Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/1446192
More Than A Song Marty Edwards In 1988 I was wrapping up 15 years of youth ministry (high-school and junior high). I worked with teenagers in the church and in the community. In addition to being on a church staff, I also worked with Youth For Christ California Youth Authority, Camarillo Youth Ministers Association and I traveled for 3 years with a Christian rock band for three years, playing in L.A. clubs, high- schools, juvenile halls, and prisons. Our last "gig" was to open for the band "Stryper" at the Oxnard Civic Auditorium. (Long story, unhappy ending!) When things settled down, I enrolled in the School of World Mission: Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, CA. My studies were in Church Growth and Church Planting. Knowing that I would not be returning to youth ministry, the Free Methodist Church asked if I would be interested in doing some demographic studies of several rapidly growing Southern California cities and I said, "Sure!" What I didn't know was that they would later ask me if I was interested in actually planting a church in one of those cities. Six months later we ended up in the Temecula Valley where we planted and pastored the Lamb's Fellowship for 13 years…and then Black Sheep HDFC (23 years and counting...). "I came to believe that worship was not that fifteen minutes of music before the sermon, but instead was a lifestyle that nurtured, encouraged, and empowered the Christian life towards great things." My vision to start a church was developed and nurtured at Fuller, the Anaheim Vineyard and then reading a simple little book by Pastor Jack Hayford entitled, Worship His Majesty. This single book rocked my world and laid the foundation for what would become The Lamb's Fellowship in Murrieta. I came to believe that worship was not that fifteen minutes of singing before the sermon, but instead was a total lifestyle that nurtured, encouraged, and empowered the Christian life to towards great things. Worship is the atmosphere in which a Christian can walk that becomes the fertile soil for all ministry. If I were to ask you, "What does authentic worship look like?" most would say, "singing, praying, reading our Bibles and giving of our financial resources." While that is correct, consider how worship is described in the Old and New Testaments: singing, shouting, clapping, praying, kneeling, laying prostrate, raising of hands, dancing, sacrifices of many kinds, including the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom. This list cannot be completed in a day, or a week or even a year. Worship as a lifestyle unfolds over a lifetime like a beautiful bolt of expensive fabric rolling onto the floor. Worship is not something that happens for a few minutes before the sermon. The power of worship manifests itself only after a lifestyle of commitment and obedience. Like going to the gym, muscles develop after a certain time and hard work. "Worship as a lifestyle unfolds over a lifetime like a beautiful bolt of expensive fabric rolling onto the floor." Worship as a lifestyle on any given day might begin with a prayer (even before you get out of bed) followed by a cup of coffee and a time of reading the Bible or listening to a sermon or Christian music online. As one heads out the door for work, their prayer may be, "Lord, use me today! Let me represent you well today! Send me someone who needs my help or prayer." A worshipful start to the day leads to acts of kindness and deeds of compassionate service. As we drive the car, we are listening to worship music and praying under our breath. When God nudges us to do "this or that," we respond, understanding that obedience is a large part of worship. In fact, worship without obedience is impossible. Even our diet and exercise can include acts of worship when we say, "No!" to the flesh. (Not my favorite form of worship.) Consider a few of the personal benefits of authentic worship in Isaiah 6:1-8 "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. [Authentic worship reveals to us who God really is, not the distorted views that we may have of Him i.e., the angry unforgiving father or the Santa Clause god that gives us whatever we want.] 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they