning up the picnic area behind the church when we began searching the grounds for the keys. When they found out what we were doing, every single one of them began to help look for the keys. They fanned out across the large picnic and parking lot area and began walking back and forth and searching (even though it was beginning to get dark). Not one of those people left to go home for the next 45 minutes or so. By the time we found the keys, it was completely dark and only one person had a flashlight. But they had all continued searching even in the darkness. They were checking the grassy areas with their hands and feet to see if they could feel or hear the keys, since it would be difficult in those conditions to see them.
After the keys were found, they all gathered around to wish us a good, safe trip home. One couple offered repeatedly for us to stay for the night at their home so we could get on the road refreshed in the morning. We declined the invitation, wanting to avoid the Memorial Day traffic that we expected the next day. So after a few minutes of well-wishing, we all headed out—them to their homes in the Lynchburg area, and us to our home in the Washington, D.C., area—almost 200 miles away.
We had a wonderful trip home, talking almost the entire time about how wonderful these people are. I have never seen such natural display of love … and they do it continually with everyone. Not just to us, and not just every now and then.
So impressed have we been with these people and God’s work among them, we are now seeking God’s guidance toward moving us to the Lynchburg area permanently. We can’t imagine how painful it would be to have to separate from this group of believers in Jesus Christ. Believers who show their faith in action … by loving one another.
If you live in the Lynchburg area, or if you live quite a distance away, you need to visit this phenomenal church. It’s worth the commute—even if, like us, you live 3.5 hours away.
Praise God for the affect his Holy Spirit has on those who obey and worship him!
They’ll know we are Christians by our love
It is uncommon in today’s world to find examples of people loving one another. This is no surprise and really should not be expected among nonbelievers. But it is often lacking among Christians. In fact, quite often it looks as though nonbelievers treat each other with greater respect and deference than Christians treat other Christian brothers.
This should not be! Not only should brotherly love be expected among those in the faith community—it is commanded.
1 John 4:7, 11-12, 20-21
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Christian love is evident and even obvious among a group of Christians my wife and I met in Lynchburg, Virginia. Allow me to tell you just one example that occurred this past weekend—Memorial Day weekend:
A medical issue has compelled us to travel to Lynchburg, Virginia, every weekend for the past four months. This will continue indefinitely. We have to be In Lynchburg at 2:00 on Sunday afternoons, which makes it difficult to attend church at home since Lynchburg is a 3.5 hour drive from our house and our home church is 45 minutes away from our home in the opposite direction.
We immediatley saw the need to join up with a church that we could attend there in Lynchburg so we wouldn’t have to miss gathering with other believers every Sunday. I researched Lynchburg area churches, looking specifically for solid biblical doctrine and expositional preaching. I came up with a list of three churches in the area that we wanted to visit to see where God would direct us for corporate worship.
God led us the first week to Old Forest Road Baptist Church. The preaching was great. The singing was energetic and passionate. The location was convenient to the hospital. But the thing that really stood out right from the first person we met was the almost visceral spirit of Christian love that eminates from the people of this church. We were warmly welcomed. Over the next few weeks as they got to know us and our situation, they quickly showed ongoing concern for our wellbeing. They prayed for us. They invited us out to dinner. Many of them even opened their homes to us for an overnight stay should we need to get some rest the night before or after our weekly visit to Lynchburg.
This past weekend the church had a Memorial Day picnic (actually the day before Memorial Day, since the picnic was after the evening service on Sunday). I lost my keys during the picnic. There were five or six families cleaning up the picnic area behind the church when we began searching the grounds for the keys. When they found out what we were doing, every single one of them began to help look for the keys. They fanned out across the large picnic and parking lot area and began walking back and forth and searching (even though it was beginning to get dark). Not one of those people left to go home for the next 45 minutes or so. By the time we found the keys, it was completely dark and only one person had a flashlight. But they had all continued searching even in the darkness. They were checking the grassy areas with their hands and feet to see if they could feel or hear the keys, since it would be difficult in those conditions to see them.
After the keys were found, they all gathered around to wish us a good, safe trip home. One couple offered repeatedly for us to stay for the night at their home so we could get on the road refreshed in the morning. We declined the invitation, wanting to avoid the Memorial Day traffic that we expected the next day. So after a few minutes of well-wishing, we all headed out—them to their homes in the Lynchburg area, and us to our home in the Washington, D.C., area—almost 200 miles away.
We had a wonderful trip home, talking almost the entire time about how wonderful these people are. I have never seen such natural display of love … and they do it continually with everyone. Not just to us, and not just every now and then.
So impressed have we been with these people and God’s work among them, we are now seeking God’s guidance toward moving us to the Lynchburg area permanently. We can’t imagine how painful it would be to have to separate from this group of believers in Jesus Christ. Believers who show their faith in action … by loving one another.
If you live in the Lynchburg area, or if you live quite a distance away, you need to visit this phenomenal church. It’s worth the commute—even if, like us, you live 3.5 hours away.
Praise God for the affect his Holy Spirit has on those who obey and worship him!
By His grace - For His glory 