Odd Ideas

Originally posted August 16th, 2008

I used to think this was something that “really good Christians” did. I have different ideas now.

I was forwarded this e-mail “invitation” (or whatever it is) by a friend looking for my opinion. It was originally from a group of people looking for “Levitical Worshippers” (hey, I’ve got a worship theme going two posts in a row!).

Seems that they are into getting people to go to these all night prayer and worship events, having designated locations for constant worship, etc… Although it might not be for everybody, how can I (or anybody else) find fault in this?

I think their intentions are good, they want to “seek God”, but maybe they are missing the point. Just a little. Or maybe a bit more than a little.

The way the “invitation” is worded, it sounds like a very strong, and Biblical, reasoning for doing this. Kind of makes you think that the people who do this are some kind of “Super Christians”, somehow set apart to worship God. The modern Levites themselves!
The top of the e-mail quotes Leviticus 6:12 “The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously. It must not go out.”

Guess what? That IS what it says in Leviticus! But, I wonder, what does that have to do with prayer and worship in our context?

The “fire” in this scripture is a literal fire, that a specific group of people at a specific point in time were told to tend. Trying to take this verse and apply it to something else, with a different group of people at a different time in a different culture, and a different religion just doesn’t make sense! Anyway… back to the e-mail.

At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi
to carry the ark of the covenant of Yahweh
to stand before Yahweh to minister to him
and to bless in his name, to this day.
(Deut. 10:8)

This is the next biblical quote in the e-mail. Again, this is referring to the tribe of Levi… a specific tribe of Israel. The words “to this day” seem to me to refer to the time that the book of Deuteronomy was written. Interesting history, good to read and understand, but doesn’t necessarily apply to us, now, in Canada. What this has to do with Canadians (or whoever) going to all night prayer and worship in a non-Jewish culture is beyond me!
And – if it does apply to us (let’s give it the benefit of the doubt) – how do we “minister” to Yahweh (God)? What did Jesus say? “What you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” Want to minister to God? Go minister to “the least of these”!

Standing in a room with a pile of other Christians and yelling, crying and screaming at God about stuff He already knows must be pretty insulting to God. At least the God I know.

These people need to get their heads out of the sand. This is the very reason we DON’T see a revival, because they are too busy hiding out in “Christian” gatherings, thinking that they are the chosen ones who will bring revival.

Jesus never told us to do that. Jesus said we are all equals. Nobody is more “chosen” than anybody else. Why do Christians waste their time on stuff that Jesus never bothered with?

Easy answer? Because if you create these clubs and gatherings of “super Christians”, you can pat each other on the back as to how good of a Christian you are, and wouldn’t it be nice if the world would just “get it”…

Going out and doing what Jesus told us to do is hard, and it isn’t fun, and you might have to actually develop friendships (real ones – not just “pretend friendships” so they will come to church), and the leaders of the churches won’t like you (just like the Pharisees didn’t like Jesus).

Real revival will start, one person at a time, when Christians get OUT of the church and their private clubs and start loving and helping people, and stop thinking that they are somehow better or “chosen” because they go to all night prayer meetings.

Ok… I think I feel better now!

Originally posted August 15th, 2008

Heather has an interesting post on her site talking about the lyrics of some of the worship songs that are so popular in churches nowadays.

She talks about how so many of the songs seem to regard Jesus as our boyfriend in some bizarre way, and the ensuing discussion delves into the erotic undertones of many of the songs.

As Heather says: “You know the ones – you could just as easily substitute the word Jesus (if it’s even mentioned) for the name of your significant other and use them for the purposes of serenades.”

Maybe that’s why more women than men seem to enjoy singing at church. How many men do you know who like singing love songs to men?

Near the end of her post, she concludes:
“In actuality, all they are is really a bunch of mushy words that are designed to evoke our emotions and make us feel good.”

I remember reading about this same topic somewhere else a while ago – and how we seem to confuse the analogy of the Church (as a whole) being the “bride of Christ”, and somehow mutate that to think that we as individuals have to act like prospective brides and sing sappy love songs.

It’s SO good to see that not everybody thinks that way!

Originally posted August 11th, 2008

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, my life, and my thinking, has changed a lot over the past few years. This is the result of a combination of different factors: living in a foreign country helping orphans for three years, re-reading my Bible (with new eyes), seeing the problems and abuse in some churches from a new perspective, as well the books and blogs I have been reading.

It has been good to know that I am not the only one going through this, and the many blogs I have been reading have been a great encouragement… but, where it leaves me (and the others on this same journey), is an uncomfortable position.

This is why Barb has decided on her blog that maybe such blogs need a “DISCLAIMER” to warn people of what might happen… This is part of her proposed disclaimer:
“Beware all who land on this site. This site may enable you to see truth for the first time. Seeing truth may be just what you are looking for but you need to be careful. Once you have tasted truth you will never be able to stomach lies. You are on dangerous ground if you ever want to fit into the established system.”