Worship Walk

Introduction Laying the Foundation worship Worship changes who we are as we pursue who God is. Music has always been a powerful medium to carry the truth of who God is to the masses. It has always been a rich and profound tool to engage the gathered church in expressing corporate praise and worship to God. Music, by its nature, has the ability to engage our hearts – our emotions along with our intellect – in expressing the truth of the relationship between God and humanity. And thereby has found a clear and concise place in our understanding of what it means to gather together to worship God. No church service, anywhere in the world, in any culture or language group is seen as complete without the inclusion of song. Today, particularly in the North American church, we have focused so much energy on the power of music within our weekly services that we have, inadvertently, begun equating music with worship. Well meaning, God-honouring men and women engage in bitter battles with their brothers and sisters in the Lord over the “best” style of expressing worship in song. Believers begin switching churches based on music styles because they have developed a desire to worship in a particular musical fashion. Musical renovation – while not a bad thing to consider in and of itself – has often become the foundation for renewing the church. While we desire and pray for renewal within our churches, we often take our eyes off God and look to music to be that which ignites renewal when, historically, it is renewal that ignites new forms and styles of musical worship. Music and worship are not synonymous. True worship changes us. When God draws us into his presence we cannot remain the same. When the image of the invisible God momentarily crosses our senses we are undone – completely decimated by the wonder of a God who gives us the privilege of an audience. At the moment we encounter God, trivialities of possession, position or prominence diminish. We want nothing for ourselves – only what we can give to him. Light, life and love become centred in harmony with who he is and what he desires. This is a romance which is totally focused on the object of our affection. Self is consumed within our desire to please him. Desire and passion remain unfulfilled without him receiving pleasure from our lips and lives. Our lives are renewed and refreshed as we focus on giving God praise – giving him what he is worthy to receive. God is the almighty creator. Creation declares his praise. From the rising of the sun to its setting – all creation praises his name. God proclaims his presence at all times – inviting us to see him, to recognize his imprint everywhere – in everything he has made and continues to cause to exist. As the worshippers’ vision changes they begin to recognize those imprints and extend praise to God – worshipping him out of the breadth of their lives. Music, like God’s creation, is a powerful tool to help open us up to worshipping him. Because music engages our emotions it has the ability to draw us into a sensory experience of understanding and expressing the wonder of who God is. That expression is more than just intellectual assent to what we have come to know to be true. It becomes a deeper interaction between what we know and how we have begun to experience that reality – it impacts our emotional responses to that truth. Renewal comes from worship. True worship happens when we recognize and respond to the power and love of our God. True worship comes from our gratitude to a Saviour who died so that we might live. True worship comes from our hearts poised in reverent humility, understanding that Jesus sent his Spirit to comfort and encourage us, to live in and with us as our guide, helper and friend. Worship encompasses all of us – our emotions, our intellects, our relationships, our working lives, our play. Our corporate expression of worship invites renewal when we focus on God – not on style, not on format, not on ritual. Our private expression of worship invites personal renewal when we begin to see God interacting with us in our lives, our work and our relationships. For fifteen years we had a family pet – a border-collie/blue-healer dog. Many times as I walked our dog in the early morning, the wonder of God’s creation drew me in. Seeing the snail slowly carrying his home with him as he crosses the path; discovering the bush rabbit nibbling on vegetation in the underbrush or watching a spider spin an incredible mosaic web; all these and more invited my recognition of a powerful creator God, inviting me to extend my praise to him – even through the activity of walking our dog. It was during those walks with our dog that I began to explore the awesome ways in which God makes his presence known to his creation. God began to teach me to recognize his works, his attributes, his qualities and his characteristics – inviting my worship in all of life. As he would open up my eyes, thoughts, heart and mind to the multiplicity of ways in which he involves himself in life, my paradigm of worship began to change. I began to understand that God desired my life to be given in worship to him. He wanted me to walk with him daily and to worship him beyond Sunday morning – beyond the music and the message to the whole of my life. This book is entitled Worship Walk: Where Worship and Life Intersect. I believe God desires our lives to reflect an intimate, daily relationship with him. In Acts 4:13 the high priest and members of the Jewish council interviewed Peter and John after they had healed the crippled man sitting by the temple. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. The disciples had walked with Jesus daily. He not only taught them of the truth of their heavenly Father, he taught them how to live from day to day as they walked alongside him. Jesus wants to walk with us in the whole of our lives – not just the segments or fragments we set aside for him. As we walk with him each day and invite him to interact with us in our daily duties and tasks – in the exciting and the mundane – he begins to draw us to a kind of worship that isn’t dependent on time, place or position – that isn’t dependent on music, message or ritual. He draws us to worship him in the journey of life – to walk with him, interact with him, engage with him and gain greater understanding of who he is among us and in us – and so reflect more of him to a world that desperately needs to see Jesus. He invites us to a walk of worship. And it is more than just about music and message. Many people have encouraged me to write this book. It’s a daunting task – especially when I see the collection of books and articles already written. Part of me sighs and agrees with King Solomon, who writes in Ecclesiastes 12:12: “But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.” (NAS) I am writing in obedience to a call of God – a call that is, in essence, the centre of Make Us Holy – the ministry I began and have served under since 1994. I desire that men and women, young people and children return to worship with reverence, awe, joy and enthusiasm. I desire that through prayer, discipleship and worship Christians may influence their friends, their neighbours, their cities and nations to become worshippers of the true God through his son, Jesus Christ. I desire that believers everywhere would be given eyes to see the glory of our God interacting with us each day, recognizing his imprint in each activity, and extending their lives as a fragrant offering of praise to him who is holy and worthy of our praise.