Discipleship
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Discipleship
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Discipleship3 |
Discipleship
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Discipleship
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Discipleship
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Discipleship
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Discipleship
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Discipleship
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Every
Believer Becomes a Disciple -
Matthew 28:19
As
many that have received the gift, minister it to one another,
as good stewards of the manifold Grace of God
1Peter4:10
Last
2012 PDF Edition of Complete "Disciple's Handbook"
(you will find additional content and updated corrections
from the chapter by chapter links below.)
A Disciples
Handbook Complete Version in PDF Form
YouTube
Video by the Author, Why We Worship
Worship plays a
part in all religion. I heard a woman from Iraq who is familiar with Muslim worshipers say this, "The Muslims are more holy than Christians because they pray rigorously 5 times a day." This is of course, a qualitative evaluation based upon externals. What does Jesus Christ say regarding True Worshipers? A foundation of understanding of the subject of worship is found in the gospel account of Jesus' encounter with the woman at a well in Samaria: Following is a description of a typical Christian worship service Musical preludes performed by an organist or musicians. God's tithes and offerings are collected. Programmed worship services as listed in the above example are standard fare in most Christian denominations. Such programs are performed with greater or lesser sophistication depending upon the size of the congregation and the talent and resources available. Churches with a greater pool of talent and imagination are more successful in creating quality performances and presentations. Better programs eventually attract larger congregations. An important point to note is that the participation in worship services is by relatively few individuals. The majority of the assembled worshipers are onlookers who are the congregation acting in their role of an audience. The question remains how much of this accrues to being true worshipers? God knows the hearts of his people as well as those individuals who are passive or disengaged. Praise and worship are the cornerstone of Christian life. I believe the next point that Jesus makes is that a large segment of the present world worships a god different from the one who Jesus presents. Such worship is one sided and blind. There is no connection of the worshiper to the object of their worship. Their god is actually unknown to the worshipper and any spiritual bond is absent. For Christians who would be worshipers, I think it can must be stated that if one is not born of the Spirit, any effort to be a true worshiper is in vain! Worship is about the devotion of the heart, the seat of passion and affection. Any form of worship not from the heart fails to bridge the faith gap. We have a standing and status before God the Almighty. Being a blood-bought child of God fulfills the requirement of Worshiping the father in Truth. True worshipers must be true believers Any who would say there is no God. Or anyone who says we can not know God or claim to have his Divine nature imparted to us are simply reasoning within the limits of their natural mind. Those who are born of God have had their eyes opened and become a brand new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:16 - 2 Corinthians 5:18 17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18, Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ- - " The Spiritual side of worship The Spiritual side of worship is about our interaction with heaven. It wishes to be free and unrestrained. It exalts in the joy of salvation and the wonder of being called forth to be called, with Christ, into heavenly places. Colossians 3:1 - Colossians 3:3 1,"- -So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2,Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. " Spiritual life is about engaging in the very presence of God. In the times of the First Covenant priesthood, the high priest went annually into the presence of God through a heavy veil but only after scrupulous preparation and purification. In such a place the priest hardly dared to make a move in the presence of a Holy God. Any falling short resulted in the death of the officiate. The veil of God's temple was rent in half at the death of Jesus on the cross allowing another kind of priest to enter into God's Holy presence. (Revelation 1:6) To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Worship within the Holy Place is now a part of the legacy of the child of God born of the Spirit. We can now boldly go into God's presence through the blood of the Messiah Jesus who has purchased this right for us. Hebrews 10:19 - Hebrews 10:22 20, - -by the new and living way that he opened for us through the veil (that is, through his flesh), 21, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. - -"
So to simplify and make plain:
We worship the Heavenly Father with
our hearts.
Free
worship versus program worship Hebrew terms for worship and praise 1.YADAH - yaw-daw - to worship with the extended hand. The giving of oneself in worship and adoration. To lift your hands unto the Lord. It carries the meaning of absoulute surrender as a young child does to a parent - "pick me up, I'm all yours". Scriptures: Gen. 29:35, 2 Chron. 7:6, 20:21, Psalms 9:1, 28:7, Psalms 33:2, 42:5,11, 49:18, Isaiah 12:1
3.BARAK - baw-rak - To kneel or to bow. To give reverence to God as an act of adoration. It implies to continual conscious giving place to God. Blessing the Lord, extolling virtue. There is a sense of kneeling and blessing God as an act of adoration in the word BARAK. Physical application - To bow, kneel or to do this with the intent in my heart that He is my KING and I yield to HIM. I am acknowledging Him as KING and GOD. SONG: BLESS THE LORD Scripture: Psalm 103 tells us how to bless the Lord and then goes on to enumerate those blessings: loving kindness, satisfaction redemption, honor, renewal. We bless the Lord by remembering all of these things. 4.HALAL Scripture: 1 Chron. 16:4, 23:5,30, 25:3, 29:13, Neh. 12:24 (this word appears over 110 times in the OT) 1984 halal (haw-lal'); a primitive root; to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence, to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify: 5.TOWDAH -to-daw -To give worship by the extension of the hand in adoration or agreeing with what has been done or will be. This word is common- ly found in connection with sacrifice-applying the giving of thanks or praise as a sacrifice before reception or manifestation. Thanking God for something that I don't have in the natural. Agreeing with His Word - faith in His Word. This form of praise goes in operation just because His Word is true. "Father, I thank YOU that YOUR WORD is TRUE. As we raise our hearts and hands in praise to the Lord, it involves a sacrifice, especially if one is very sick in body. The carnal mind would fight and ridicule this particular action, but there is great faith in TOWDAH as praise. The lifting of the hand symbolizes agreement. The right hand symbolizes my covenant with my my Father. As I go through the scriptures, God is seen extending His Right Hand to me. That's the covenant. When He extends His right hand to me, He's saying to me - ALL THAT I AM IS YOURS, and when I extend my right hand to Him, I am saying "All that I am is yours and I agree with what You're saying. It is the sacrifice that God honors by His performing of miracles. The ATTITUDE for TOWDAH is: I'm thanking God. I'm agreeing with God that it is as He says. I don't care what it looks like. I'm agreeing with what His Word says. Example: Father, I thank You that I am healed. Scripture: Psalm 42:4, 50:23, Jer. 17:26
6.ZAMAR
- zaw-mar -
To sing with instruments. To make music accompanied by the voice. One of
the musical verbs for praise in the book of psalms. It carries the idea
of making music in praise to God as in Psalm 92:1. The word ZAMAR also
means to touch the strings, and refers to praise that involves
instrumental worship as in Psalm 150. The one word is usually translated
"sing praises".
2167 zamar
(zaw-mar'); a primitive root [perhaps ident. with 2168 through the
idea of striking with the fingers]; properly,
to touch
the strings or parts of a
musical instrument, i.e.
play upon it; to make music,
accompanied by the voice;
hence to celebrate in song and music: KJV-- give praise, sing forth
praises, psalms. to sing, to sing praise, to make music; (Piel) Thanksgiving: A heart of thanksgiving is called for by all who claim to be the children of God through Christ Jesus. If we are callous and have no true thanksgiving in our souls it would appear that we have not been impacted by God's loving kindness, mercy and grace: The Psalms: Examples That Teach Us Thanksgiving, Praise Psalms are not entirely made up of songs of praise as they include prayers and prophetic utterances. Psalms 9:1-2 - Psalms 9:1; I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. ;2 I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. ** We see that there is no shortage of Praise and Thanksgiving addressed here in the Psalms. There is much more throughout other Old Testament books as well. "Praise is an ornament of beauty" for the upright. There is strength in praise. Praise is active and not passive. When we praise The Lord we are interacting with the hosts of heaven who continually offer praise unto Him who sits on the throne. There is deliverance in praise, it brings confusion to the ranks of the enemy (demonic spiritual orders.) Praise takes all kinds of forms. It includes music and dance. Praise includes shouting loudly to extol the virtues of God. Praise includes making joyful noises to God. Praise brings us into the very presence of the Holy presence of God. 'Enter his gates with thanksgiving' speaks of making the way into God's place, as one would enter the Tabernacle from the world of care into the gate beyond the fence. Enter into His courts with praise, addressing progressing into a place of greater intimacy. This part of the tabernacle is the Holy Place. Here we may still praise and speak to God and extol his goodness and mercies. But the ultimate place is entered with a higher lever of worship where we can nothing but worship in the Holiness of His presence. For those who say there should no be noise and clammer in the zeal of worship they are not biblically accurate. For those who say there should be no musical instruments, they are not Biblically accurate. For those who say there should be dancing, again, this is not in harmony with what we have seen in the Psalms.
Liberty in Spiritual worship allows a lot of praise. It should not be curtailed. It should allow each person to engage in his or her own forms of praise. We all are called to Praise. Let everything that has breath, Praise the Lord! Freedom in praising the Lord creates a beautiful tapestry of sound and glory into which God's presence is pleased to dwell.
Update January 2024
E
Book 1:
Resources:
Understanding Home Fellowships
Frank
Viola
01-2024 |