Stop The Music - September 4, 2010

Daily Reading

Ezekiel 24-27

Daily Verse

I will put an end to your noisy songs,

and the music of your harps will be heard no more.

Ezekiel 26:13

Daily Thought

"We seemed to have lost the spark. We seemed to be going through the motions. Our hearts were far from Him. We had become connoisseurs of worship instead of participants of it.

"In our hearts, we were giving the worship team grades on a scale from one to ten: 'Not that song again,' 'I can't hear the bass,' 'I like the way she sings better.' We had made the band the performers of worship and ourselves the audience. We had forgotten that we are ALL the performers of worship and that God is the audience.

"We needed to take drastic action. For a while, in order to truly learn this lesson, we banned the band. We fired Matt Redman! Then we sat around in circles and said that if no one brought a sacrifice of praise, we would spend the meeting in silence."
--Pastor Mike Pilavachi, Soul Survivor Church, London, England

When the music fades,
All is stripped away, and I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless your heart
I'll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself is not what you have required.
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear;
You're looking into my heart.
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about you
All about you Jesus.
--Matt Redman, fired (then rehired) band leader, Soul Survivor Church, London, England

To God's Glory,
Dave Price

Daily Prayer

God, I love You and praise You, and my praise must come first from a life of sacrifice and love. My actions will sing Your praise before my voice does. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Noise. God, may I never be noise. Let me be silent before that happens. But, better, my Savior, may I shout from the mountaintops "You are my God," and live a life that backs it up.

Amen.