So the title is sorta cryptic, but it is what I want to talk about: the phenoma of Tim Tebow. The celebrity-obsessed nature in man is shown at its absolute worst and its absolute best when people talk about Tim Tebow. This entry is a response to a long facebook conversation about Tim Tebow as a "Pharisee".
Now, why would someone who wants to blog to young Christians bring him up. Well, one major reason is that there is a large amount of evangelical missionic fundamentalism in Tim. Those big words basically sum up his background: grew up in the Phillippines with his evangelical Christian missionary parents and grew up with a very real and active faith being preached and spoken about in his home. This upbringing where faith is prominent and ingrained is something I completely understand, well, short of the international missionary work piece.
I see Tim Tebow wear his faith on his sleeve and when you do this it seeps into everything you do. Tebow is a man of faith that plays football. That does not make him special. Take Ray Lewis a man of great faith who wears his faith on his sleeve, most people smile and move on. But, what is it with Tim that when he prays the camera zooms in and singles him out. I submit to you that the reaction to Tebow is mostly racial. It is because the NFL is approximately 70% African-American players people take for granted their faith heritage. Even when there were devout Muslim prayers fasting through Ramadan the reaction to them were muted. Faith to African-Americans has generally been taken for granted, because everybody "knows" Jesus and "goes to church". So when Maurice Jones-Drew, Larry Fitzgerald, Ray Lewis, or even Demarius Thomas of the Denver Broncos point to the sky or cross themselves or pray there is nothing said because that is "who" they are.
But let this young white quarterback kneel and pray it gets a new nickname "Tebowing". No my friends its called praying and its been around for a loooooong time. Again, post-modernism in America has been predominantly "white" and faith has been rationalized out of the intellectual circles, where access is mostly monochromatic. When celebrities express faith it is usually rationalized or glossed over. Tebow is scrutinized both for his faith (which is on his sleeve) and his play on the field. Never before have we really seen a young white quarterback who is so up-front about faith and his relationship with Christ. So the world does what the world always does, picks the person apart as they lift them on a pedastal. A friend offered some verses in Matthew as a judgement against Tebow: "5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:5-6 ESV).
So I want to close this with some encouraging exegesis. In the context of these verses Christ is comparing the walk that he desires a follower of his to have and the walk of a Pharisee. Remember that this is still the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus wants to make clear that there should be a difference between the motives of a disciple and the motives of a Pharisee. This is to be taken on two different levels: 1) Maintaining a private relationship with Christ is preferred to a deliberately public one; 2) But, do not avoid opportunities to express your faith not for the glory of man but for the purposes and glory of Chirst. Using this scripture to judge Tebow or anyone else is incomplete revelation. Christ says repeatedly to not be ashamed, David says in the Psalms repeated that he will make the name of God glorious, countless other examples. Remember, that our responsibility is to not become hypocrites. Hypocrisy is the sin and hypocrisy is rooted not only in our actions but our motivations which only God can judge. I admire Tebow for working very hard at humility in the face of superstardom. My prayer that all of us would learn to do the same in the face of life. Humility is knowing our abilities and our value but then yielding to a God who has all power and knowledge to direct our lives.
There is more but just a few thoughts:
Ernest
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Monday, July 5, 2010
Ten Insights About Worship (1-5)
Well, I am thankfully back with some God-Given Insights. When I took the position of lead musician of the Wake Forest Gospel Choir in May, 2006...I spent the next summer praying deeply about what I gotten myself into. As the summer wore on, God never directly revealed what I would encounter in my new position of leadership, but He affirmed things that I had learned that hard way. It was a season of flashes of journaling and logging what I have learned and what I had gathered from studying and spending time with God. What came out of this is ten insights about worship and the life of a worshiper.
- Worship is NOT a song: Worship in the church has been reduced to a song or singing or playing an instrument, but biblically that is not the case. Although the musical craft is a major part of the corporate and the private moments of worship, it is not the width, depth, or breadth of worship. God wants our lives to be worship, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Rom 12:1 ESV)"
- Worship is NOT a service: I grew up believing that my worship was really comprised what happened in church. But, really the corporate worship experience is the beneficiary of what I offer in my life outside the church. The depth of my experience corporately is connected to what I offer God when only he is watching.
- Worship is NOT a style, tempo, or display of musical skill: I think this is one of the biggest misnomers in the Church. Worship music is slower and Praise music is faster. WRONG, music that has been produce with the heart to worship, magnify, edify, glorify God is all worshipful. The music that I choose to worship God with I chose taking it account musical style and tempo and the excellence of craft; but if the heart of worship is not in it, the music is nice noise. As a worship leader, excellence of my offering is my goal, but I have to place my heart and my focus on God and what HE has done.
- Worship is NOT a moment: Tied to worship is not a service, worship needs to be boundless and perceived as outside of time and flowing in and through my life. Why? because it was begun in eternity. The Angels (Seraphims and Cherubims) are around the throne of God as we speak worshiping in heaven (Isaiah 6; The Book of Revelations), which is timeless and boundless. Our lives can be shaped and fed by boundless worship that is not constrained to a time limit.
- Worship is egalitarian: Worship is egalitarian, meaning it is demanded of all God's creation. Praise and worship is what we were designed for. With the very image and life of God inside of us, we seek out something to worship. Theologians have called a God-sized void. I believe that, and that's why worship is egalitarian. We are all seeking God, regardless of our races, creeds, color, economic position. God expects HIS sons and daughters to worship him and to honor him and to love him.
Peace for now...I will finish the list tomorrow. God bless.
Ernest
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Why I Worship
I have been thinking about why I have kinda left this blog undone. There are two main reasons: 1) Lack of motivation; 2) Lack of direction. Those two reasons will kill anything that one sets out to do. Anyway, I have been praying about this and contemplating/reminding myself why I started this thing in the first place. I wanted to impart some knowledge and insights about worship to younger brothers and sisters in Christ.
So to start this thing back up I wanted to talk about three reasons why I worship.
So to start this thing back up I wanted to talk about three reasons why I worship.
- I worship God because He has revealed part of Himself to us. It would be impossible to worship anything without an experience with it. Follow the course of human history and man has been directed in worship of something because it experienced something that it could not understand. Zeus, Ra, Isis, Osiris (gods/goddesses of lightning, sun, moon, death respectively; also all were crafted with human characteristics) all are experienced by man and so is Jehovah God (cf. Romans 1:18-21).
- I worship because God loves me and loves me in a way that I cannot even love myself. His love for me transcends space and time and my own personal depravity. I look at the world and see the horror of man and yet see the greater grace of God. The Heavenly Father watches over His children and offers us invitations to sit at His table and to be free to love on Him. Once I can receive his love worship comes naturally.
- I worship God because I have access to Him through Christ. God gave His law to the Children of Israel, but they hoarded it and did not live it. His law was to grant them prosperity and fullness of life but because of our inability to keep it. God sent Jesus to fulfill the expectation of the law which was death. Through His life, Christ kept the law and with his death and spilled blood he fulfilled the law. I have freedom to worship and to chase after Him.
Till next time,
Ernest
All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
(Mat 11:27 ESV)
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Motive-Centric Worship
I have a Top-Ten-type list on the way...but as I was attracted to something that was said in an earlier entry. I mentioned a concept that I have not fully developed and it is what I called "Motive-centric Worship."
John 4:24--was a scripture used as a description of what our worship should look like...but never was fully explained. Jesus says to the woman at the well that, "God is a Spirit and those that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." But, here's an insight, Jesus is responding to the woman's question about worship being tied to location and Jesus gives a law of His Kingdom that worship will no longer be location-centric as under the law, but motive-centric. God is looking at our motives in worship and our willingness to make our worship completely about Him.
When I was a younger Christian (not an age-related thing) I found myself drawn to many stories in the bible and the exchange with the woman at the well and Jesus has always fascinated me. My fascination is not rooted in Jesus proving himself as a prophet or even the woman getting it but it is rooted in verses 19-24. The conversation takes a divine right-hand turn from Jesus digging in the woman's past to worship. I wonder if the woman sensed something more in the presence of Jesus that compelled her to talk about the mount of worship of her fathers (vs. 20). Jesus gives a quick prophetic lesson on salvation in response. Basically making it clear that there is an hour that her location for worship will be trumped by the motivation and the heart of her worship. Paul in Ephesians talks about the covenant the God had with the Jews that allowed them to be considered the chosen, but the Jews used that to become elitist and exclusionary. It is in the grafting in of the Gentiles through Christ (Ephesians 2:8; 14; 3:6) that granted us access beyond the temple.
In the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant the tabernacle (tent of worship) was the contact point of the presence of God demonstrated through the Ark of the Covenant. In the New Covenant the point of contact to the presence of God is The Holy Spirit (Acts 2). In the presence of the Holy Spirit honest and true motives are integral and important (don't get it twisted that motives were not important under the old covenant...check the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4). This is particularly evident in the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Our motives matter more to God than our expression in our worship (widow's mite, Ananias and Sapphira). God is looking for his Church to check its motives when we worship...shed our religiousity and our pompousity and judgmental natures. The motives of God's people matter and our breakthrough and deliverance is connected to them. No longer is our worship tied to a location but to the omnicient, omnipresent and omnipotent God that has done radical things to save and transform us.
God Bless until Next Time (Happy 2010!!),
Ernest
John 4:24--was a scripture used as a description of what our worship should look like...but never was fully explained. Jesus says to the woman at the well that, "God is a Spirit and those that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." But, here's an insight, Jesus is responding to the woman's question about worship being tied to location and Jesus gives a law of His Kingdom that worship will no longer be location-centric as under the law, but motive-centric. God is looking at our motives in worship and our willingness to make our worship completely about Him.
When I was a younger Christian (not an age-related thing) I found myself drawn to many stories in the bible and the exchange with the woman at the well and Jesus has always fascinated me. My fascination is not rooted in Jesus proving himself as a prophet or even the woman getting it but it is rooted in verses 19-24. The conversation takes a divine right-hand turn from Jesus digging in the woman's past to worship. I wonder if the woman sensed something more in the presence of Jesus that compelled her to talk about the mount of worship of her fathers (vs. 20). Jesus gives a quick prophetic lesson on salvation in response. Basically making it clear that there is an hour that her location for worship will be trumped by the motivation and the heart of her worship. Paul in Ephesians talks about the covenant the God had with the Jews that allowed them to be considered the chosen, but the Jews used that to become elitist and exclusionary. It is in the grafting in of the Gentiles through Christ (Ephesians 2:8; 14; 3:6) that granted us access beyond the temple.
In the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant the tabernacle (tent of worship) was the contact point of the presence of God demonstrated through the Ark of the Covenant. In the New Covenant the point of contact to the presence of God is The Holy Spirit (Acts 2). In the presence of the Holy Spirit honest and true motives are integral and important (don't get it twisted that motives were not important under the old covenant...check the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4). This is particularly evident in the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Our motives matter more to God than our expression in our worship (widow's mite, Ananias and Sapphira). God is looking for his Church to check its motives when we worship...shed our religiousity and our pompousity and judgmental natures. The motives of God's people matter and our breakthrough and deliverance is connected to them. No longer is our worship tied to a location but to the omnicient, omnipresent and omnipotent God that has done radical things to save and transform us.
God Bless until Next Time (Happy 2010!!),
Ernest
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Why the Grand Pause?
The "Grand Pause" in the midst of this process honestly came form the fact that I wilted in front of the challenge. I had big dreams and desires, but I really didn't plan for the struggle within myself to complete the task. But, thanks be to God that he is faithful to me and to all of his children that when we fall he does not leave us.
Please understand that this a recommittal to the idea and the dream that I believe that God had this blog to be. So...stay tune folks!! There is more on the way!!
Ernest
Please understand that this a recommittal to the idea and the dream that I believe that God had this blog to be. So...stay tune folks!! There is more on the way!!
Ernest
Monday, September 14, 2009
Who Are You and Why Are You Doing This Now?
Who Am I and Why Am I Doing This Now?
A wonderful pair of questions (I am glad you asked them). I am going to answer them out of order. I am doing this at the urging of God. In my quiet time, I have really felt that I needed to share some of the things that I learned about worship and worshiping. Many of which I was never taught although I believe many of the things that I am going to explore with this blog I deeply believe need to be much more explicitly explained. I am also doing this because I do not ever want to ever take for granted that which I have learned through leading and walking with Christ and others.
Who I am, is a young man who is a worshiper and has been blessed to lead in several arenas. But my qualifications are irrelevant (not unimportant, just irrelevant). Their irrelevance is because God does the calling and the promoting in His Kingdom [see 1st Peter 5:6-7]. He calls and qualifies us to positions and posts as He wills and because of that it is God that defines one's qualifications.
But, my faith story does birth my perspective on worship so here is the "Cliff Notes" Version: I accepted Christ at a young age in New Horizon Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Maryland. I was surrounded by a mother and aunts who were strong in the faith. I moved to North Carolina at 5 and joined a church with a powerful teacher/preacher (Rev. McLaughlin). I still consider him my spiritual father. I loved going to church and experiencing church, but the reasons why we worship were never made clear. As I grew up, music became an obvious love and passion. This was cultivated in my participation in a touring Boys Choir. While a member of this choir I had the opportunity to experience many different corporate worship styles (which augmented my Black Baptist roots). Those experiences expanded my view of worship. (I press pause here [mini-exegesis moment]: John 4:24--was a scripture used as a description of what our worship should look like...but never was fully explained. Jesus says to the woman at the well that, "God is a Spirit and those that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." But, here's an insight, Jesus is responding to the woman's question about worship being tied to location and Jesus gives a law of His Kingdom that worship will no longer be location-centric as under the law, but motive-centric. God is looking at our motives in worship and our willingness to make our worship completely about Him. More on that to come soon...) As I have grown older, God has opened many opportunities to lead and in that learn more about worship. I have been a church musician, worship leader, choir director, music minister, organist, choir member, and in every role and every place and season God has placed me He has been faithful to teach and humble me. That is what has brought me here.
A wonderful pair of questions (I am glad you asked them). I am going to answer them out of order. I am doing this at the urging of God. In my quiet time, I have really felt that I needed to share some of the things that I learned about worship and worshiping. Many of which I was never taught although I believe many of the things that I am going to explore with this blog I deeply believe need to be much more explicitly explained. I am also doing this because I do not ever want to ever take for granted that which I have learned through leading and walking with Christ and others.
Who I am, is a young man who is a worshiper and has been blessed to lead in several arenas. But my qualifications are irrelevant (not unimportant, just irrelevant). Their irrelevance is because God does the calling and the promoting in His Kingdom [see 1st Peter 5:6-7]. He calls and qualifies us to positions and posts as He wills and because of that it is God that defines one's qualifications.
But, my faith story does birth my perspective on worship so here is the "Cliff Notes" Version: I accepted Christ at a young age in New Horizon Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Maryland. I was surrounded by a mother and aunts who were strong in the faith. I moved to North Carolina at 5 and joined a church with a powerful teacher/preacher (Rev. McLaughlin). I still consider him my spiritual father. I loved going to church and experiencing church, but the reasons why we worship were never made clear. As I grew up, music became an obvious love and passion. This was cultivated in my participation in a touring Boys Choir. While a member of this choir I had the opportunity to experience many different corporate worship styles (which augmented my Black Baptist roots). Those experiences expanded my view of worship. (I press pause here [mini-exegesis moment]: John 4:24--was a scripture used as a description of what our worship should look like...but never was fully explained. Jesus says to the woman at the well that, "God is a Spirit and those that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." But, here's an insight, Jesus is responding to the woman's question about worship being tied to location and Jesus gives a law of His Kingdom that worship will no longer be location-centric as under the law, but motive-centric. God is looking at our motives in worship and our willingness to make our worship completely about Him. More on that to come soon...) As I have grown older, God has opened many opportunities to lead and in that learn more about worship. I have been a church musician, worship leader, choir director, music minister, organist, choir member, and in every role and every place and season God has placed me He has been faithful to teach and humble me. That is what has brought me here.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Beginnings
This the beginning of a blog that hopefully that will be the seeds of a book. I am writing to my younger brothers and sisters in Christ. God has laid this reality on my heart, "The seeds of every great revival was planted in truthful and passionate worship."
I have this heart because I have been in choirs, in musical leadership in church from a young age and I never was taught why we worship, why we are called to worship, what is worshipping in "spirit and in truth" and most of the integral things about worship. I have grown into believing that many people do not really know themselves. Thankfully, God has put me into many different situations and and given me many opportunities to find out what worship is and what it isn't. Now, I feel God has given me the heart to share what I have learned with as many as I can.
Let me make this clear, just because I am sharing what I have learned and what God has revealed doesn't mean that I am perfect or I have the comprehension of the entire spectrum of worship. Just as Paul says to the Church in Philippi, "Not that I have already obtained this (knowing Christ in the fulness of his sufferings and his resurrection) or am already perfect... (Phil. 3:12)" I am a young man with a God-given heart to teach other young people about worship and the God that calls us to worship him. I challenge you to take the journey with me. I write this with a great faith that revival is on the way and it will wash over young and old.
Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4:23-24, "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is a spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth (ESV)." I believe that God is looking at the church and is waiting for us to find the reasons to worship freely and with passion. This is my heart to help my generation and younger to find those reasons.
I have this heart because I have been in choirs, in musical leadership in church from a young age and I never was taught why we worship, why we are called to worship, what is worshipping in "spirit and in truth" and most of the integral things about worship. I have grown into believing that many people do not really know themselves. Thankfully, God has put me into many different situations and and given me many opportunities to find out what worship is and what it isn't. Now, I feel God has given me the heart to share what I have learned with as many as I can.
Let me make this clear, just because I am sharing what I have learned and what God has revealed doesn't mean that I am perfect or I have the comprehension of the entire spectrum of worship. Just as Paul says to the Church in Philippi, "Not that I have already obtained this (knowing Christ in the fulness of his sufferings and his resurrection) or am already perfect... (Phil. 3:12)" I am a young man with a God-given heart to teach other young people about worship and the God that calls us to worship him. I challenge you to take the journey with me. I write this with a great faith that revival is on the way and it will wash over young and old.
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