Guarding His Flock Ministries

Rick Warren’s Use of Psalm 40:3 to Endorse “Rock” Worship.

“And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” Psalm 40:3, KJV

Saddleback Church is known as, “The flock that likes to rock!” On his Pastors.com website Rick Warren addresses the controversial subject of church music as he shares “three thoughts about music in worship,” which are: “Music is powerful”; “You can’t please everyone”; and, “It’s the message, not the music.”[1]

In developing his first thought, Pastor Warren employs Psalm 40:3 to be a biblical endorsement for any type of contemporary Christian music. He writes:

In Psalm 40:3 (NCV) David says, “He put a NEW song in my mouth . . . Many people will see this and worship him. Then they will trust the Lord.” Notice the clear connection between music and evangelism: “Then they will trust the Lord.”[2]

Warren infers that David’s “new song” can refer to rock music and that such a contemporary and culturally relevant music possesses an ability to evangelize people’s hearts in a way that traditional hymns and sermons (i.e., the preached word) cannot. But really, is that the message of Psalm 40? As opposed to singing traditional hymns, did David mean to endorse for the worship of God any “new” musical expression that our culture might invent? Among the many other styles of music in western culture, do rock, reggae, rap, or other cultural varieties equate to David’s “new song”? Let’s look at the Psalm.
Read the rest of this entry

»

Sensual or Spiritual?

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, KJV

“It’s difficult to get people to come to church” said A.W. Tozer, “when the only attraction is God.” So churches now offer enticements. Driven by the “wants” and “needs” of the audience, people come to church for “therapy” rather than expository-biblical preaching. Welcome to “the church of Me.”

Churches call their worship services “celebrations,” and offer a smorgasbord of attractions including rock music, drama, multimedia presentations and now liturgical, or sacred, dance. Recently, a website advertised a book with the title, Dancing into the Anointing: Touching the Heart of God through Dance. Of course, practitioners of all these so-called worship activities attempt to find justification for dancing into the anointing somewhere in the Bible.

At least two psalms invite the Hebrew nation to praise the Lord “with dancing,” to “Praise Him with timbrel and dancing” (Psalms 149:3; 150:4). They did it. Why shouldn’t we? If persons like David danced before God (2 Samuel 6:14), then why shouldn’t churches take cue from the king and do the same? But do these injunctions from Psalms and the example of David provide justification for employing liturgical dance in the church’s worship as advocates of it claim they do?
Read the rest of this entry

»

Would the apostle have employed “any” means to save some?

“To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22, KJV 

These days, pastors and churches will seemingly stoop to anything to build a crowd. Rock-’n'-roll, the culture’s dominant music, is fast becoming “the” staple of so-called praise and worship. In their attempt to “connect” with their audience, I’ve heard pastors use lewd language in their preaching. One church featured an Elvis impersonator, while another, in a Halloween-themed “sanctuary” with a haunted house, featured a Michael Jackson Thriller dance. Pastors even advertise sex-sermons on billboards in ways that offend non-Christians who are tired of the permissiveness of our sex-crazed culture. American “churchianity” is addicted to the unprincipled principle of, “just do it to just get it.”

All of the aforementioned, and more, seek justification from a statement in the Bible where Paul wrote, “I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22b). Contortedly, contemporaries interpret this verse to provide apostolic endorsement to do anything to reach anyone. Such a ministry motif is pragmatism, a belief that legitimates any practice so long as it achieves the presumed result of saving some. To the pragmatist, the end justifies the means.
Read the rest of this entry

»

Does the ministry of “the four living beings” justify lyrical repeating?

“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” Jesus, Matthew 6:7

Some songs, that repeat . . . repeat . . . and repeat . . . the same seven-word lyrics eleven times or more, are called “seven-eleven” songs. As with repetitive praying (Jesus warned about this when He said, “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words,” Matthew 6:7.), questions surround the musical mechanism of repetitive praising, singing, or chanting, as a means of inducing consciousness of God.
Read the rest of this entry

»

The Mysticism “Lite” of Rick Warren[1]

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” 1 Corinthians 2:12-13, NASB

Before dealing with the idea that God gives “impressions,” let me confess that I am not per se opposed to them. Like A.J. Gordon (1836-1985), founder of Gordon College, I believe the Holy Spirit of God “may beget within us emotions too deep for expression, as when ‘The Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered’ (Rom. 8:26).”[2]

Regarding the Spirit restricting Paul and Timothy to preach in Asia and Bithynia, Wayne Grudem writes: “The Holy Spirit must . . . have communicated his direct guidance to them in some specific way, whether through words heard audibly or in the mind, or through strong subjective impressions of a lack of the Holy Spirit’s presence and blessing as they attempted to travel to these different areas.”[3] On the point of the Spirit’s subjective impression upon Paul not to go to Asia and Bithynia (Acts 16:6-7), we can note the impression became objective when in a vision a man appeared unto Paul “and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us” (Acts 16:9). A subjective impression, if indeed there was one, was confirmed by an objective word. This incident in Paul’s ministry illustrates that believers are “taught by the Spirit” who combines “spiritual thoughts with spiritual words” (1 Corinthians 2:13, NASB).

So we Christian believers should know the Holy Spirit can speak to us. Therefore, we need to be careful (metaphorically speaking) not to throw the “spiritual baby” out with the mystical bath (By using this figure, I am not suggesting there’s any sense in which mysticism, soft or hard, cleans spirituality up. In fact, the reverse is the case.) But absent the Spirit’s authentication by the Word of Scripture, thoughts can be self-originated, and it becomes vacuous to mystically confess, The Lord told me . . . Well, maybe He did, or maybe He didn’t. Who knows . . . all of which leads me to address Rick Warren’s idea that God speaks to people via impressions.[4]

Read the rest of this entry

»

And the “uniformly favorable” words of false prophets.

“And Ahab the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, ‘There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah’.” 1 Kings 22:8, NASB
 

In coping with her health issues (she has psoriatic arthritis, an incurable and debilitating disease characterized by fatigue and joint inflammation), my wife has visited several doctors and undergone many tests. In dealing with her physical condition, two doctors in particular have treated her: We’ll call them “Dr. R” and “Dr. P.” On a couple of other occasions, she has met one of her brother’s doctors (he has cancer and is on dialysis), and for reason to be explained later, we’ll call his physician, “Dr. N.”

In spite of some improvement experienced over the last few months, negative symptoms of my wife’s disease have reappeared. Recently, Margie revisited her physicians to understand why her treatments don’t seem to be working at this time. During the course of a conversation between us about the two doctors treating her—“Dr. R” and “Dr. P”—she remarked that she felt “Dr. R” was more realistic in his counsel to her about her disease than “Dr. P,” who tended to be more positive and optimistic. When she told me she felt “Dr. R” (realism) was more straight forward than “Dr. P” (optimism), I said to her: “Stop there Margie and tell me, which doctor’s counsel about your disease do you prefer, would you rather have, “Dr. R’s” or “Dr. P’s”? Because the disease is what it is, she told me she preferred the counsel of “Dr. Realism” to that of “Dr. Positivity.” But then she added, “I prefer both my doctors to my brother’s. ‘Dr. N’ doesn’t tell him anything!”

Read the rest of this entry

»

The Strange Case of Simon Magus

"Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’." (Jesus, Matthew 7:22-23, NASB)

Samaria was a religious ghetto that devout Jews tried to avoid (John 4:4). Half-breeds, part Jew and part Gentile, lived in the province north of Judah. Ostracized by the Jerusalem community, the Samaritans built their own worship center, and held as their sacred writings the first five Old Testament books known as the Torah. Yet, the risen Lord Jesus Christ announced that one day the Gospel would be preached in that province (Acts 1:8).

After persecution arose, persecution orchestrated by the as yet unconverted Apostle Paul, and forced the Christians to leave the comfort zone of Jerusalem, God used Philip, an ordained layman, to preach the gospel in Samaria. During Philip’s ministry in a Samaritan city, a "power encounter" occurred between the evangelist and a former practitioner of the occult arts named Simon the Great, who, in previous years, had duped Samaritans into believing that he possessed "the Great Power of God" (Acts 8:10). But the "great" met a greater. Simon’s feigned power paled in comparison to that of Philip who, in the power of God, performed extraordinary exorcisms and healings among the Samaritans. Simon was impressed–so much so that he, along with many others, apparently believed "the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 8:12). He was even "baptized" into Samaria’s First Baptist Church!

Read the rest of this entry

»

On Musical Mediatrixes

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us . . . seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus . . .” Ephesians 2:4-6

The Matrix: Though defying rational explanation, it is what it is. Foremost, music is spiritual. In whatever venue, whether a rock concert, a national anthem before a sporting event, a funeral, a military parade, or a church worship service, etc.—music delivers powerful experiences to its hearers. Music’s subliminal message can prove mind-altering. One newspaper columnist accounts for its popularity for reason that, “Music is a vehicle that propels [the disc jockey]—and me and so many others—toward the place we might call enlightenment, or God, or the higher consciousness, or Grace.” [1]

But not only is music spiritual, it is also mystical. Like hand in glove, the spiritual and the mystical work together with an interconnectedness that defies rational explanation because however else it might be understood, music is an experience. “Feel the music,” ran an advertisement for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra a few years ago. It may be deduced that the “language” of music is universal because it is neither conceptual nor verbal, but rather experiential and mystical. It’s a language without language. Together. people from different nations and tongues can experience it. Subject to the individual impulses, tastes, and delights of composers and consumers, there is much about music that is ethereal.

Read the rest of this entry

»

On the Moral Collapse in the Pan-Evangelical Nation.

"There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18, KJV).

Circa 600 B.C. Indicting the people of his day, Jeremiah described that; they "swear falsely," "refused to take correction," "refused to repent," "do not know the way of the Lord or the ordinance of their God," "were well-fed lusty horses, each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife," "bend their tongue like their bow"; that "lies and not truth prevail in the land"; that their "sons have forsaken Me and sworn by those who are not gods"; and that "every brother deals craftily and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer" (See Jeremiah 5:1-9, 26-28; 9:3-6). Déjà vu! Any reader of Jeremiah and the other prophets cannot help but notice the uncanny resemblance between the society of Judah then and the evangelical sub-culture now. Fast forward to . . .

Read the rest of this entry

»

On Faith, Facts, and Feelings in the Christian Life.

Our society is passionate. We feel strongly about politics, religion and other issues. Frequently, I hear people state they are really "passionate" about this or that. For decades now, the sensate has come to dominate how in our culture people view life. People determine the validity of things not by whether they are right or wrong, but rather by whether it makes them feel good or bad about themselves. Joel Osteen makes people feel good about themselves. With his message of "hope and change," Barack Obama did the same during his election campaign, and became President of the United States. This is the manner of contemporary culture, and I am concerned that it has also become the way of culturally driven Christians who have immersed themselves in the contemporary way of doing church.

Read the rest of this entry

»