Multi-faceted worship

Last Friday I had the oppurtunity to finally attend theMILL (New Life Church's college ministry here in the springs). I had been looking forward to it for some quite time as it had been weeks since I had actually had the chance to attend. One thing theMILL is known for is absolutely amazing worship times. Indeed it was no disappointment. "Small" and "intimate" are not words that describe worship times at theMILL. Rather, words like "rowdy" and "powerful" more appropriately characterize it.

I love how worship has many different dimensions to it.

Worship is indeed a gateway to taking us into the presence of God. No doubt there are days where my God time simply doesn't get started without sung worship streaming through my headphones.

Others, worship is a true manifestation of where our walk with Christ is on that given day... things he's shown us and us echoing back to Him the love He's poured on us. These are the days where it feels as though we simply can't contain the love that God has given us and we absolutely have to sit at His throne and worship, less we will explode. These days are especially great and I'm quite confident God is especially keen of us capitolizing on these days with song and dance.

But there's one element that I think is mis-interpreted quite frequently in the church and that is the idea that we are putting on a concert for God everytime we gather for worship. I don't think it's any secret that God loves music. Nearly every instance where heaven is mentioned in the bible a mentioning of trumpets and music follows shortly thereafter. Or how about David? The guy after God's own heart!... obsessed with song and dance for the Lord. He even devoted vast amounts of Israel's resources to having people that played music 24 hours a day in his tabernacle. So if it's no secret as to how much God loves music, why are we so hesitant to put song and dance on the top of our list of things to do really well? I for one want God to look down on our times worship and be captivated by the show we're putting on. That means giving all we have whether it be resources, time or just a completely devoted heart.

If you talk to any performing musician they will tell you that they feed off of the crowd. The better the crowd is into it, the better the artist is into it. We as worshippers have the most committed crown of all time: The God of the Ages! The crowd is waiting, and He wants the greatest encore ever! Let's give it to Him.