In loud services, where the object is to worship the Lord with shouting, dancing (?), running over the pews, etc. and the word of God is not being offered up for the edification of the individual, I simply tune everyone out, find a 'safe' place, and engage my Lord in conversation and worship.
I find nothing 'wrong' with running, jumping, dancing, shouting, crying, etc. etc. My problem is that when these acts are the required norm, reflecting a performance based religion, and the accompanying judgments that if one is not doing these things, they are not worshiping the Lord, or that their worship is not acceptable unto the Lord.There are times and places where such activities are appropriate.
Yet, for me, personally, I look at Jesus and Paul teaching in the Temple, in Synagogues, in people's homes, in the country side and on boats, and studying Paul's instructions to the assembly in Corinth, I do not find the so-called modern-day Apostolic worship style" to be the 'Apostolic norm' for the first century apostles.
Even king David, should he dance in church today as it was reported he danced in the streets of Jerusalem before the young women (not in the Temple!), he would be cited for showing too much skin, acting in a provocative manner, and breaking church standards of holiness. He would be 'sat down' for backsliding, but then again, he was no priest and had no official function in the Temple or its services.
What most folks today are questing are the religious traditions that we have developed in such a short period of time (less than 100 years). After
Acts 2:38, Trinitarians are in spiritual trouble, and church standards, there is precious little Apostolic teaching that goes on in today's churches. Ask a pastor or Bible teacher,"What did Matthew, Mark, John, Matthias, Peter, Bartholomew, and the rest of the apostles teach in the churches they established and/or visited?
The Apostle's doctrines (teaching) - what were they? Very few can answer that question correctly, and most have no idea where to look in the scriptures to find the answer. They go to some of the letters of Paul, where he was responding to questions and/or addressing problems within a church, and they teach only those things as being the summation of the apostolic doctrines.And, we wonder why the church has become so infective in challenging today's society and cultural trends!
Pastor bashing, church bashing, apostolic bashing, organizational bashing, saint bashing, etc. We have become the Church of the Holy Feel Good. We no longer go to church not to learn the ways of God, but justify ourselves in our own eyes. While there is yet time, the oneness movement, nay, the entire western Christian church movement, is very close to the tipping point to where the lament of Christ shall have its fulfillment, While we have joined together for a religious party, to recapture an experience. We, as a movement, remain in a spiritual Kindergarten, playing religious games, asking Him to do for us what He as ordained that we should be doing for ourselves and others - even outside of the church.
See:
Luke 18:7-14 Emphasis on verse 8 & the following parable. and,
John 14:12 Spiritual authority
Acts 1:8 Power available to exercise that authority
But, what do we get the most of? Religious platitudes and a lot of
1Tim 1:7 teaching, and very little of Hebrew 6 (All), with initial emphasis on verses 1-3.
Sorry kids - venting again. I'll shut up now.
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