Musings On Worship Part 4: Anointed Worship

Musings On Worship Part 4: Anointed Worship

To read all the posts in this series (musings on worship), please click on the links below;

1. Has "Modern Worship"  Become Corrupt?

2. Musings On Worship Part 1: What Is It All About?

3. Musings On Worship Part 2: Resilience

4. Musings On Worship Part 3: Worship and Excellence

Well, let's go on...

Definition and examples
1. With regard to service to God, GotQuestions.org (a question and answer site on Christian apologetics) defines anointing as a ceremonial Old Testament physical act involving the smearing, rubbing, or pouring of sacred oil on someone’s head (or on an object) as an outward symbol that God had chosen and set apart the person (or object) for a specific holy purpose. We can see King David as an example of this (1 Samuel 16:13).

2. Jesus as the Messiah, is as well anointed with the Holy Spirit who comes upon Him in form of a dove during John's baptism (Mark 1:10). His name "Messiah" actually means "The Anointed One" implying the One ordained by God to do the work of saving mankind from their sins and destruction. Jesus as well says this of Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19). Please note that not at any time in Jesus' ministry is "sacred" oil poured on His head to appoint Him as God's chosen servant, but He is appointed anyway.

3. In Acts 2:1-4, by the coming and baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Early Church in one way, is as well anointed on the Day of Pentecost to do the works of service that would later be revealed in the entire book. In such a way, we deduce that every Christian receiving baptism by the Holy Spirit is anointed for works of service and is therefore "an anointed one" in their capacity and the grace given them within the Kingdom. This can happen whether physical "sacred" oil is poured out on one's head or not. God's appointment is spiritual, but men in their schemes, think physical oil counts for something. It doesn't.

Premise:
We can therefore describe anointing as a special grace given to each individual by the Holy Spirit to accomplish a specific task proportional to their yielding to the promptings of the same Spirit for God's glory and the Church's edification. Any singer, musician or worshiper under the influence of the Holy Spirit is anointed, thus the gift (the act of worship) and the one offering it (the worshiper) are both anointed.

*******

In Christian service, the anointing serves - but is not limited to - three objectives;

1. Bringing liberation through God's manifestation of power and wisdom through one's gift.
2. Revealing God's glory in a given situation.
3. Bringing God's people back to rememberance that He is still at work amongst them (an intense revelation of God's Shekinah glory).

Verdict
We now realize we have all been commissioned in our different capacities to serve God under the enablement of the Holy Spirit wherever we are.

As worshipers, and for our worship to be from God and for God, we need to consider three things:

1. The Holy Spirit
(a) He influences the flow and active working of Truth (the Word of God) during ministration.
(b) He directs the flow and use of power in a ministration so that the music or act of worship goes beyond just being a dry and meaningless performance.
(c) He brings perspective to both the worshiper and the one being led so that they both understand which language He wants them to speak and hear during ministration.

2. A Good Rehearsal
(a) In most cases - unless the Holy Spirit redefines the terms of engagement - a prepared work of art is way more effective than a spontaneous one. Most charismatic musicians think that preparation is for ministers not filled with the Holy Spirit, but after serving for a while, I've realized that Spirit-led rehearsals lead to Spirit-filled ministrations.
(b) Although the Holy Spirit as well works in spontaneity, He has proven Himself over time as a Spirit of order and good planning.
(c) If, by the Holy Spirit, servants in the Old Temple served under preparation, how much more for us sharing in the new order of worship?
(d) Preparedness both in prayer and music ensures that there is excellence, and that all skill and precision are used for God's glory.
(e) Preparedness means bringing God sacrifices that deserve His name and not disorderly crippled ones.
(f) A good rehearsal ensures that the music agrees. It ensures that the singer and those behind the music are all on the same page to produce something in unison to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

3. Clarity
(a) When the Holy Spirit is present, both the worshiper and the one being led find clarity. In His wisdom, the Holy Spirit reveals to the worshiper the meaning and importance of their service, the timeframe within which the work of art is to be performed, the audience being led and the laws governing their ministration.
(b) A clear mind respects order and authority
(c) A clear mind has self control so that the one serving isn't reduced to a selfish egotist.
(d) Clarity of purpose and mind brings in the balance between the working of the Holy Spirit and sensitivity to the occasion at hand so that there is no confusion.

That is how the anointing works.

Quote: The Holy Spirit and lack of excellence don't dine on the same table.

Morris 2.0

The Politics of Division

I'm writing this for two reasons:

1. I am feeling indifferent

2. I feel that most of you are either as indifferent as I am, that you think you're not indifferent even though - to some level - I'm sure you are, or that you care so much about who lost or won this recent elections till you're now partisan to the divisions.

I'll explain. 

I don't know if I am right, because I don't have to be; but I just want to show us one thing: let God be true and let every other human being be a liar. So, on this one, I'm vouching for God. 

Romans 3:4 (ESV)  

By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

I once wrote here why God is always for God (I plead-pray that you read that one first for you to understand my point on this one.) And I still insist that God is currently not for any human agenda - governance, education, culture, nation, politics, media, entertainment, family, religion or economy - or whichever thing you call a mountain. God is for Himself. God is for the Church. God is for His own glory. Period. He is not here to satisfy and gratify our desires or to answer our prayers according to our own will or wishes. God is here to answer to Himself according to Himself in His own timeline, under His own rules and for His own glory. 

God (Jehovah) will work in ANY form of art, government, education system, culture, family, business, religion and media and somehow bring Himself glory. These things may be sacred or secular, but He will still do whatever He wants to do to give Himself glory. He is God. And He is unstoppable while at it. 

He can do it our way (in the manner we pray as His people) if it so pleases Him or in another way we don't know. But because He knows we love - so much - to receive glory for things we didn't do, He'd rather just do it His way. 

God knows we live to pride in our answered prayers, that's why He rarely answers them the way we would want Him to. He humbles the most prayerful of us by denying them things they have fasted for for days. He knows we love to exalt our righteous deeds above His mercies and grace, so He mostly overlooks our boasting when a "good thing" happens to us. He blesses both sinners and the righteous with the sun and the rain - and we can do nothing about it. He is God, and He is for Himself. 

He knows we always think that when "bad things" happen to us, we are either evil or are being punished for some sin, so He brought us His Holy Spirit to remind us of our righteousness in Christ. To remind us that IT IS FINISHED and we have no debt to pay whatsoever. In Him, all things happen for our good. 

He knows how warped our definitions of "good" and "bad" are. He knows we don't even notice the difference most of the time. He knows we are dumb. As dumb as stones. Or even dumber... because stones can praise. 

He knows we love to put our hope in human beings - even presidents and their regimes - even though He has already cursed everyone who does so (Jeremiah 17:5). He knows we know so little of the future, that's why He gives us hope when we are weary. He knows. He is God. He knows. He knows these things. 

He knows when we place too much trust in humans and their plans - no wonder we are so divided on which human will save us and our sickly Kenyan economy - forgetting that He is the source of all things. He knows. And by knowing all things the way He does, no one can claim to outwit Him or to be His favorite.

So if you ever think that any human president or political party can completely save this nation, you're very wrong and you're no longer on God's side. You're either alone or you are on that president's / party's side. You are as well in for a very big shock: you'll both fall. After three or five or seven or ten or fifteen years, you'll fall. Then after that, you'll have to transfer your hope to another human being. Who'll as well fall...

Because humans and human systems rise and fall all the time. 

But if you believe that God can use anyone to do His bidding in this land for His glory, you're joining His army of a people of faith - people who move mountains. A people who believe that they'll make it. A people who prosper. A people who'll make this Kenya a nation after God's own heart. 

*******

You see, our elections this year (2022) are filled with more religious drama than any other election I've witnessed in my current short life on earth. This is because; 

1. there has been so-called prophesies from God favouring or refuting both sides of the political divide - as if God is divided in His doings amongst men

2. there has been proof (as claimed by many fanatics of whichever side) that one side of the political divide is more spiritual and God fearing than the other - as if God judges the same way men judge

3. there has been strife as to whether whatever is happening is fulfilled prophecy - human or divine - as if God works the way men do 

Politics - just like the coronavirus - is the devil's stray arrow aimed at governments but unluckily (or rather, wilfully) striking the Church. He's killing two birds with one stone. And his stone is yelling more victory to him than anticipated. The faster we notice and see this, the better. The faster we rectify how we approach politics and politicians in this country as Christians, the better. 

But let's beware of the devil's bullet shot at governance but hitting at the Church. May our eyes be wide open and as skilled watchmen, let's blow the trumpet and alert Zion so that she is not attacked unawares. 

Right before elections, most of us on WhatsApp watched a clip from Hope FM (a CITAM radio station) where Bishop J.B. Masinde was saying something close to "we'll either get the leader we want, the leader we deserve or a leader after God's own heart". This, sure, did stir some waters. 

Watch the short clip here. 

Here is why this stirred our spiritual waters (and I wonder why we didn't discern his sentiments):

1. He meant that the choice of who will be our next president lied/lies in the people's hands. God is no longer choosing a leader for anyone, but He's giving us the leader we ask for through voting by the wisdom we currently have in Him or in ourselves. Kenya isn't a theocracy as Israel was for many years; Kenya is ruled by a constitution, and it being majorly secular, means that our way of electing a leader and justifying that election will first depend on what is stipulated in our constitution and then according to the wisdom bestowed on us by God to make godly decisions. If the election is fair and just, the leader is for all of us. 

2. Dissecting his words,

"A leader we want" would mean a leader we choose by ourselves according to our limited human understanding of our nation's past, present and future. He or she would be a circumstantial leader voted in by our volatile spiritual and emotional capabilities. 

"A leader we deserve" falls in the same category as above but also one given to us by our voting minus God's intervention or wisdom and one who comes as an answer to our sins or righteousness. 

"A leader after God's own heart" would be the one we vote in while fully depending on the wisdom God had given us to do so. It is unlikely for a secular nation to elect such a leader unless God's hand that shapes hearts compels people to do so. 

It is therefore error to try and fix God or the devil on either side of the political coin - even though God's finger is always everywhere in history and the devil is as well God's devil (Martin Luther). I don't know which of the three we chose, but if it's what is causing divisions amongst us, let's be reminded that it is of no eternal value. Leaders come and go, and nations rise and fall, but the Name of The Lord is to be esteemed forever. 

You don't have to know who I voted in to be my president, but be sure that I had my preference and I had reasons for that (you as well did.) I may have armed myself with such reasons out of data gathered from around me or from the wisdom of Scripture, but that does not make my candidate any better than another person's - especially on the basis of who God would choose for presidency in Kenya and who will accomplish His purposes for this season. 

Our combined / cumulated wisdom or foolishness brought us a leader we need to pray for. That's what matters. It's all our doing. We are all going to be victims or participants in what that foolishness or wisdom has brought us. After this, let's pray, let's advice and let's be more alert. Let us not open a door to the devil to divide us - especially those who confess Jesus as Lord - along utterly temporal political lines. 

But, again, in God's agenda, whether we are ruled over by a Nebuchadnezzar, a Cyrus, or a Artaxerxes; whether it's Herod roaming our streets or a Constantine is Rome's superior, God's chosen who know Him well will still do exploits in this land and experience everything that comes with that to the fullest. 

The righteous - just like in prophet Jeremiah's time (Jeremiah 29:28) - should now understand that they'll prosper wherever they are and under whoever rules because ours is not a Kingdom limited by/to human agenda and influence but one ruled by an eternal God. 

I rest my case.

Think about these things.

Morris 2.0

Of Cords and Visions

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV)  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Babe,

I love the way your eyes sparkle when I mention the word, "vision"
You pick it up and always run faster with it, faster than I had thought we could ever go.

I love the way you love what you do.
You unravel passion with precision and make me believe that for sure all the earth is holy ground.

You help me run, when I was only but walking

Challenging me to greater heights and better versions of myself

Making me think of things I couldn't think when I was alone

Indeed, you are a phenomenal woman.

Thanks babe. Thanks for pushing me to become a better version of myself.
Remember that I am your friend, so never suffer in silence. Stay bold. Stay loud. But stay humble.

Let nothing ever shut down that fire in your bones. Ever.

It's true you are young, yet you carry so much weight.

You carry so many worlds and wear so many shoes.

I pray a dear prayer for you: that the strength that was given to our Lord Jesus to conquer sin and discouragement will be given to you in great supply.

Strength to carry more than just our vision but God's as well.

And remember: that one thing you're scared of doing, if it's for God's glory, you can do it. You can do it.
In this next chapter, go in strong, go in bold, go in Christlike.

You can do it! 

Maintain the love and passion online and offline. That's what matters.

Continue being a gift to many as you chase after God and His purpose for you.

Run your race.

Not anyone else's but yours.

Heaven is the limit.

Babe,
I'm incapable of loving like God does but I do know a thing or two about my heart: it loves you.

Happy birthday and a happy anniversary to us.

Morris 2.0

The Love Intermission

 

Somewhere on the shores of a lake here in Kenya

Sometimes, 

When drunk with love and are petrified by its numbness

When you can't answer to your name

And the world is zigging in a stupor

When only you and some other one crazy person make sense,

Think about these things,

Yes, think about these things...

Love has a voice. 

If it whispers, you will know;

And when it shouts, you will hear.

It penetrates the hardest of hearts and breaks the greatest of walls

Its voice has wings like winds

You may not know when you breathe it in,

Or when it broke right in,

But you will sure know when you are under its curse.

You will.

Love should not be burden, 

But it is a good load of dreadful sweet things.

It's a mixture of pain and pleasure,

Of lying to yourself and suffering a resuscitation,

Of cycles of sacrifice and receiving,

But never a burden.

Once it's on that road of burdening you,

The both of you, or just one of you

Sit yourselves down - 

You and your other one crazy person - 

Then sober it up.

It's time for an intermission.

It's time for an unburdening.

It's time for love to be set free from all the pressures 

And all the expectations.

And all the imperfections of lazy power,

Of the lazy power of burdened love.

Love should not be rushed.

Let me ask you this: do you rush life?

Can you live tomorrow before its time?

Do you tell your 70th year, "Aaah, I'll skip the 40th and 50th and 60th and come right-at-ya o 70th"?

You don't.

Like life, love should be let to be.

If it grows, it has grown.

If doesn't, it hasn't.

If you put in the work and it doesn't grow, let it be.

Especially if you haven't met some other one crazy person who feels the same.

Let it be.

You're not meant to force love.

You're not meant to rush God.

You're not meant to force God.

God is love.

Don't rush both.

Love is not pressure.

It is your other other crazy person's right to be loved, 

But it is not anyone's right to tell you how to do it.

Because when two crazy people meet and agree to fall in love, 

The internet is not there.

In-laws are not there.

Pastors are not there.

Your boss is not there.

Friends are not there.

Parents are not there.

The church is not there.

Some deranged alumni-squad is not there.

It's just two crazy people agreeing to enjoy each other's take on life.

The only one present is God (and perhaps that sneaky angel called satan).

There shouldn't be pressure to maintain such a simple and beautiful thing.

There shouldn't.

Love is like a garden.

One which shouldn't be tilled before its time.

Lest we arouse weeds,

Weeds we cannot upluck,

And weeds we cannot praise.

While in the solitudinous angst of love,

Always remember that God is a Gardener that only tends those in His garden

He doesn't intrude on those who haven't accepted Him to be who He says He is.

So when you take time to gauge whether love is growing where it's being sowed 

Or it's dead, or withered, or bored,

Also take time to learn from Him on how to tend it

You will reap handsomely.

And finally...

Love needs time.

Time to reflect upon it, and time for it to be itself;

Somewhere in between and somewhere along the way,

It requires that you take time and unravel it

Take time and allow it to punch you in the gut - to smite you right in your resolve

Take time for you to quiver in the weight of its glory, 

Time to understand the measure of its strength,

Time to decipher its unbelievableness,

Time to tremble at its call,

Time to enjoy its reality,

Time to see if its time to call it mature.

Love needs time for it to be itself.

Friend,

Take a moment today and think about the things that make or break your loves

Those intermittent sporadic airs of importunity 

Those may just be what you need to get it right. 

Love is not when you get all you want, but when you give all you have. - Otunga, circa 2022.

Morris 2.0