Michael Slayton Worship Minister
Works with 50 helpers to LEAD the church BODY in both accompanied and unaccompanied worship.Replacing the LOGOS with SOPHIA is the mark of music and the "plucking" of Young boys. Psallo in the extended literature
LOGOS or the Word or Regulative Principle outlaws rhetoric, singing, playing instruments or acting. This is the MARK God left from the Garden of Eden to the unleashing of Apollon and the muses or Locusts who were vile prostitutes who became the Shepherdesses.
THE UNIVERSAL MARK OF THE EFFEMINATE WORSHIP LEADER
"Philodemus considered it paradoxical that music should be regarded as veneration of the gods while musicians were paid for performing this so-called veneration. Again, Philodemus held as self deceptive the view that music mediated religious ecstasy. He saw the entire condition induced by the noise of cymbals and tambourines as a disturbance of the spirit.
He found it significant that, on the whole, only women and effeminate men fell into this folly.
Accordingly, nothing of value could be attributed to music; it was no more than a slave of the sensation of pleasure, which satisfied much in the same way that food and drink did.Zose persons openly seek their joy, for what true joy is their they do not know.
Women's singing was a vital part of all pagan worship. In very early times women became priestly singers of the gods in the temple."Women and girls from the different ranks of society were proud to enter the service of the gods as singers and musicians. The understanding of this service was universal: these singers constituted the 'harem of the gods'." (Priest Quasten)
Worship.Androgyny.The.Pagan.Sexual.Ideal.html"Now, many a man from the false religions, which are not ashamed of criticising what is noble, will ask: how can there be a feast without carousing and overeating, without the pleasant company of hosts and guests, without quantities of unmixed wine, without richly set tables and highly stacked provisions of everything that pertains to a banquet, without pageantry and jokes,
bantering and merry-making to the accompaniment of flutes and citharas, the sound of drums and cymbals and other effeminate and frivolous music of every king,
enkindling unbridled lusts with the help of the sense of hearing. For in and through the same [pleasures] those persons openly seek their joy, for what true joy is their they do not know.
PLATO LAWS 2
Music is more celebrated than any other kind of imitation, and therefore requires the greatest care of them all. For if a man makes a mistake here, he may do himself the greatest injury by welcoming evil dispositions, and the mistake may be very difficult to discern, because the poets are artists very inferior in character to the Muses themselves, who would never fall into the monstrous error of
nor, beginning with the rhythms and gestures of freemen, would they assign to them a melody or words which are of an opposite character;
- assigning to the words of MAN
- the gestures and songs of women;
- nor after combining the melodies with the gestures of freemen
- would they add on the rhythms of slaves and men of the baser sort;
nor would they mix up the voices and sounds of animals and of men and instruments, and every other sort of noise, as if they were all one.
For when there are no words, it is very difficult to recognize the meaning of the harmony and rhythm, or to see that any worthy object is imitated by them. (See 1 Cor 14. Paul compares speaking in tongues to instruments of war.)
And we must acknowledge that all this sort of thing, which aims only at swiftness and smoothness and a brutish noise,
and uses the flute and the lyre not as the mere accompaniments of the dance and song, is exceedingly coarse and tasteless.The Word or Logos is the Spiritual or Rational MIND of God and in more Civilized times outlawed speaking on your own which Jesus identified as the sons of the Devil.
The use of either instrument, when unaccompanied, leads to every sort of irregularity and trickery.
This is all rational enough.
READING 101A would not permit any Scripture to be defined as singing with or without instruments as a way to MAKE THE LAMBS DUMB BEFORE THE SLAUGHTER.
Vocal or Instrumental Psallo I. In gen., to [1] play upon a [2] stringed instrument; esp., to [1] play upon the [2] cithara, to sing TO the cithara: “psallere saltare elegantius,” = Cic. Catil. 2.10.23 Suet. Tit. 3
“psallere saltare ēlĕgans I. In the ante-class. period in a bad sense,
luxurious, effeminate, fastidious, nice: elegans homo non dicebatur cum laude “mulier (Phryne—with formo
căno , cĕcĭni, cantum (ancient I.imp. cante = canite, “once canituri,” Vulg. Apoc. 8, 13), 3, v. n. and a. [cf. kanassō, kanakhē, konabos; Germ. Hahn; Engl. chanticleer; kuknos, ciconice; Sanscr. kōkas = DUCK; A. With carmen, cantilenam, versus, verba, etc., to sing, play, rehearse, recite
Sal. Cat. 25 In the number of those ladies was Sempronia, a woman who had committed many crimes with the spirit of a man. In birth and beauty, in her husband and her children, she was extremely fortunate;
she was skilled in Greek and Roman literature;
she could sing, play, and dance, *
with greater elegance than became a woman of virtue,
and possessed many other accomplishments that tend to excite the passions. But nothing was ever less valued by her than honor or chastity. Whether she was more prodigal of her money or her reputation, it would have been difficult to decide. Her desires were so ardent that she oftener made advances to the other sex than waited for solicitation. She had frequently, before this period, forfeited her word, forsworn debts, been privy to murder, and hurried into the utmost excesses by her extravagance and poverty. But her abilities were by no means despicable; she could compose verses, jest, and join in conversation either modest, tender, or licentious. In a word, she was distinguished by much refinement of wit, and much grace of expression.
Worship.Androgyny.The.Pagan.Sexual.Ideal.html
PLATO LAWS 2
Music is more celebrated than any other kind of imitation, and therefore requires the greatest care of them all. For if a man makes a mistake here, he may do himself the greatest injury by welcoming evil dispositions, and the mistake may be very difficult to discern, because the poets are artists very inferior in character to the Muses themselves, who would never fall into the monstrous error ofnor, beginning with the rhythms and gestures of freemen, would they assign to them a melody or words which are of an opposite character;
- assigning to the words of MAN
- the gestures and songs of women;
- nor after combining the melodies with the gestures of freemen
- would they add on the rhythms of slaves and men of the baser sort;
nor would they mix up the voices and sounds of animals and of men and instruments, and every other sort of noise, as if they were all one.
A Minister is a DEACON or SERVANT and does not perform LITURGY. Liturgy connected with the Muses or Locusts is led by the SPIRIT of Apollon or the devil.
Choręg-ia , hę, A. office or lęitourgia [p. 1999] of a choręgos, defraying of the cost of the public choruses,"Biblical Greek. Here the meaning is always religious. leitourgia in the OT is limited to priestly and Levitical administration. In the LXX it renders chiefly the Hebrew abhodha (5656) (from abad (5647)) which signifies service to God, specially undertaken by priests and Levites (e.g. Num.8:25; Lk.1:23; Heb.8:6; 9:21). In Christian Greek there is the additional meaning of brotherly beneficence operating in the local church, seen as a sacrifice to God.
Jacob cursed the Levites (Genesis 49) and outlawed attending their SYNAGOGUES or entering into covenant with them. They stood in ranks and made instrumental noise ready to execute any civilian who came NEAR any place dedicated to slaughtering and BURNING infants and goats.
la_os , ho, Ion. lēos Hippon.88, Hdt.5.42 (
4. in LXX, of the people, as opp. priests and Levites, 1 Es.5.46; in NT, of Jews, opp. Gentiles, Ev.Matt.2.6, Ev.Luc.2.10, al., cf. SIG1247 (Jewish tombstones); of Christians, opp. heathen, Act.Ap.15.14, al.
"St. Paul speaks of himself being 'offered,' as upon an altar (Ph.2:17), and Epaphras as sacrificing almost his life to supply the Philippians' lack of leitourgia (2:30). He uses the word to indicate the almsgiving of Corinthian believers (II Cor.9:12). St. Clement speaks of leitourgia of each Christian apparently in the context of the Eucharist (41:1), and later in connection with the bishop's office.(44:3,6).The placing of the word leitourgia in the context of the Eucharist so early in Christian history naturally raises the question whether this term, having a strong sacrificial sense in Biblical Greek, does not figure in the same context in the NT. Is not Paul referring thereby to the offertory gifts at the Breaking of Bread
2. metaph., minister to, “kh. tais seautou hēdonais” Aeschin.3.240; “tais epithumiais” Luc.Par.12; “pros epainon” Lib. Or.18.7; pros mēkos logou
of departed souls, Luc.Luct.24; daimosin eusebesin, = Dis Manibus, IG14.1683; so theoi
Epithu_m-ia , Ion. -iē, hē, A.desire, yearning, “e. ektelesai” Hdt.1.32; epithumia by passion, opp. pronoia, Th.6.13 esp. sexual desire, lust
A. = paidikos, of or for a boy, humnoi p. songs to the boys they loved, Pi.I.2.3,
Pi.I.2.3, The men of old, Thrasybulus, who mounted the chariot of the Muses with their golden headbands,hēdonais worship of daimons: 2. the power controlling the destiny of individuals: hence, one's lot or forlune, 2. generally, spiritual or semi-divine being inferior to the Gods Haidou”
joining the glorious lyre, [Apollyon's Harp]
lightly shot forth their honey-voiced songs for young men,
tox-euō ,3. c. acc. rei, shoot from a bow, metaph., discharge, send forth, “t. humnous” Pi.I.2.3;
if one was handsome and had
[5] the sweetest ripeness that brings to mind Aphrodite on her lovely throne.
For in those days the Muse was not yet a lover of gain, nor did she work for hire.
And sweet gentle-voiced odes did not go for sale,...
And in Crisa widely powerful Apollon looked graciously on him, and gave him glory there as well.
And joined with the renowned favors of the sons of Erechtheus
"In pagan traditions, musical instruments are invented by gods or demi-gods, such as titans. In the Bible, credit is assigned to antediluvian patriarchs, for example, the descendants of Cain in Genesis 4:21. There is no other biblical tradition about the invention of musical instruments." (Freedman, David Noel, Bible Review, Summer 1985, p. 51). (Proof Here).
Amos-Five.html
Conrad L'Heureux demonstrated that the marzeah, or symposium (feast, gathering, banquet, assembly) of El that is found in the Rephaim Texts of Ugarit "must be a reflex in the divine world of the symposium celebrated by the members of the earthly marzeah of El...each guild apparently had a divine patron."42 The heavenly marzeah had participants called rp'm, which we also find in the earthly marzeah, e.g., "May Krt be greatly exalted among the rp'm of the earth...the rp'm constitute an aristocracy of which the Canaanite kings were a part."43 Moses, and the prophets following him were proclaimed as "Speakers for Yahweh," showing the people that "they are sent from the divine king, the suzerain of treaties, to reprove and to pronounce judgment upon Israel..."44
Note 42: Conrad L'Heureux, "The Ugaritic and Biblical Rephaim," Harvard Theological Review, 67(1974): 270-271.
Note 43. Conrad L'Heureux, Rephaim, 271. Cf. 272, footnote 25, the authority of El is ordinarily exercised through the younger generation of gods whom we could call the executive deities. It is also possible to understand the term rp'm as "the assembly of the gods." The entire premise of Jacobsen's article "Primitive Democracy," is that the groups and assemblies on earth reflected what the gods had done in heaven.
This was called "prophesying" by those who "made self a prophet." David made his warrior musicians into PROPHESIERS which means ot make war or make sorcery and never make spirituall Word. The Israelites had been abandoned ot Dionysus or Bacchus "worship of the starry host" because of musical idolatry at Mount Sinai. God heard that as a prayer and answered them. Therefore, when you lift prooftexts out of the Monarchy, king, temple and sacrificial system you are restoring the Abomination of Desolation which featured Zeus and Dionysus (new wineskin god) in the Temple. This ultimately, like the word PSALM and PSALMOS is Egyptian-Greek and not faithful Israelites:
Aristophanes' Lysistrata:
Call upon Bacchus, afire with his Maenades [mad women];
Call upon Zeus in the lightning arrayed;
Call on his queen, ever blessed, adorable;
Call on the holy, infallible Witnesses,
Call them to witness the peace and the harmony,
This which divine Aphrodite has made.Allala! Lalla! Lallala! Lallala!
Whoop for victory, Lallalalae!
Evoi! Evoi! Lallala, Lallala!
Evae! Evae! Lallalalae.Plato Laws on Musical Worship.
And the gods, pitying the toils which our race is born to undergo,
have appointed holy festivals, wherein men alternate rest with labour;
and have given them the Muses and Apollo, the leader of the Muses, and Dionysus, to be companions in their revels,
that they may improve their education by taking part in the festivals of the gods, and with their help.
For men say that the young of all creatures cannot be quiet in their bodies or in their voices;they are always wanting to move and cry out; some leaping and skipping,and overflowing with sportiveness and delight at something, others uttering all sorts of cries. But, whereas the animals have no perception of order or disorder in their movements, that is, of rhythm or harmony, as they are called, to us,
The gods, who, as we say, have been appointed to be our companions in the dance, have given the pleasurable sense of harmony and rhythm; and so they stir us into life, and we follow them, joining hands together in dances and songs; and these they call choruses, which is a term naturally expressive of cheerfulness. Shall we begin, then, with the acknowledgment that education is first given through Apollo and the Muses? What do you say?
Athenian Let us follow the scent like hounds, and go in pursuit of beauty of figure, and melody, and song, and dance; if these escape us, there will be no use in talking about true education, whether Hellenic or barbarian. [Interesting Study here]
Cleinias Yes.
Athenian And what is beauty of figure, or beautiful melody? When a manly soul is in trouble, and when a cowardly soul is in similar case, are they likely to use the same figures and gestures, or to give utterance to the same sounds?
Cleinias How can they, when the very colours of their faces differ?
Athenian Good, my friend; I may observe, however, in passing,
that in music there certainly are figures and there are melodies:
and music is concerned with harmony and rhythm, so that you may speak of
a melody or figure having good rhythm or good harmony-the term is correct enough; but to speak metaphorically of a melody or figure having a "good colour," as the masters of choruses do, is not allowable, although you can speak of the melodies or figures of the brave and the coward,
praising the one and censuring the other.Arnobius defining Heresy 11 42. Was it for this He sent souls, that some should infest the highways and roads, 303 others ensnare the unwary, forge 304 false wills, prepare poisoned draughts; that they should break open houses by night, tamper with slaves, steal and drive away, not act uprightly, and betray their trust perfidiously; that they should strike out delicate dainties for the palate; that in cooking fowls they should know how to catch the fat as it drips; that they should make cracknels and sausages, 305 force-meats, tit-bits, Lucanian sausages, with these 306 a sow's udder and iced 307 puddings?
Was it for this He sent souls, that beings 308 of a sacred and august race should here practise singing and piping ;
that they should swell out their cheeks in blowing the flute ;
that they should take the lead in singing impure songs, and raising the loud din of the castanets, 309 by which another crowd of souls should be led in their wantonness to abandon themselves to clumsy motions,to dance and sing, form rings of dancers, and finally, raising their haunches and hips, float along with a tremulous motion of the loins?
Was it for this He sent souls, that in men they should become impure,
in women harlots,
players on the triangle 310 and psaltery ; that they should prostitute their bodies for hire, should abandon themselves to the lust of all, 311 ready in the brothels, to be met with in the stews, 312 ready to submit to anything, prepared to do violence to their mouth even? 313
Rubel Shelly of Woodmont Hills has added a worship facilitator to train musical and drama teams to perform the worship for the congregation, perhaps incompetent to worship for themselves. All bold or other marks are this writers to connect certain phrases to comments and, we believe, do not change the sense of the original. Less you understand Rubel Shelly and Woodmont Hills to be neutral about instrumental music as worship, you may want to read Rubel Shelly's repudiation of the none use of instrumental music in worship. This, of course, is the step required before the use of musical worship teams could be presumed to have mediating power between God and the worshiper.THERE IS NO TRUTH IN ANY OF THE DEFENSES OF MUSIC AS WORSHIP.
I review this material by Tom Burgess because I was sent a copy of his book and asked to refute it. Other reviews:
A. Ralph Johnson in Instrumental Music, Sacred or Sinful.
1. Tom Burgess in Documents on Instrumental Music reviewed. Psallo and Instrumental Music: Proofs do not prove anything but the "music-homosexuality" connection.
See more on Strabo's definition of the worship of Apollo or Abaddon or Apollyon: his MUSES are the locusts or musical performers in the book of revelation.
2. Tom Burgess More Review of Plutarch: if Psallo authorizes "church music" it authorizes a homosexual gathering.
3. Tom Burgess on Moralia confirms the "Music-Heresy-Perversion" connection which has no historical exception. 10/20/04
4. Tom Burgess on John Chrysostom: are the anti-instrumentalists ignorant rurals? 10/21/04 What about Paul and Martin Luther and John Calvin and Zwingli and--everyone who believed the Bible as authority.
5. Tom Burgess on Kurfees versus Thayer and Grimm: Quotes from: G. C. Brewer, A Medley on the Music Question, Gospel Advocate, Nashville 1948. Burgess uses the same Krewson arguments. LATEST 11/06/05
Charles Daily Northwest College of the Bible Part One ..... Part One A .....Part Two ....
Musical and Charismatic all relate to the worship word, THRESKIA. This was invented by Orpheus and other "Greek god." This speaks of ANY ritual claimed to move you into God's presence. The musical produced effects create endorphins which cause the effectsof FIGHT, FLIGHT or SEXUALITY.
While Dr. Shelly proposes to preach only a "core gospel" he not only repudiates any presumed authority for not using instruments, he goes further and demands that they are the gift of God. At the same time, he declares on the side of A Capella for the "plenary" sessions of the church but allows them for other "non-worship" rituals.
However, at the Restoration Forum at Abilene Christian University (ACU), Dr. Shelly had already established a foundation hostile to the purely A Capella view by repudiating those who resist full fellowship with instrumental groups.
Dr. Shelly Also lays on the lash pretty severely against those who refuse to accept instrumental music in worship.
In the Web advertising for this worship minister, a scary statement is made:
"Work with the worship planning committee, the preaching minister and worship presentation groups (music, drama and technical) to facilitate group worship experiences which will help bring worshipers into the presence of God.
God made Himself manifest in the flesh because no man, no worship team, no preacher could redeem or be the intercessor.
And he (God) saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. Is.59:16
Paul was an apostle and he said:
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus 1Ti.2:5
Defining the nature of Christ, Alexander Campbell seems to prophetically warn against pretending to be either God or His agent. God's arm was His own Divine nature because no "second rate" member of the god family would work:
"Again, if the person sent, however highly exalted in relative dignity, were not more than a creature,
there would still remain an infinite distance between him and the Deity, so that
he could neither bring himself, nor any one else, nearer to God than his or their nature and circumstances had already placed them Alexander Campbell
Even musical churches are appalled at the rise of music to manipulate:
"The orthodox position on truth, or "sound doctrine" is being slowly undermined by a desire to build an earthly political kingdom, self-centred ministries and marketing the anointing. As a third generation Pentecostal, it is sad to see the inroads the New Age is making amongst our own ranks. Sadder still, Shepherds are too busy hooking up to the latest fad to realise that in the process they are selling the truth. Proverbs 23:23 tells us to Buy the truth and sell it not . . . God's truth is to be valued above thousands in gold and silver. (Psalm 119.72)
"When a high value is placed on personal experiences or revelations, Scriptures are then unscrupulously twisted and misquoted.
We find those who believe the feelings of a congregation must be hyped-up in order to `feel' the Presence of the Lord
or else the church is thought to be `dead.' ... music is used as a means of `connecting' or `feeling' the Presence of God. (p. 89) -->
"A key component of the Gnostic experience is the alteration of consciousness. Because the Gnostic is subjectively driven, the perception of God becomes something that hinges on feelings rather than faith. In order to improve upon the feelings, the use of additional mechanisms to create moods, especially the use of music, is frequently brought in. For more Click Here.
Presentation means "performance, commerce, naming of a clergyman to a benefice, the position of the fetus at the time of delivery.
Psychologically: anything known by sense perception rather than by description." (Webster)
. . . Turning inwards to a subjective location of God as indwelling, speaking, communing and guiding, in a MATERIALISTIC OR CONSCIOUS SENSE, is open to gravest danger; for upon this thought and belief, sedulously cultivated by the powers of darkness, the most serious deceptions of deceiving spirits have taken place. [War on the Saints, by Jesse Penn-Lewis, The Christian Literature Crusade, 1977]
In a similar model pervading the marriage of religion and commerce:
Worship leader: Full-time, paid. Recruiter of various types of indigenous (naturally produced kls) music. The primary responsibility is to recruit unchurched people who just happen to like singing, playing an instrument, being involved with drama, running the sound system, or generating computer graphics. From.
McClintock and Strong identify this as "the first heresy widely pervading the church."
"In competition with pagan musical art, congregational singing began to wane. Basil states that he had 'the Psalms rendered by skilled presenters after the manner of the triumphal Odes of Pindar, the congregation joining at the closing verse, with the accompaniment of lyres..." (Int Std Bible Ency, Psalms, p. 2494a)
All of this is the adoption of Catholic practices which were borrowed from legalistic Judaism and from Babylonian paganism. We remember Solomon's dedication of the temple God didn't want and could not live in. While the Levitical-Military musicians played a dark cloud filled the temple so that the priests could not minister. However, the people "outside the walls" offered their prayers to God without the priests and God heard from heaven.
Observers have noted that singing secular songs or sentimental poetry in church owes more to the publishers of song books than to the Biblical demand. For instance, the mode and source of singing in the young Americal Restoration Movement owes all to Alexander Campbell's song book without notes. Part of the battle began when other publishers put out similar songs with notes. In an interesting web page the writer notes that:
"There is no evidence that any hymns but those of Stennett were ever sung in any of the Sabbath-keeping churches of London in the seventeenth century. Considering the times, one might conclude that no singing at all was practiced in the General Baptist congregation that became known as Mill Yard. Pinner's Hall, a Particular Baptist congregation, may well have congregationally sung the Psalms from its founding.
The modern "switch and bait" form of performance worship in order to demonstrate the high spiritual nature of the performers and to entice them into becoming "dues paying members" is clearly a form of crass commercialism.
"The justification for the avoidance of congregational singing was that, since singing was an expression of faith, it was hypocritical to engage in singing in a public congregation which might include people present who made no profession of faith. The opposition to congregational singing was so strong in the 1690s that Stennett refers to it in the introduction to his hymnal, and goes to the length of asking another person to write a defense of the practice.
Stennett understood that almost 1700 years of church history had allowed no place for singing anything but Biblical Psalms. However, if his own songs were to be imposed he had to find someone else to make up a defense from the Bible. The point of the article is that singing, like prayer, is something one does for themselves. Can you imagine 8 hard-wired, amplified members of a worship team offering prayers just to attract the unbelievers. The evidence is that it would be hypocritical like "sounding your trumpets as you put something in the collection plate." The Arians used this with performance women singing down the streets to attract the masses to their new doctrine.
How about a Seeker Service Worship to put the best praying team on display? Won't they see how well we perform and want to become a dues paying member? How about a Prayer Worship Minister to facilitate or manipulate the congregation with prayer?
How about a choir or trumpet quartet acting like a pied piper to parade through Nashville so that the seekers can see us put our "contribution" into the preacher's pot? Well, I know what Jesus said but then I know what Paul said.
Jesus came to take these "burden laders" off the back of the "laity" so that they could worship God for themselves. Through his discussion of the Samaritan woman (she was not an evangelist), Jesus forever liberated everyone from worshiping at a certain place or having the worship performed for them by clergy:
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jn 4:20
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Jn 4:21
Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews. Jn 4:22
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. Jn 4:23
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Jn 4:24
The words "spirit, understanding and mind" are all related to the thinking ability of the brain God gave us. To worship in spirit is to worship in the mind. It is to worship according to the understanding which God as Spirit gave to us:
Spirit: Pneuma (g4151) pnyoo'-mah; from 4154; a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by anal. or fig. a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by impl.) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, doemon, or (divine) God, Christ's spirit, the Holy Spirit: - ghost, life, spirit (-ual, -ually), mind. Comp. 5590. (opposite rational soul)
Understanding: Dianoia (g1271) dee-an'-oy-ah; from 1223 and 3563; deep thought, prop. the faculty (mind or its disposition), by impl. its exercise: - imagination, mind, understanding.
Mind: Nous (g3563) nooce; prob. from the base of 1097; the intellect, i.e. mind (divine or human; in thought, feeling, or will); by impl. meaning: - mind, understanding. Comp. 5590. (opposite rational soul)
Worship is not something you or your team can do for me. I don't need you; I don't want you. Go away! Can you bow in reverence toward God and "get credit" for me? Of course not. Can you pray for me? Of course not. Can you sing for me? Of course not. Can you preach as an act of worship as something done to me and for me? Don't be silly.
My worship is something which only I can do. And if you are singing, chanting, dancing around, clapping your hands and acting as an effeminate, you literally destroy any hope that I have of coming before Him in silence. Worship is:
Proskuneo (g4352) pros-koo-neh'-o; from 4314 and a prob. der. of 2965 (mean. to kiss, like a dog licking his master's hand); to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (lit. or fig.) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore): - worship.
It is terminal arrogance to believe that with ceremonial legalism you can facilitate or manipulate or excite or exhilarate me into silent reverence for God. Liberal or conservative, you are not my intercessor. Only Lord Jesus Christ was God and can bring us into His presence. Everyone admits it: when the music begins you concentrate on the music and how it "meets your needs" and cannot really think of God. I know that you feel good but that is just a destructive drug high injected into you by musical, charismatic drug pushers to build up his own nest higher than others.
Indeed, can you love the Lord for me with your heart? Can you pray or sing in tongues (most modern songs) and make my understanding fruitful? No. Paul said that our prayers have to be in our own spirit or mind with our own understanding?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Mt.22:37
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. 1Co.14:14
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 1Co.14:15
Can you pray in the Holy Spirit for me? No. However, I can pray in my own mind or spirit as I watch with perseverance:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication (request) in the Spirit (silent, mental), and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Ep.6:18
Worship under the sacrificial law was a legal duty to avoid death. You worshiped in a place and you worshiped God with animal sacrifices. You always worshiped in a certain physical space. However, the new kingdom is a spiritual place. God dwells within the human mind or spirit.
That is the only place that you can meet Him now.
You cannot worship God in an external way unless service to others flows from your own mind or spirit. There is nothing which others can do to "facilitate" that. If you believe that the "chill up the back" when the effeminate choir injects you with endorphins is spiritual worship then you are a good prospect for the musical drug pushers.
Singing is not something you do for me or to me. Nor is it external with hundreds of watt of noise power. Spirit does not come out of new wineskins or effeminate chorusing. The Word is spoken to one another as the only source of Spirit:
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Eph 5:18
To be filled with the Spirit is not to be filled with a "little man in the big man." Rather, the parallel passage in Colossians make it clear that "spirit" is the Mind of Christ which comes from the Words of Christ:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Col 3:16 (Don't be childishly arrogant and presume to do that for me. God will get you!)
Jesus made it clear that spirit is His Mind or mental disposition which comes from His words of spirit and life:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Jn 6:63
Paul then wrote:
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Eph 5:19
We have shown in other fragments that melody in both Hebrew and Greek comes from very destructive roots. This is why Paul outlawed the old methods of external melody which was intended to abrade the enemy to death to take their inheritance or prune their vines to make them wither. Therefore, Paul puts the speaking external to one another and the melody is internal where it breaks or abrades our heart.
We now know that sound is generated and the electrical effect flows to many parts of the body. If you literally vibrate my brain in its cage then you are abrading (melodying) me to bits. However, If you speak the Words of Christ to me my own heart breaks and I fall down and worship. Scholars have always known this:
"The true, highest melody, however, is that which is sung without any voice. It resounds in the interior of man, is vibrating in his heart and in all his limbs. Isaac Loeb Peretz (1912). Click Here for the rest of the story.
Father, Son and Spirit are not the names of three co-equal persons or gods. Rather, it stands for Lord (God) Jeus (Son) Christ (Spirit anointed). To worship the Father, then the Son and then the Spirit "in their names" is blasphemy:
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Eph5:20
The church will continue on its downward spiral as long as certain men hire on as servants and attempt to be masters doing your thinking, your planning, your worshiping and your praise. Paul said that fools love to be fooled but we had better wake up.
Kenneth Sublett
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