Bottom Line: Take The Supernatural To The Natural, Whatever That Is!

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXVIII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

(The End of the Series)

Bottom Line: Take the supernatural to the natural, wherever that is! 

The Holy Spirit will invade their natural turf supernaturally if allowed.  Let’s quite making the natural tend to the natural with only promises to offer.  We can give them answers, action, change, renewal, rebirth, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, access to the Father, the supernatural.  We have been given supernatural power to meet anyone in what they consider to be natural and produce kingdom results. When the supernatural penetrates and dissects the natural the kingdom of God “sees” results.  Those changed will probably want to give that supernatural back to the Lord, or give it away to another individual, and in the process they just might give change our natural way of doing church.

I hear you asking, “Then who is in control if there is no natural order of worship? Good question, simple answer: the supernatural Holy Spirit is in control. I hear you quibbling “Won’t there be chaos with the unpredictable supernatural working of the Holy Spirit?  I admit my faith is weak and my fear of weird things happening is strong.”

Have we forgotten, “There is safety in trusting the Holy Spirit!”?

“There is safety in trusting the Holy Spirit!”

“There is safety in trusting the Holy Spirit!”

“There is safety in trusting the Supernatural!”

That is why the “gifts of the Spirit” were given to the Church, to bring decency and protection from what looks like disorder. Do counterfeits appear and arise in an open-ended worship session? Yes, in fact, I am disappointed if they don’t, because Satan does not want us to be “true worshipers” nor worship “in Spirit and in Truth”!  Satan hates the supernatural because as we saw in Luke 10 Jesus has given his priesthood all power to tread on Satan’s head.  He is falling in the spirit like lightning bolts!  Have we forgotten his previous job in the worship realm before his fall?  Satan IS NOT the creator.  Only Jesus can say, “I AM your creator.” Since Satan CAN NOT create, he can only counterfeit because he IS NOT the real deal; JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL!

Actually the Holy Spirit does not bring “chaos” because that is the fruit of the counterfeiter. The Holy Spirit brings “unity”.  The counterfeiter brings “fear” because that is his fruit; the Holy Spirit brings the fruit of “faith” and “unity”!  The “fruits of the Spirit” are all from the Holy Spirit as well as the “gifts of the Spirit”. He is their creator, their source.  Satan CANNOT create either the “fruits” nor the “gifts” of the Spirit, for he CAN NOT create.  He can only COUNTERFEIT.  So let’s quit giving Satan so much credit for things he cannot do and what he counterfeits, and give credit to the Holy Spirit for what he does.

The Pharisees in Jesus day even accused him directly for being “demon possessed” because of his claim of being one with the great “I AM”, making him greater than Moses whom they followed and worshiped.  Jesus stated back to them that any house divided falls. The “fruit” of the Holy Spirit is an “united body in Jesus Christ”, not division.

Then why does “revival” always seem to bring division?  It is usually because of our “hardness of heart”, by religious people.  History proves that the existing church usually opposes the supernatural movements of God because they dissect, penetrate, invade their natural lives, and activate the supernatural in what the Church wants to keep natural. 

When are we going to learn from Gamaliel, a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin when the Apostles were put on trial? His advice: (Acts 5:38-39)

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone!  Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail, but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.

Church Let God Be God! Let the Holy Spirit do what the Holy Spirit should do. Why in the natural do we try to regulate what the Holy Spirit is doing in the supernatural?  Like Saul, do we need to get knocked off of our high horses for opposing God, so God can use us supernaturally to advance His name and His kingdom as He changed Saul to Paul? 

Church, you cannot stop the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit nor of its royal priesthood, its people chosen of God.  When are we going to learn that minimizing the Holy Spirit to the natural does not bring power or fruit to the Church?  God can police his kingdom; he does not need help from His believers.  We have not been called to be kingdom fighters, but true worshipers, so let’s worship in Spirit and in Truth and let “the battle be the Lords”.

If your church would be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to “totally” orchestrate your worship service, then what happens if the priesthood comes unprepared to worship?  The worship service will be ever so brief, and over before it begins, or filled with the natural.  Don’t try to “create” a worship service if you are not “the Creator”.  That didn’t work for Satan, and it won’t work for you either.  Allow the Holy Spirit to create the atmosphere, the calling of believers to not only draw near to Jesus, but also come into His Presence.  Allow the godhead to reveal itself to you.  Priests, come prepared to give up self and give back what He has already given you.  If the priesthood is prepared for worship; the Holy Spirit will take you into the Holy of Holies, His Presence where true worshipers will worship in Spirit and in Truth!

In conclusion, I as a believer in Jesus Christ, a New Testament priest, a priest in the order of Melchizedek need to develop a different mind set to what is a Sunday Morning Worship service, even examine what is worship, where do I worship, how do I worship, and what is a true worshiper.

To conclude, get a Bible and read John 4:1-26 quietly, then spend sometime with eyes closed.  Picture that passage as the Holy Spirit reveals it to you. Then write on a piece paper what has been revealed to you about worship and thinking outside the box, about having a different mindset, about allowing the supernatural to penetrate your natural mindsets.

Small Groups For Hurting People

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXVII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Bipolar Bear ClubWe need the mindset of small groups for hurting people

Why do we have the mindset that small groups have to have Bible study somewhere in their agenda when they meet?  I contend that you can have an effective small group for hurting people and never once read a scripture.

I found myself in desperation when my wife went through a mental breakdown and was labeled “bipolar”.  I had no idea what “bipolar” meant, nor the nature of the disease. As she digressed physically and mentally, all responsibility for our daily existence fell upon me, the caregiver, the spouse. I tried to get help from local mental health agencies, but found most had been closed or their services did not apply to my situation.  I felt abandoned, alone, distraught, confused, and directionless.  I did not know what to do.  It looked like I may have to extend my Family Leave of Absence from my occupation because of her declining health. Our once natural quality lifestyle had descended into a maelstrom of hopelessness, loneliness, and isolation, and it appeared to me that even the supernatural could not penetrate it.

Then a cousin of mine got the idea to empty out my email directory and invite everyone to a meeting with a two fold purpose: 1) to get me back to work; 2) to aid my wife in her recovery.  The Bachman Bipolar Bear Club was birthed out of my need, and stuffed white polar bears were given to everyone who became a club member. No one in the group worked in the mental health field.  A minister and his wife, personal friends, offered a listening ear. Others just stayed with my wife to free me to run errands. Some made connections, one to a church who was willing to take an offering for me to off set unpaid medical bills.  Everyone helped brainstorming ideas, making contacts, and encouraging us. Caring people who were willing to love us unconditionally invaded the once natural lifestyle of hopelessness, loneliness, and isolation. Although we opened with an invitation to the Holy Spirit to be a part of our group and prayed at the conclusion of our meeting, we did no “Bible Study”.  The Rhema Word, the living word, came forth to help my wife and I through a difficult time in our lives.  It seemed almost supernatural when 8 weeks later I returned to my job, and Deb began for the first time to make progress toward a recovery!

We must change our mindset that people need to be brought into the church, not the church going out into the world where the people are lost.  The Church can meet in community buildings where the community people are, so maintenance of a building doesn’t becomes the natural thing to do taking up much of our time and resources. 

Ask to meet in neighbor’s homes once a week even if they are not Christian. Tell them you will take care of the rest.  If they have the gift of hospitality, allow them to use it!  I was saddened when I tried to get a small group ministry started in my home church, but hardly anyone would step forward and open up their home in hospitality.  If Christians won’t open their homes, then go to non-Christian homes who will, or hit the streets.  Wow, the church small group becoming “homeless” because they do not have a “church building” in which to meet! That sounds exciting when you think outside the box and allow the Holy Spirit to take over!

Mindset to Reconsider: Bible Studies Are The Most Effective Way To Get To Know The Nature Of Jesus Christ

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXVI

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Mindset to reconsider: Bible Studies are the most effective way to get to know the nature of Jesus Christ. 

Recently two men came to my door dressed in the same grey tweed pants, blue shirts and ties.  Both coddling light blue Bibles as they introduced themselves. They read in the book of Timothy the importance of Bible study and how religions have minimized its importance.  I assured them that my going to church wasn’t because of religion, but because I have a relationship. That didn’t seem to faze them, for they continued their naturally canned speech about Bible study causing suspicion of them. Then I realized that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses trying to lure me into one of their Bible studies to indoctrinate me into their dogmatic religion.

Most Christian Bible studies that I have been a part of are religious studies with a denominational or sectarian twists by the group who oversee them.  They are intellectual exercises of “exegesis” of Biblical passages. True, the Bible, the Logos, is the written word of God, but the Pharisees swore by their “1608 King James” Torah’s too in Jesus’ time!

Church In A Bar? Put It On My Tab!

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXV

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

The Church Key Pub & GrillThe Church in Bars?  The occupants would love the “water into wine” story!  I know of “churches” that have attempted to “do church” in bars, but it was through their natural order of worship. They may play upbeat music whose volume and beat is still mild to the unchurched and may talk the lingo of the group.  Unfortunately, when everyone is finishing “doing church”, the church group leaves.  They aren’t around when the “lifestyle” naturally continues: the shots are served; the darts fly, the queue balls reign, the jukebox blares, or a brawl breaks out. Bartenders are some of the best unchurched “pastors” that there are because they listen, empathize, are friendly, and actually care for the person who pours out your guts drunk or sober to them. Bartenders are often nonjudgmental because they are just one of the boys, and they are always there when one needs them as a listener, empathizer, or one to give another shot of one’s favorite brew to wash away one’s woes.

Self-righteous Christians refuse to come on their turf, around the smell of smoke and beer. Preachers use to preach, “What would you do if Jesus came back and found you in the local bar?”  Woe is judgment day for believers in Jesus Christ if you are caught at the wrong place!  Where would Jesus be? Probably invading the natural lifestyle found in a bar with the supernatural.  Who else can offer “new wine” when “I AM the vine,” Jesus, reveals himself to those in that bar?  If he can offer a Samaritan woman “living water” at a drinking hole, can he not offer a drunk “new wine” at his drinking hole?  Jesus will meet you where you are doing what comes natural to you, and introduce the supernatural!  “I AM your deliverer,” could be the revelation a drunk or a drug addict needs to be delivered from alcohol or drug addiction.  One can be supernaturally delivered from their natural habit and urge from substance abuse spontaneously when the I AM gives him hope for his present when one has lived so long in despair.

In stead of self righteous judgment toward the patrons, if Christians would give grace to them instead, you just might allowed that patron in whatever state he is in to give grace back to you.  Even the patrons at the bar can begin to practice principles of worship even before they know what worship is.

Can you imagine what it would be like when a captive from substance abuse is delivered right there in that bar, begin sacrificing praise to the Lord, and begins ministering deliverance to the others seated at that same bar who have been so cruelly captive for years. You would have revival in the bar.  Study Finney’s revival crusades: bars shut down and people became delivered.

Jesus Never Prayed For The Sick; He Just Healed Them – Healing And Faith

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXIV

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

This is a tough fact for our natural mindset, but JESUS NEVER PRAYED FOR THE SICK; HE JUST HEALED THEM!  Healing is a supernatural mindset built on FAITH, the backbone of the Church. 

 If Church was by the bedsides in the hospital, we could allow those ill to pray, to worship, to lay their sickness on the altar and allow the Lord to do with it what He wants, which is probably heal!  When healed, the healed could instantly give back they’re healing to Jesus. Can you imagine when supernaturally healed, one could “take up his bed and walk” to the next room to give away his healing to someone else? Revival in the cardiac unit! Revival in the Intensive Care Unit!  Revival in Geriatrics! Can you imagine the nursing staff overwhelmed with unexplainable, supernatural healed “discharges”? What would they write on all the paperwork that these healings would produce?

 Hold it! I am taking this mindset too far? Or AM I? God says, “No, for I AM YOUR HEALER.” He’s revealing Himself! The Church would be experiencing true worship because its true worshipers are willing to be sent out!

Mindset To Reconsider: “Church” Activities Should Take Place At The “Church” Building Because That Is Where The “Church” People Attend. (Pt. 2)

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXIII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

(Part 2 - Continue)

Mindset to reconsider: Most “church” activities should take place at the “church” building because that is where the “church” people attend. 

Jesus never built structures for his own Presence, for he knew in dwellings had to be in the hearts of his believers, his priesthood, not in buildings. The very next chapter, Luke 10 begins:

                  After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them…

                  sent them…

                  sent them two by two ahead of him…

                  ahead of him…

                  ahead of him  to every town and place where he was about to go.

Then he gives them specific directions of what to do and not to do when they are “sent out”.  What was the result of such a strategy?

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (Luke 10:17)

How does Jesus react to the joy of their successful “missions trip”?

Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority…

have given you authority…

have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all he power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Versus 18-20)

Now for a dynamite revelation:

At that time, Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit said,”….

Wait, the Holy Spirit is about to lead Jesus into true worship! That’s right! Jesus is going to give back to the Father what the Father had just given him, and that is true worship by The True Worshiper, Jesus!

 “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” (vs. 21)

God brings revelation of Himself to his children, the “true worshipers” and is pleased.  Then he continues to reveal:

“All things have been committed to me by the Father. No one knows who the son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (vs. 22)

Wow, the principle of being “sent out”, the Great Commission of the Church, is so central to the Gospel that that it was part of Jesus’ Priestly Prayer in John 17.  The calling and the purpose of the Church is to be sent out!  We have lost sight of that mindset.  Being sent out as New Testament Priests, as believers in Jesus Christ, requires the supernatural to be effective, to survive, to be its life.  Saul, as a good Parasitical Jew hung out in Jerusalem. Even the disciples now as apostles at first did the natural by hanging out in Jerusalem, but when the Holy Spirit was ready to move, its temple, the hearts of its believers, moved, and they physically moved their bodies, also their temples of the Holy Spirit, by being “sent out”.  How many of us believers have become complacent in the natural, fearing the supernatural because the Holy Spirit supernaturally may call us to be “sent out”. Being “sent out” is not in our current routine of things, nor in our comfort zone, nor a thing we do naturally, so we fear it.  That was the fear I faced when contemplating the move to make Jesus Lord of my life. We need not “fear” it, but through “faith” allow the Holy Spirit to be supernaturally natural in our life, so we can fulfilled the “Great Commission” that our High Priest, Jesus Christ, has given to his priesthood!

So to challenge our mindset I ask, “Should we be meeting with the ‘homeless; on their turf, or expect them to come to ours to discover God’s divine relationship with them through Jesus Christ?”  If the Church comes to the homeless, it also allows the homeless to become true worshipers and worship by giving back to the Lord what little he or she has. The Church can be the Church if it sends out to the homeless to minister to the homeless, to worship with the homeless, and to empower the homeless to be sent out to become supernaturally effective ministers to others who are homeless with the aide and support of this active New Testament Priesthood, the Church.

Should “church” be held in the hospitals? Can we change the mindset from natural “hospital visitations” as a ministry of the local church to becoming supernatural “Holy Spirit visitations” bring the Church to the sick to be healed.

Mindset To Reconsider: “Church” Activities Should Take Place At The “Church” Building Because That Is Where The “Church” People Attend. (Pt. 1)

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

(Part I)

Mindset to reconsider: Most “church” activities should take place at the “church” building because that is where the “church” people attend. 

God’s plan called for His Presence was to be mobile in a moveable pliable Tent of Meeting, known as the Tabernacle. The plan DID NOT call for an immovable structure, the Temple. David in the natural thought God’s house should be as good if not better that his own personal house.  Even though his motives were pure and his idea logical, it was not what God had planned for His Presence.  David had seen the supernatural power of God’s Presence when Israel moved as the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines’ camp to the Israelites’, yet it David’s mindset on building, not on mobility. We have seen what the mindset of the natural blueprint of the Temple did by boxing in the supernatural Presence of God in a cube called the Holy of Holies, rejecting almost everyone from entering His Presence.

Even though David was a man of God’s own heart, he still would be the instrument to box in God, even though he understood that the heart is the Temple.  God’s desire was to commune with man, inhabit his dwelling, his body, which He wanted to make as His temple.  If David, as a man of God’s own heart, missed the mark, it can be very easy for us to also miss the mark and become a Pharisee too!  We need to guard our hearts.

Did Jesus build any physical structures as places to worship even though he was a carpenter by trade and could have easily “studded” up and built new structures, new churches as we do today?  How often do we send “mission teams” to third world nations to naturally built new “church” structures, but have not supernaturally built up their true spiritual structures, its believers. What did Jesus do to prepare for His Church after his departure from earth?

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay down his head.” (Luke 9:57-58)

Mindset To Rethink: New Testament Priests Should Be Allowed To Give Their Sacrifice Of Their “First Fruits”

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXI

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Mindset to consider:  New Testament priests should be allowed to give their sacrifice of their “first fruits”.

During harvest time in Israel, people brought their “first fruits” to be placed on the altar to be consumed for the Lord God Almighty.  These “first fruits” that were presented as a wave offering before being placed on the altar represented their “all”.  “All” their crops were symbolically given during the “first fruits waving”.

I once had a garden where I grew Charleston Grey Watermelons of immense size.  When I picked the first ripe watermelon, I would raise it with all my strength above my head as a wave offering before the Lord.  I worshiped right there in my watermelon patch with my “first fruit wave offering”.

Yeas ago, canning and freezing preserved vegetables. In the fall our church would have “Harvest Home Service” where members of the church brought their canned goods as their “first fruits” that were given to the poor and needed. What the Lord had given those members, they gave back to Him, and it was given away. It met my definition of worship.

When I go to market, the first week a vegetable is available, it is priced higher.  It has been a year since the consumer has tasted the authentic real deal, and seeing it for the first time again, they are willing to pay more. The next weeks, that same vegetable is sold at a lower price. Giving of your first fruit is giving it away when it is most valued.

Giving your first fruits is symbolic for giving your “all”.  Hannah wanted children so bad that she was willing to give her first fruits of motherhood to the Lord.  At Samuel’s birth, she brought him to the Temple as her first fruit, giving him away.  Israel received a great prophet in her son, Samuel. 

Another valuable lesson that I have learned from Lay Witness Missions is that “The Altar is a Safe Place”.  If you have an altar rail in your church, it is a safe place to be. Bring your “first fruits” to the altar, your best, give it to the Lord as an act of worship, and watch to see what He does with your gift. 

I love Saturday evenings at Lay Witness Missions, because the sanctuary is open with no naturally planned agenda. One can sit in quiet solitude, meditating, reflecting on all they had “seen” and “heard” during the intense activity of that weekend. Now was the time for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit to speak and the supernatural to penetrate the natural routines of each person’s life if they responded to his calling.  I have seen a mother crushed by how dysfunctional her family had become bring to the altar rail her rebellious child for whom she had been praying for years, and by the end of the evening her whole family found themselves at the altar hugging, forgiving, bonding as the Holy Spirit supernaturally brought unity in what was a fragmented family.  The family called it a miracle; I call it the supernatural invading the natural.

A man who wanted nothing to do with the weekend but help transport youth to activities came Saturday night to pick them up.  He did not know that the Holy Spirit was dissecting the natural routines and comfort zones of the youth with His supernatural power in their youth meeting. These youth wanted to stay in the sanctuary while participating in some serious worship.  This man testifies that somehow he went from the back pew where he had been waiting for them, somehow to the front altar, and today does not only have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but is in full time ministry!  The altar is a safe place to bring your first fruits, your “all”. 

Giving our first fruits is a sacrifice of Lordship because it requires you to give your “all”, give your “best”, give when its “value is the highest”, and give “when the stakes are the highest”.  How can the Church reinstitute the giving of “first fruits” as part of their Sunday Worship service?  Will we, as the church, try to “control” what can and can not be given in the natural, so the service remains reverent and “in order”, or will we go with the flow of the Holy Spirit by allowing the supernatural to consume our “first fruits” gift even though we do not know how that will manifest itself. Are we willing to take the risk?

What would your church do if a farmer brought a newborn calf into the sanctuary of the church building as a “first fruits offering”?  or if a four year old child left the first of the litter of “hamsters” in a shoebox at the altar?  What would your church do if a biker became convicted at the altar to make Jesus not only his savior but also the Lord of his life, thus giving his “life” and “lifestyle” to the Lord? They would rejoice! But what would they do if he drove his Harley Davidson motorcycle down the church’s aisle right up to the altar rail and throw the keys on the altar as a “first fruits” gift of his new lifestyle, for “behold, in Christ Jesus all things are new”?

Mindset To Rethink: Lights, Camera, Action: Sight And Worship

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XX

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Mindset to rethink: Lights, Camera, Action; sight and worship!

 The lyrics of the old hymn are, “Once I was blind, but now I can see. The Light of the World is Jesus. Come to the Light, t’is shinning for thee. Sweetly the light is shinning on thee. Once I was blind, but now I can see. The Light of the world is Jesus.”

Sight is also a powerful tool in worship since Jesus is the Light of the world.  Without light there is no sight, only darkness. Even the smallest flicker of light from a single candle in a large dark room can penetrate the darkness. One ray of light piercing a darkened sky brings attention towards its creator.  Worship puts the “spot light” on Jesus, and light is a spectrum of colors. When we enter the His Presence, Jesus, the Light, reveals the spectrum of light producing powerful supernatural images about Himself.  The Glory of the Lord is the light of Jesus.

Einstein’s theory of relativity is an attempt to prove that if one travels “the speed of light”, time stands still; all time is in the “present”.  All days are “today” in the kingdom of God. God’s Presence is always in the present, for he is the “I AM”!  All this, just through studying light! Sight is crucial to worship? Sight can bring revelation. Once I was blind; but now I can see. Bring on the supernatural sight of revelation when in Your Presence, Jesus!

Mindset To Rethink: Is Silence A Mark Of Reverence?

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XIX

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Mindset to rethink: Is Silence a mark of reverence?

Even though the Bible exhorts us to “make a joyful noise unto the Lord”, we have nurtured this mentality in church that silence is reverence; loud volume is disturbing.  I guess music has the power to create atmospheres, sooth souls, rouse passions, bring relaxation, create excitement, and even bring reverence.  Although I do not recall in the scriptures where they sang a closing hymn and went into the night, music has been part of Church culture since the first century.

Music is powerful in setting up a worshipful atmosphere, but it style varies according to taste and culture.  I have heard a heavy Christian rock band hold its tumultuously loud note drawing believers into an atmosphere of worship as I have heard silence call one to worship, so volume isn’t the issue.

I have heard two groups of identical styles of music play, one highly entertaining, the other group drawing its audience into an atmosphere of worship. What made the difference even though the styles of music were the same? The answer lay in whom was their audience, to whom did they play for?  The entertaining group got applause, cheers, and their name glorified as the top marquee band of the night. The other group could care less what their physical audience thought or did, for their direction was “upward” to the Father and His Son seated on the Throne playing their music as “sacrifices of praise”.  The Father and Son are touched and give back their musical gift to them through the Holy Spirit, and the audience before them is touched. The band’s name is not glorified, the name of Jesus is.

The key to music in worship is neither the volume, nor the beat, nor even the lyrics though all are influential, but the key is the direction to which it is played and to whom it is played for.  Music played vertically can be a powerful supernatural agent to pierce the natural setting of an audience before the performer that creates the cross of Jesus Christ always producing results. The vertical is touched by the gift of music, and the horizontal is also touched by that same gift. That is true worship.

Have we forgotten that Satan was once in charge of music in the heavens?  He fell from his position not because of the volume level, not because of the beat, nor the lyrics, but because of whom the music glorified.  His self-gratification of glorifying himself, not glorifying the Almighty God brought his down fall. I have seen the same happen to Christian groups, musicians and singers who lost vision of whom they were playing to and for no matter how “good” they sounded or how “professional” they were.

Music is a powerful tool for worship, for through it we can hear the “heart beat” of God. We, as true worshipers, must be in tune to that heartbeat, in unity with that heartbeat, in the flow of that heartbeat.  That heartbeat sets up true worship. We must not forget though that the Holy Spirit must be the conductor of such a worshipful symphony.

Another Mindset Up For Scrutiny – The Role Of The Five Senses In Worship, Taste

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XVIII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Mindset to rethink: Can anything taste better than grilling?

“Taste and see that the Lord is Good.”  What does God taste like?

Where I live we have a lot of “all you can eat” restaurants that for a fix price allows you to practice the sin of gluttony.  Fake mash potatoes, vegetables out of gallon cans, pastas, and bread and bake goods to fill you, plus plenty to drink.  We do not think we have “gotten our monies worth” unless we leave the place about to puke. Quantity is fabulous; quality is questionable.

When my sister became a gourmet chef, my mindset and attitude toward eating changed. Gourmet cooking is all about eating for “taste”.  The first time I ate at a gourmet restaurant, my first impression was shock at the “small portions”.  When those small portions were placed in my mouth, I did not want to chew and swallow with speed to increase my intake, but stopped chewing, savoring every morsel, sucking out as much taste as I could with every bite. The taste was heavenly, enriched, and full.  Each bite became an exotic experience unto itself. “Oh’s”, “ahhhhs”, and “mmmm’s” preceded every bite. When finished, I did not feel gluttonously ill, I felt pleasantly satisfied.  Each loaf of bread, each blanched vegetable, each tenderly roasted and seasoned piece of meat, each succulent dessert was created for “taste”, and the chef succeeded.

Jesus knows about taste, for his first recorded miracle was making water into wine at a wedding that was so tasteful that the groom got bawled out for leaving the best wine for last. 

Did you ever wonder what was on the menu at the “Great Feast” that is to be held in heaven. I remember the painting of the long table, set for supper, but no food is yet placed on it. Will it be turkey and mash potatoes like Thanksgiving? Will there be ethnic foods? Will there be fruits? Oh yeah, being spiritual, “fruits of the Spirit”! I should have known?

My daughter and some of her friends have begun to go eat with the homeless several nights a week by buying pizza, chicken, etc. and eating it with them on the streets. What they have begun to taste is more than the pizza; they have tasted friendship, bonding, caring.  They got a “taste” of missions, a “taste” of service, a “taste” of who Jesus really wants at his banquet as taught in his parable where all his guests have excuses not to come, so he tells his servants to go to the highway and byways.  They have experienced a “taste” of church outside of its walls.  By giving back to the Lord food he has provided to them, they got a “taste” of true worship.

“Taste and see that the Lord is Good.”

Another Mindset Up For Scrutiny – The Role Of The Five Senses In Worship, Touch

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XVII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Mindset to rethink: Can touch be supernatural because it is so tangible?

Touch is a tough one because it can oppose faith. Touch is tangible; faith is not.  Doubting Thomas would believe if he could only “touch” the resurrected Lord.  At that moment he lacked the faith to believe. Jesus, not yet glorified, supernaturally appears to the eleven disciples and allows Thomas to naturally be “touched” by the supernatural releasing Thomas’ faith to never doubt again, so the Bible records a supernatural touch and its effects.

Michelangelo’s “Creation” painting has God the Father reaching out his body across the painting in an effort to touch man who is also sprawled out in an attempt to be touched.  There is creative power in touch.

 Throughout hymns the lyrics reflect the “touch of Jesus”, the “touch of the master’s hand”, the “Lord’s touch”. Touch can be supernatural, for it can be a feeling.  In most services we feel it is natural to touch one another with cordial handshakes, or light pats on the back called hugs. But what do we really mean when we say we have been “touched by the Holy Spirit”?  To touch someone means to connect personally with them. I believe that “touch” will be even more significant as we learn to enter His Presence and connect with His Holy Spirit allowing Him to “touch” us.

Touch can also be a supernatural act of faith. The woman who had an irreversible blood condition for almost her entire life wanted to only “touch” the hem of Jesus’ garment to be healed.  When she did Jesus did not feel the physical touch because the crowd pressing against him, but he felt the supernatural touch of healing leaving his body.

Throughout the Bible the “laying on of hands” is a natural act of touching that produces supernatural results. I have seen people supernaturally baptized in the spirit, anointed, ordained, slain in the Spirit, and healed through the laying on of hands. As Michelangelo’s painting depicts, there is a focal point of touch that transfers the supernatural from God to natural man.

As a church we need to rethink how important touch is in worship. People cannot help but be “touched” when in the Presence of the Lord God Almighty who reveals Himself to every believer.  When “touched” by God, man is never the same. NEVER!  Moses came out of the Presence white haired and glowing, having to wear a veil because the Glory of the Lord shown off of him. “Touch me Lord,” is my cry.

Another Mindset Up For Scrutiny – The Role Of The Five Senses In Worship, Smell

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XVII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

How do we get the mindset of allowing the supernatural, the Holy Spirit, to include the five senses into worship instead of naturally trying to create a multi-sensory atmosphere? 

If you have ever attended a Roman Catholic, or Eastern Orthodox, or High Lutheran church service, you nose becomes a vital part of the activity.  When the priests, pastors, or altar boys come down the aisle in the procession, one usually swings incense spewing aromas throughout the sanctuary. The foundation for such an act comes from Temple worship where the Altar of Incense represents the prayers ascending toward heaven. Can you imagine the menagerie of aromas that were produced in the Temple with the incense and the massive “Grill’n” of all that meat and grains on the Altar?  Smell played a vital part of the Temple worship in Jesus’ day.  For most churches outside the three mentioned above, little is done with smell. 

Mindset to rethink:  Can we honestly believe that the Holy Spirit could bring smell into a supernatural worship setting?

 A friend of ours wanted his newly acquired house spiritually “house cleaned” because pictures on walls were being moved and other weird things were happening.  He did not know of the house’s history, but he sensed occult activity must have present there.  Our small house church fasted once a day weekly in preparation for the upcoming spiritual battle. Only after feasting on a Thanksgiving Day meal, one of the brothers announced that he thought tonight to be the night to go into action.

One lady babysat as the rest of the adults piled into a van and headed to his abode.  Outside his house we decided to have Communion before embarking on the “house cleaning” adventure.  We broke bread and shared the cup in preparation for the Battle that was the Lords. The owner anointed each doorpost with oil before sending me first into each room with my guitar claiming musicians always led the army into battle in the Bible. In each room would we do spiritual warfare, then worship as we proclaimed in faith the cleansing of the room.

With only one room to go, in the foyer outside the door several of us saw a manifestation before our eyes of a pentagram on the floor recognizing the location of previous occult activities. We worshiped, performed spiritual warfare, and in unity proclaimed the room clean. When we went into the last room, nothing evil manifested itself. As we began to worship we all noticed a sweet aroma just like that in the communion cup that we had shared earlier shared in communion.  No one said anything, but eye contact with each other confirmed that we all smelled it.  The Holy Spirit had manifested supernaturally the aroma of the communion cup verifying the success of our mission. By the way, the family that lived there never had a weird thing happen to them in that building for the rest of the time they lived there.  Yes, the Holy Spirit can produce a supernatural aroma to bring glory to Jesus for what He has done on the Cross and through His resurrection as our deliverer. “I AM your Deliverer.” That is worship.

What Is Our Mindset With Technology

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately – Part XVI

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

A Mind Set: Technology And The Church

I have been told that the twenty-thirty’s age group is multi-sensing. They are use not only seeing the big screen with digital sight and sound, but also smell can also accentuate a movie theater. Try going by the popcorn machine before going into the theater without salivating. That generation uses “touch” screens on tabletops and tables.  Since today’s younger adults multi-task daily, their involvement in church has demanded that be natural in a church setting too!  Technology allows you to text message during services, “stream” your services on line through the Internet, “podcast” your Sunday programs so that they can be downloaded during the week, blog with each other or get in Christian Chat Rooms, join “communities” or “families” on Facebook or MySpace, and who knows what in the near future.  I remember the “old days” when Pat Roberson founded Christian Broadcasting Network with technological reaching the world. Today God.TV.com can reach anywhere in the world where there is computer and Internet accessibility.

When studying the history of major revivals, one discovered that they parallel with new technology. Johanne Guttenburg’s invention of the printing press led the Church out of the Dark Ages into the Age of Enlightenment. The masses could now read for themselves the scriptures.  Many preachers utilized radio in the early nineteen hundreds.  Billy Graham has successfully utilized television to take the gospel all over the world.  Now we are in the computer age.

It is getting natural to use technology to get out the message, thus we have huge mega-churches with tremendously huge screens projecting images of those on the front stage so people in the far back can still see them. I know of churches where you can plug in our computer, palm pilot, I-phone, etc. to call up the sermon outline to follow during its delivery. Why buy a Bible? There are web cites that feature the Bible in multiple translations for study purposes.

But I do know one thing about technology, if you turn the power off, if the batteries die, you lose the function of this splendid technology. The same is true with the church, when the power, the supernatural, is turned off, church can become naturally dysfunctional. Can the supernatural compete with what is natural in today’s technology as far as getting out the gospel? You know it can, because it has for centuries.

Part XV –The Arts Are For Art Galleries Because Most Art Is So Worldly.

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately – Part XV

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Mindset to rethink:  The arts are for art galleries because most art is so worldly.

 Only the Sistine Chapel in Rome houses qualified “religious” art.  Anyhow, where does art fit into our natural order of worship? “Don’t you know that the National Endowment for the Arts is an end times satanic instrument of perversion, lewdness, and immorality,” so many churches profess.

Some of the greatest art that exists was done for the Church, yet the Church has lost touch with the power of the arts over the last century.  I grew up in the plain Anabaptist tradition that frowned upon even having musical instruments in the Church. Forget about a positive mindset toward the arts.  “Meeting Houses” were plain, and the only artwork that I remember seeing in the church as a kid was the picture of Jesus as if he just shampooed and blow-dried his hair producing a glow.  Quilts could be colorful, creative, and sold at auction, but nothing as colorful as they in the church building.

I feel the Holy Spirit is supernaturally bringing the arts back into worship.  It is a chance to give back to the Creator the creative talents He has given you.  “I AM your creator.” 

Fictional Writing: For the longest time, Christian publishers shunned really creative work in place of testimony books, Bible study books, and inspirational type literature.  I was thrilled when I read Frank Paretti’s “Piercing the Darkness” or C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia”, or “Screw Tape Letters”, “The Great Divorce”, or his Science Fiction trilogy.  All of these works expose the supernatural in a very natural way that only fiction can do.  We are not usually threatened by the supernatural when it is in fiction, because we know it is just fiction.  It is when the supernatural is reality that we squirm.  We do not realize what underlines the whole premise of these books, Biblical principles of Truth.  If the Lord gives a writer the talent to write creative fiction teaching Kingdom of God principles with the motive to “give those principles away” for others to read teaching them the rich principles of truth in the gospels, let him give it as an act of worship. 

Poetry: As you can see, I have trouble writing my thoughts in a few pages. This manuscript has turned into pages and chapters, so I admire poets who have an unique ability to get the most out of precise language. If there are talented poets in your congregation, do they get an opportunity to read their poems publicly back to the lord to bless your congregation? Years ago when I lead an open prayer and praise meeting, I recall one lady reading the most beautiful poem as her offering, prayer, and form of worship. Her poem dealt with the theme of life, death, and grieving. She thanked me so much for “allowing” her to read because it was the first time since her loved ones death that she could express how she felt.  This gave her an outlet to give her poem back to the Lord with whom her loved one currently was with in heaven.

Painting: Painting and the arts can be a visual creative expressive of worship.  In worship services that advocate the arts as part of their worship, I have seen the flow of paint accent the flow of the Holy Spirit.  As the Holy Spirit threaded its theme throughout the worship session, that theme came even more visually alive through the talent of a gifted painter who had allowed the Holy Spirit to direct his work as a sacrifice of praise visually.  It is a tribute to the Creator, Jesus, to see how the Holy Spirit can weave a tapestry of gifting by various artists of various genres into one theme.  To weave such a tapestry of such varied talent can only be supernatural. 

Dance: Dance was something I did not even do secularly, might as well as an act of worship, but it is very scriptural.  I know of a friend who owns a dance studio that teaches dance to only Christian themes and music.  Their recitals are awesome because it not only accents the talents of the participants, but it is done as an act of worship where the dancers get to give their talents back to the Lord. Like the music field, the Church has often rejected impromptu, nonprofessional dancers as being “worldly” thus nullifying the possibility of someone who loves to dance and is gifted to give their talent back to the Lord in worship. Rejection forces them to have to seek outside the church for a place to express their talent, and we wonder why they don’t return back to church? 

I know that David danced before the Lord “with all his might” and totally embarrassed his wife.  What would motivate a man of such prestige to look so foolish? The Presence of God!  He danced when the Ark of the Covenant was being brought to Jerusalem.  God’s Presence was returning to David’s kingdom after a time of absence.  When in the Presence of God, dancing becomes a supernaturally natural form of art.  When covered by the Holy Spirit, His Presence makes you do whatever you are doing “with all your might”, just like David.

I remember going to Love Inn, a Christian Fellowship in Freeville, New York in the 70’s led by Scott Ross. Phil Keaggy and his band were just part of the musical worship team at the time.  What I do remember of that evening was one of the leader’s wives who got up and began doing this interpretive dance to the free music and worship that flowed at that moment.  It was so graceful, so beautiful, and it accented the lyrics to the song being played.  Interpretive prophetic dance can be quite enhancing to a Spirit orchestrated concert.

If in our worship we allow freedom to reign during our worship service, the arts will arise in the midst of that freedom.

Holy Spirit Creativity Versus Man’s Replication: One last example of the supernatural creative arts versus the natural came during two Jesus Festivals in the mid-70. At Jesus 74 in Mercer, PA, it was hot during the day, and rained every night after the last speaker or music group concluded. On Saturday, the last night, several campers got their Coleman lanterns fully lit and placed then on an elevated knoll to the back of the natural amphitheater. There was a thunderhead with lightning flailing in the distant giving a Mother Nature fire works show of its own.  Between the two was the lit stage that said “Jesus”. That night the Holy Spirit fell. I witnessed entire youth groups getting slain by the Holy Spirit. The surrounding huge tents were filled with people getting saved, baptized in the Holy Spirit, healed and delivered. The simplicity of a cross of Coleman lamps with the lighting in the distance set the whole supernaturally charged atmosphere.

At Jesus 75, leadership scripted their version of the cross scene during their Saturday night program. They naturally thought it would look neat if they passed candles to the crowd and have a lit figure of a cross in the center of darkness. They changed their mind when they wanted the center darkened, and candle light around the darkened cross figure. Chaos reigned as candles were tossed all around as people tried to get it right. After quite a few flair ups, candles were stationed properly, the view looked awesome from above as an aircraft flew over for pictures.  I sat in amazement because the supernatural simplicity of simple Coleman lamps proved to be far more effective that the natural scripted version that was attempted a year later.

Part XIV –Can Only Train Musicians Write And Produce New Music?

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately – Part XIV

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Another mindset to rethink:  Only trained musicians can write and produce new music.

Wrong.  When a New Testament Priest enters the Holy of Holies, the Presence of God, giving sacrifices of praise musically, they just may come out of that experience with a “New Song”. 

The book of Revelation again highlights worship filled with singing “New Songs”.  When in His Presence, the believer, the priest, gives back to the Lord God what he has given to his believer or priest.  If singing a Sacrifice of Praise, a vocal confession in song, a new tune with new lyrics, may be created by the Creator himself, for “I AM your Creator”.  We can sing the “Song to the Lamb”, or the “Song of Forgiveness”, or the “Song of our Healing”, or the Song of Deliverance, or the Song of Promise Fulfilled, or the Song of a Savior.  They are all new songs.

I feel the Church has yet to tap into this rich resource of supernatural worshiping power.  As the Lord God Almighty continues to reveal himself to us, new songs will become the supernaturally natural flow of Holy Spirit orchestrated music.

Also what the church naturally thinks of Special Music will also be put under the scrutiny of our mindset microscope. Usually “Special Music” came as natural progression in the order of worship prior to the sermon.  It naturally consisted of very talented singers with impressive voices that would “entertain” us with the talents.  If you were a monotone, you could not even make the mass choir, might as well being featured as “Special Music”. 

At Parkesburg, I was impressed one Saturday night, when a young lady became “special music” that night.  She came to the podium and sang the “Lord’s Prayer” in a new tune, one that I had never heard before, nor has heard since, but it was gorgeous.  It was her “new song” that she was giving back to her Creator, Jesus as an act of true worship! She did not know there was any other version of that prayer other than hers.  Now she gave it back as worship.  Her act of worship caused the rest of the believers present to also enter back into the flow of worship, back into the flow of corporate Body Worship as Priesthood.

Part XIII – A New Mindset To Develop: Allow The Holy Spirit Be The Orchestrating “Conductor” – Singing A New Song

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately – Part XIII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

A new mindset to develop: Allow the Holy Spirit be the orchestrating “conductor”.

Singing a “New Song”:  Another observation that I have made is that when there is true revival, when musicians enter into His Presence, new songs are birthed.  True revival produces new music, new songs.  The Wesley brothers wrote hundreds of new hymns to be sung for the hundreds of Camp Meetings that sprung up everywhere.  I remember during the early Jesus movement days, tunes being placed to scripture and sung so that believers could memorize scripture easier.  The whole “contemporary music” scene in the Church came basically out of the early Jesus movement days.  Each generation with their own revival movement produce their own new music.

Part XII – A New Mindset: Allow The Holy Spirit To Be The Orchestrating “Conductor” – Singing In The Spirit

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately – Part XII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

A new mindset to develop: Allow the Holy Spirit to be the orchestrating “conductor”. 

This does not mean you don’t practice, etc. It means you acknowledge to whom you are listening during a worship experience.

Singing In the Spirit:  For example, at the First Mennonite Conference on the Holy Spirit in 1974 on Memorial Day, I attended the evening service where I first experienced what is called “Singing in the Spirit”.  Since the Mennonites did not use musical instruments, they sang their hymns in four-part harmony.  When they sing, the harmony is rich in sound.  I believe “Singing in the Spirit” is the way vocally that the body of Christ can enter corporately into the Presence of God.  Individually, each believer, each priest, begins singing Sacrifices of Praise to their God and their Savior. They vocally sing back to the Lord who He is in their lives: my savior, my Lord, my deliverer, my fortress, my sustainer, my provider, my healer, my bright and morning star, and my Rose of Sharon. Their proclamations of sacrificial praise glorified the Father and His Son Jesus as each person entered His Presence. Giving back to the Lord and to Father God what He has given his priest, his believer was, what I believe, true worship by true worshipers.  Individually each person was entering His Presence if he chose.

Then the supernatural corporate worship activated.  Even though each Sacrifice of Praise was sung individually, it supernaturally harmonized with all the other believers who too individually sang their Sacrifices of Praise.  There was an “angelic” quality to the tone, pitch, and harmony of the corporate singing. I feel very inadequate trying to put into words the riches of the experience. It was the most “heavenly” sound that I have ever heard.  It was a glimpse of the “worship pictures” we get in the book of Revelation when the saints, the priesthood, join with the angels and winged creatures in harmonious Praise and Worship! 

Singing in the Spirit cannot be naturally orchestrated. The greatest attempt to naturally duplicate Singing in the Spirit, though extremely feeble in its attempt, is Gregorian Chant Music. I personally believe that Gregorian Chant Music became the Church’s natural attempt to restore the sound that had so spiritually enriched them supernaturally in their early years. Orchestrating hundreds or thousands of individuals personally offering Sacrifices of Praise vocally by a worship leader to get that sound cannot naturally be done.  It is too immense. Also during the singing the musical key changes to higher levels as the Praise reaches higher levels.  Having a huge group of believers independently worshiping and knowing when and how to change keys would be naturally impossible.  But in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, all things are possible, so the Holy Spirit can supernaturally orchestrate the unity of the worship, for again, one of His mission is to have all God’s children “draw near” and “come into” Jesus’ very Presence, so he can manifest the image of His Father to his believers.

As “professional” sounding with today’s sound technology and talented singers surrounded by talent musicians are in many huge contemporary church services today, they can never match nor duplicate the supernatural sound of Singing in the Spirit, an individually corporate musical experience.

Part XI – Music Ministry Must Set A High Standard To Be Excellent Worship.

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately – Part XI

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

 Another mindset I need to change:  Music Ministry must set a high standard to be excellent worship.

I attended a “worship service” at a Presbyterian church that had a paid choir: awesome voices, tremendous harmony, a phenomenal music experience, but I left feeling inferior. I attended a “worship service” and an Evangelical church that had a talented worship leader surrounded by an incredible sounding band with background singers augmenting his “leading”, but again I left feeling inferior. I attended a church where a little child sang a song to Jesus in her infant toned voice, alone, with simplicity, and I left blessed.

We need to examine our mindset of music with worship services.  My children were very fortunate because we went to a relatively small church with a lady who had played a gifted Pentecostal piano who was willing to “worship”, give her talent back to the Lord and away to young people.  Doris was also the lady who taught the course on how to “listen to God” and practiced what she taught.  In their early teens my oldest son played drums while wearing a “More Drums In Worship” T-shirt. My younger son played and acoustical, electric, and bass guitars with the church’s worship team since the age of thirteen.  Their close friend excelled on the saxophone and became a front line player on “sax row” in a prestigious high school jazz band, later going to college and majoring in his instrument. Another fellow in his late twenties played bass guitar.  A young lady, high school age, played a beautiful violin. All these young musicians came into the nest of the mother hen, Doris, who nurtured them not only through learning music, but also teaching them spiritual principles that went with worship music: how to listen to the conductor, the Holy Spirit.

The local body of Christ personally invested in my sons as musicians.  A man approached my youngest son on his sixteen-birthday, retrieving a beautiful red electric bass guitar from the trunk of his car as a gift “to sow seeds of faith” into his life. Just weeks later the local church and individual “gifts” from its members sent the entire worship team to a Worship Conference in Texas. There my younger son learned how to play a “slap” bass in only one week.  Later he would excel in his high school jazz band, winning individual awards for his bass playing, and be accepted into college with the bass as his major instrument.  My eldest son has also played drums in worship bands and excelled in mixing soundboards.

Not only do I have to thank our local church for allowing those in the congregation to financially give gifts so that both of my sons and my wife to attend that Worship Conference, but also thank Doris for her investment, her giving back of her talents to the Lord, her giving her musical knowledge to my sons. She taught them how not only to play background for singers, but how to listen to the conductor, the Holy Spirit, in order to set accompany effective ministry.  This taught them how to play for hours as visiting evangelists and prophets ministered to our congregation. She also taught them how to prophetically minister to people just through the playing of their instrument all while they were in their teens.  Doris earned my ultimate respect when she was willing to “lay down her life” (I John 3:16) for her brethren.  She was willing to lay down her musical life, step back at the appropriate time, and allow the boys and their friends to move forward in the Spirit musically.  She weaned them from her influence to the Holy Spirit’s influence, a real gift on her part!  Soon the old Pentecostal piano worship style changed into a more contemporary rock style that exists today as their worship team grew together.

If we would have been in a church with an organist and pipe organ and no outlet for drums and guitars, it would have forced my sons to join garage bands, rock bands, etc. because of their talent and love for music. We have failed to allow them an outlet to give back to the Lord the talents He has given them.  Our Parasitical attitude towards “style” of music has driven multitudes of youthful musicians to the play outside the church to fulfill their musical talents and dreams.  How sad! We should be ashamed.   Just listen to how many famous secular musicians have their musical roots in the Church.  Unless they become “gospel” singers or musicians, most churches would have rejected them because their “style” of music isn’t “spiritual”, excuse me “religious” enough! 

If we had attended a mega-sized church, a large church, my sons again would not have had the opportunity to learn from experience.  Hearing tapes of their playing even when in their teens, musically impresses me today. They kept musically getting better because as they put it, they wanted to “raise the bar” on their skill level. When their skill level got “professional” large churches sought their service, but the beginner, intermediate, or even descent musician would never get to play with the worship team and learn by experience as my sons had the opportunity to do.

In a very small church of less than fifty, I had to play a twelve-string guitar and “lead” worship because there was no one else to do so.  I do know one thing, in spite of my lack of musical talent, I still worshipped, and so did the congregation.  In spite of my musical talent, or lack of it, I got to worship in South Africa where I got to give back to the Lord and give to South African children the many songs I use to play with my children as we sang in our living room together as a family.  The Lay Witness movement in South Africa now has “The Sheep Song” as well as others because of me.  Although the skill level of a musician is crucial, it is not the musician’s skill level that drives worship; it is his being in tune to the Holy Spirit that brings results.

Part X – Mindset: Look At The “Lamad” Mindset

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately – Part X

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

(Second Section)

Stretching our mindset: Maybe we should look at the world through the Jewish, “lamad”, mindset rather than the Western Culture mindset, the experiential way rather than the intellectual.

How did I get introduced to the lamad method?

Several years ago I came across Mark Verkler’s teaching on how to listen to God.  He also wrote a book on how to allow the Holy Spirit to “teach” in small groups, which I highly recommend.  He wanted his small groups to “experience” God, to “experience” the lesson being taught by and through the Holy Spirit.  His premise is that the Holy Sprit is the teacher, not man, and any believer can be his pupil and get spiritual insight, not just the “professionals”.

In short, he suggests one person read a passage of scripture while the rest of the group with closed eyes “listens” allowing the Holy Spirit to accent parts of the passage He deems important to that individual’s life. When the scripture reading is complete, the groups should try to see, or picture, the lesson. Virkler proposes that one needs to “stop”, “look”, and “listen” to the scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to bring it to life into your own “personal experience”. 

Basically the Logos Word is being transformed into the Rhema Word, or the experienced living Word.  Rather than “preaching” on the text, or “teaching” on the text, or “expounding” on the text, or doing an “exegesis” on the text, Virkler suggests that the Holy Spirit be allowed to teach, to initiate, to activate. After a period of silence, he would let individuals in the class share what they have learned. 

Because of different individuals seeing different points of view, the lesson became enriched; principles never noticed before by the group, no matter how minute, became real, alive, and personal.  The sharing brought more insight into the passage than one person could give. The class then left with the urgency to “experience” the text, the passage, the Word in their daily lives throughout the week.  To me this was a different mindset toward the standard, study and lecture approach that I had been taught and practiced in church and in my profession.  Upon trying this lamad approach, I found it to be more effective, far more invigorating, and far more alive than any academic lesson that I ever attempted to teach. Following Markl Virkler’s instruction, I did not teach, only reading the passage; I allowed the Holy Spirit to teach. 

In the natural if I had taught, the class only gets my perspective from only my experience. That is what usually happens with sermons on Sunday mornings.  We get only the “preacher’s” perspective on the interpretation of the material, which is highly tainted with dogma and doctrine of the sect to which he belongs.  If we get ourselves out of the picture and allow the Holy Spirit to be the teacher, then in the supernatural the class will be taught even richer truths allowing richer ministry between the saints to each other. Hearts will be touched; the hearts will be changed; and who knows, it will probably effect how we intellectually look at things.  Our intellectual theology, study of God, may be trashed by our experiential theology, the living study of God, because we have “experienced” who God is, His nature, His character, His personality, His being by entering into His Presence.  When the heart changes, we holistically change too.

To the mindset that only a paid professional who has spent years of intellectual study earning various degrees has the inside insight into God is totally wrong.  Any New Testament priest who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior has access into His Presence through the Holy Sprit to gain “godly” or “god-like” insight into his Logos Word and Rhema Word.  Can any believer give the Sunday morning message? Sure, in fact the whole “priesthood” can and should!  This new mindset would revolutionize Sunday morning worship if we allowed the Holy Spirit to not only orchestrate the “order of worship” but also be allowed to “teach” to the priesthood.