Praise

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Praise, the Lost Art of Rejoicing. Praise is all about music. Funny how we've got it backwards in church. We've lost the art of expressing joy before the Lord. Some churches have rediscovered this lost art, and they're the ones that are really growing, much to the wrath of the traditionalists, who think that nothing should ever change in church, and resist every move of the Holy Spirit, just like the stiff necked Israelites walking through the desert. We are called to be sheep, not donkeys. Sheep follow the shepherd, donkeys have a habit of digging their heels is so as not to move an inch. Are you a sheep or a donkey? I ask this because one is life, and the other death. One brings life to the church, the other tries to kill it off. Which are you? David v Michal. 2Samuel 6 NIV 12 ¶ Now King David was told, "The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God." So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. 17 They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty. 20 ¶ When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would." 21 David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel--I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honour." 23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. David was a rejoicer, a dancer, a singer, a musician, a writer of songs. O yes, he was a King too, and a mighty warrior, but his epitaph reads, "David, Israel's singer of songs." He knew how to rejoice before the Lord, and didn't mind looking a bit of a pranny doing it. Yes you guessed it, praise is a sacrifice too (Heb 13:15). David is famous for dancing before the Lord with all his might, not the picture you get from the men in church today! But then, David had a heart after God, by God's admission, sadly this too is not the picture you get from toady's church. Michal, (David's wife) on the other hand is a wonderful picture of toady's church. She wouldn't join in the celebrations, she stayed at home and peeked out the window. She moaned at those who were celebrating, especially David the Lord's anointed. She derided David for making her feel uncomfortable, yes, it was her not joining in that was the real problem, but David, with that heart for God told her were to go and how far. God chose David and delighted in him. God cursed Michal with childlessness. Which are you, a David, or a Michal? Are you life, or lifelessness? Do you deride those who enter in, yet never make the effort yourself, do you rejoice before the Lord, or moan behind others backs? Praise & Music. It's really difficult to rejoice without music. It's almost impossible to express joy without making a noise! Try it. It's difficult to have a quiet party, but that's exactly what we try to do in church. It mustn't be too loud, we might wake 'em up at the back. And don't forget the old folks, they don't like the noise, even though most of them are 3 parts deaf, and you have to shout at them to make yourself heard. What a nonsense. Where in the Bible does it say that we should be quiet in church? On the other hand, where in the Bible does it say not to shout? Where does it say stop them from dancing? The truth is, the Bible's full of life, noise, joy, liberty, but the church is dull, quiet, immobile, and controlled. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, which means He's not in many churches today. Is He in yours? If not, what are you going to do about it? For Him, Colin.

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