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Psalms 148 speaks of planets, stars, and creatures of the deep praising the Lord. Check out how Louie Giglio brings these words to life. (While I don’t know enough about Mr. Giglio as to endorse all of his teachings, I can say that this particular video is awesome and well worth the watch!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7zWKm-LZWm4#!

Recently I was reading the story of King Hezekiah as recorded in I Chronicles 22-32; II Kings 18-20, and I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps God is raising up some “Hezekiahs” today. When Hezekiah began his reign, Judah was still caught in the apostasy which King Ahaz had led the nation into. True temple worship had been abandoned, in fact; the temple doors had been closed and the house of the Lord had been defiled. Ahaz had his own altar built, set up places of worship “in every corner of Jerusalem,” became involved in the grossest forms of idolatry, and led the people in turning their backs on the true worship of God. Hezekiah comes along, and had it in his heart to return to the Lord.

The first thing he does is tell the priests and the Levites to cleanse themselves and the temple. They are to remove every unclean thing out of the house of the Lord, cleanse all of the utensils, and open it back up so that true worship could be offered to God. Once all of this took place, the people could again come and offer their sacrifices to the Lord in the way that God had prescribed for them. The thing that stood out to me the most in all of this was the fact that this all started with the leadership. They had been complicit in Ahaz’s apostasy and needed to get their act together first!

Perhaps it is time for the so called leaders in the Church to cleanse themselves and repent. Too much time has been spent building up personal kingdoms, allowing “any old kind” of worship to go on (remember the “high places” in scripture?), and because of this; the people of God have been led into idolatry. It is easy to sit back and assign blame to the people, but perhaps the condition of the people is a direct reflection of the leadership. Maybe leadership has allowed the idolatry of personal preference, pride, and the desire for control to substitute true worship in their own lives. As a result, the “house of God” has become neglected. Perhaps it is the fault of leadership that “They abandoned the Lord and his dwelling place; they turned their backs on him. They also shut the doors to the Temple’s entry room, and they snuffed out the lamps. They stopped burning incense and presenting burnt offerings at the sanctuary of the God of Israel.”

In the story of Hezekiah, when the leadership “got right,” the people responded big time. Let us return to the Lord with all of our heart, for he waits to have compassion on us. Let us repent of doing things our own way. “So the Temple of the Lord was restored to service. And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because of what God had done for the people, for everything had been accomplished so quickly.”

           I pray the Lord will break your heart as you see an example of the deception rampant in the Western Church. What’s more, we are exporting this brand of “Christianity” around the globe. As you watch this video, take note of the people who, with no discernment whatsoever, are lifting their hands, joining in this false worship. I have included some scripture I would like you to read prior to watching the video.

           “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons…You should know this, Timothy that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God… They will consider nothing sacred. They… have no self-control… They will be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that…” (I Timothy)

           “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed…These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness…They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor,who loved to earn money by doing wrong.They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. “(II Peter)

         …some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches…In the same way, these people—who claim authority from their dreams—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings…Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. ¹¹ What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion…When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating…They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.” (Jude)

(The reference to Mr. Munsey as a lunatic was commentary provided by whoever originally posted the video.)

In a recent NLI post entitled, “Talk About… God Music: The Levitical Band,” it read, “We are not told how David understood that he was to make this addition to the priestly role. The Bible only shows us that apparently, with God’s blessing, David introduced music/singing as a priestly responsibility in the worship of Yahweh.” This is incorrect.

II Chronicles 29: 25, 26 tells us that it was the Lord himself who instructed David to make these priestly revisions. “…stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.”

This serves to lend further credence as to the important relationship of music/singing and the worship of God!