All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
Worship fit for heaven ?
I was recently reading a book by my favorite author , A W Tozer, who made the statement
"I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven."
Many thoughts went through my mind after reading this. One could see this as very harsh or judgemental or as exactly how the Lord Himself see the situation or even somewhere between those extremes. I am simply curious as to others thoughts on this statement.
God bless
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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correction.. It is my mom she is talking about.. Mom's in a few of the pictures.
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Permalink Reply by Charles Burwell on
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Blankk
I can very well relate to your experiences about being 'scolded' (perhaps not the best word) for 'not worshipping the Lord'. It was a little disturbing to me because the minister actually distracted me from the communion I was having at the time by making his 'questionable' comments. They were similar to the one you were referring to.
I am just glad that the Lord has 'delivered me' (perhaps too extreme a word) from this mentallity. I have attended many different churches in 5 different parts of this country that I've lived in and have seen a lot of 'strange ways of worship and 'strange attitudes of people towards how others worship and am content and conviced that , as Richard said. I'm glad that it is God who is doing the only judging that is important.
I guess that is why most people I come in contact with now say (and I wholeheartedly agree) that we are being called into a personal relationship with God and not a membership in some systematic ritualized organization. Therefore God will deal with each of us as HE sees fit and will relate to us on a one to one basis and we,likewise, will relate Him one on one. After all we can only answer to Him for our own actions.
By the way I've seen a lot of people pushed down and 'thumped on the head very vigorously' under the presumption of 'annoiting' them. One lady actually fell backwards against a pew and had her arm in a sling for several weeks. Needless to say, I wasn't interested in them ' annointing ' me.
In regard to you comment about the wonderful experience you described at the end there. God is good andcan and will reach out to us when we have hummbled ourselves , as you did, towards Him.
God bless
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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Tozer's books are among my faves as well bro,
"I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven."
I think Tozer wasn't excluding those who are not passionate about worshiping God in their expression of worship, as unfit for heaven, but that they will get a shock of how Passionate we should be.
What a Glorious God we are called to worship- I think the Spirit guides every born again child to have a passion for worship, but as sis Carla mentioned the outer expression of that passionate worship may come in various flavors.
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David
I completely agree that Tozer wasn't excluding people who are not passionate about worshiping God in their expression of worship, as being unfit. I believe that Tozer is mainly (though not exclusively) reffering to those who see no "need" to worship irregardless of their "method" of worship. Such as the denominations who put all of the emphasis on the ceremonial rituals fo the church and don't stress the ' personal relationship' that God requires of us.
When we have this personal relationship with Him then all that we do will be a form of worship to Him and can and will, manifest itself in more diversified was than we can ever imagine.
God bless
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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I’m never bored by God and my worship of Him is diverse but I don't know if I'm ready for heaven. For instance, in my daily devotions, the more I study God, the more I see that I still know very little about Him compared to all that there is to know, and every truth that He does let me in on, only makes me hunger and thirst for more.
God reveals Himself to me through His creation, and God is very much involved with His creation. Learning facts like the sun is said to release as much energy every second as 100 billion nuclear bombs, and God created it, humbles me. God is mighty.
No, I could never find God boring. He is personal, not just a force or a power. In the OT, He acts and speaks and relates. In the NT, He chooses to reveal Himself in human form and Jesus said, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:7, ESV).
Church can be boring, but, in my experience, it’s usually been because of a “Pharisee” atmosphere.
Matthew 5:13 says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
Expression of emotions isn’t the whole definition of worship but there’s a tendency for people to think that a church service is “dry” without the emotions, such as joy and elation, that are often associated with praise, thanksgiving, and singing.
On the other hand, there are those who want to avoid church services because they aren’t comfortable with emotional demonstrations. Shouting and raising hands are expressions of emotions, the same as crying and laughing are.
People who don’t show emotions are often said to be boring. People who are too intellectual are said to be boring, too. What is true worship? Can we worship without emotions? Can we worship without intellectual knowledge? Yes. I believe so. But we must worship in spirit and truth.
23"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4
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Amanda
You have nade a very good point about the aspect of being ' boring". whether it is in the act of worship or in the individual worshipper. Church can also be boring when our minds are not where they should be (on the Lord alone that is) . I know this from way too much experience. God has to constantly deal with me about keeping the ' focus' on Him. We can be truly blessed in the most outwardly boring service if our focus is on the Lord.
Your point is also well taken about the part emotions play in worship. As many others have said here, an individuals emotions can manifest themselves in a multitude of different ways and none is really 'better' as long as it is, as you stated, in spirit and in truth.
I can relate to being stared at because I have not exhibited the amount of emotions others felt that I should. And I have seen people bragging about how ' emotional' they were during the service. I guess that was to be considered a sign of being more holy or something. I learned to simply ignore them and to get my concentration back where it is supposed to be. God can deal with them if He feels the need to.
"Can we worship without emotions?" I suppose that we could. However , when the Lord really manifests (perhaps not the best word) Himself to me personally I have a great deal of trouble not becoming very emotional whether anyone can tell it or not. I have learned not really care what others may think. I don't mean I don't care about peoples concerns or opinions, I simply mean that my relationship with the Lord is a personal one and I am confident that He can get His point across to me whatever way He wants to and that ,as long as He doesn't convict me of something I'm not going to worry too much about it.
God bless and thanks for your comments
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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Charles,
Which book is the comment found in (Chapter and page would be great as I have many of his books)? I would like to get the context of the comment as Tozer rarely viewed worship as anything less than a complete lifestyle that is in awe of God, unlike most who think that worship is the singing time at church.
Lord Bless,
LT
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LT,
"....worship as anything less than a complete lifestyle that is in awe of God."
Amen and Amen.
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Permalink Reply by Richard L. Broch, Sr. on
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Charles,
Your words - Needless to say, I wasn't interested in them "anointing" me.
I'm still LOL.
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Permalink Reply by Colby on
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The quote that Charles posted is found on page 13 of Tozer's book "Whatever Happened to Worship?: A Call to True Worship."
L.T. hit the nail on the head summing up Tozer's understanding that worship is nothing less than "a complete lifestyle that is in awe of God."
In "Whatever Happened to Worship?," Tozer defined worship: "True worship of God must be a constant and consistent attitude or state of mind within the believer."
Here are some more Tozer quotes from the same book:
- "But really, my brother or sister, we are brought to God and to faith and to salvation that we might worship and adore Him.
- I believe a local church exists to do corporately what each Christian believer should be doing individually— and that is to worship God.
- Men and women on this earth ought never to fool themselves about the reality of true worship that must always be in spirit and in truth.
- How can anyone ever worship God acceptably without knowing what kind of God He really is.
- God is trying to call us back to that for which He created us--to worship Him and to enjoy Him forever! It is then, out of our deep worship, that we do His work."
- "But really, my brother or sister, we are brought to God and to faith and to salvation that we might worship and adore Him.
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