Pastorscott is busy helping his wife with a baby on the way, but he posted this blog over at his site.  It's a good one, and I figured I'd repost it here.  Pay close attention, because there's some really good stuff in here.

Hang on cause this might hurt . . .

Yesterday morning as I was driving to church to prepare for the service, I was spending sometime with the Lord and I had the following encounter with Him.

I began to meditate on the worship and practices that took place in the tabernacle. I could see in my mind’s eye the hustle and bustle of the outer court; the animals bleating and screeching, the loud cries of worshippers, the smells of burning sacrifices rising in the gritty desert air, blood being spilled, priests assiting the high priest prepare to enter the Holy of Holies, washing and burning incense, the blood being splattered on the Mercy Seat of the Ark - loud, intense, and really messy stuff. I mean can you imagine, the loud crys of praise, the overwhelming lament at times, the striking of blades into the flesh of animals, the acrid smoke - not your average, comfortable worship service.

I bet you, nobody left the tabernacle, the “house of worship”, and said, “that was nice . . .” or “gee, I really enjoyed those songs today” or even things like “I didn’t like the scripture reading today”. Ever heard or felt any of things at your church? In modern, western Christianity, we easily fall into spectator sport church. We sing and raise our hands when it’s like we like, we shout amen when it tickles our ears. Are we pressing in even when we don’t like it? Are we receiving into our hearts a sharp convicting challenge even when it’s hard to swallow?

I heard Jonathan Helser say one time, “worship is messy and it offends humans”. I don’t want a nice service. I don’t want to be satisfied with songs that people enjoy. I don’t want to be comfortable. I want to press into the Holy Place where the God of the Universe purifies by fire and loves with passion. I want to offer songs for His renown and glorify His name. I want to fear the Lord and be drawn to the deeper place.

I want to see the body, His bride, rise and declare the Glory of the Lord. To call out to the nations with abandon that He is mighty to save, He loves us, He is near!

I don’t want nice . . .

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For more, go here: http://www.higherplaceministries.com/

Hi Gang,

Most of you don't know me, but my prayer is that over time we will be able to, as a community sharing the common bonds of metal music, get to know one another and explore aspects of worship together.  5minutes and I go waaaay back, it's kind of scary actually.  I am a fan from the early days of Christian Metal and music has had a profound impact on my life, work, passions, and faith.

For a first post, I thought I would pose some  questions.  We are, after all, individuals with preferences, experiences, and expressions.

We will, over time, dig through the scriptures and take a look at worship, it's role, and it's impact (spiritually and physically), but for fun let's see what you think.

1. What are your preferences in worship?  Do preferences matter?

2. How has Metal influenced your worship?

3. What are some of your expressions of worship and why?

4. What is the daily role of worship in your life?

I look forward to talking with you all and seeing what God has in store.

Blessings,

Higher Place

It's such a simple reason: we worship God because He is God.  But what does that really mean?  What is worship?  What does it mean when we say that we worship Him because He is God?  How do we worship Him? 

That's why we have this area.  We're going to talk about worshipping God - the whys, the what's, and the how's - and we're going to do it in a way that shows that worship isn't just reciting choruses in church - but a real, active, and present walk with God that happens every single day of our lives.