Becoming True Worshipers: Experience More of God's Presence Through Deeper Worship

By M. Thomas Seaman

“THE FATHER IS SEEKING TRUE WORSHIPERS...THEY THAT WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.” -John 4:23-24 Are we true worshipers? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth? Is God pleased with our worship in this modern age? Becoming True Worshipers takes a deeper look at the priority, the process, and the power of true worship. It’s insights and principles will transform you and set you free.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: May 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781483483061

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SEAMAN

Copyright © 2018 M. Thomas Seaman.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-8307-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-8306-1 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scriptures Taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 04/10/2018

ENDORSEMENTS

"Becoming True Worshipers will be a welcome addition to the library of every student of worship. Thomas Seaman has done an admirable job of providing us with this intimate and thorough study of principles and applications based upon scriptures from the Old and New Testament related to worship, and bound them together in a theologically sound, yet practical, approach that will illuminate, inspire, and encourage the reader."

Douglas Crawley, D.M.A.,

Worship Pastor, First Baptist Church

Associate Professor of Music and Worship, Liberty University

I am truly honored to recommend this book to you. Tom is highly qualified to share about worship from a theological/educational and a personal/relational perspective. On a personal level, Tom has great heart and passion to communicate about worship, the musical skill to effectively lead worship, and the knowledge and ability to be a quality teacher and trainer. As a result of knowing Tom over the years I have become a richer and deeper thinker about worship. This book reflects that part of our journey, and much more, in a beautiful way! I am sure you will love the read!

David Hershberger

Pastor of Worship Ministries

Brethren in Christ Church, Mechanicsburg, PA

Each generation comes and goes,yet one thing always remains present; Worship. We worship many things, but Tom Seaman in his book, Becoming True Worshippers, has done an extraordinary job of helping us understand how to be a True Worshipper. Although it’s intent is for worship leaders, and worship team members, I believe that this book would help anyone wanting draw closer to the heart of the Father through a deeper and thorough understanding of worship. Understanding worship from this perspective will help answer the question of why we worship. The priority, process and power of becoming a True Worshipper is within your grasp. May your experience with this resource be just as insightful as mine has been.

Drew R. Humphreys,

Worship Pastor,

Compassion Christian Church, Savannah, Ga.

"Having the unique privilege of calling the author, ‘Dad’, I can confirm that Becoming True Worshipers is the culmination of a lifetime of research, study, and practice. He is truly gifted as a teacher of worship, and fully devoted as a worshiper of our King. I’m excited to dig into this book again and again as a resource for my own teachings on worship."

Moriah Seaman,

Worship Pastor,

Vineyard Church of Baton Rouge, LA

Becoming True Worshipers is a much-needed resource for the Christian community and a must-read for all worship leaders and music ministry team leaders regardless of denominational preference. I strongly recommend it to anyone desiring to foster a more profound relationship with the Lord.

Tom invites readers to understand the significance and necessity of worship by including 15 chapters that include: Defining Worship, Worship in Truth, and How should we worship. Much of this book focuses on helping the reader obtain a better understanding of Worship and Praise by demonstrating the importance of seeing the Lord and embracing every aspect of His power and awesomeness. This book would be a great addition to any library. I submit that you will not be able to put it down until you have completed the last page, because as you read you will start to see the Bible passages come alive before your eyes.

Dr. Hubert Quiller,

Senior Pastor

Restoration worship Center, Richmond Hill, GA

The present emphasis on worship is a God-thing, from start to finish… God is doing a new thing.   -Bob Sorge, Exploring Worship

INTRODUCTION

After years of training in music education, music performance and music ministry, God graciously introduced us to this new thing He was doing called Praise and Worship. It was life changing. Through times of worship, we experienced the presence and the power of God in our lives like never before. We discovered that True Worship was life transforming. There was no going back.

Our weekly worship team rehearsals became holy ground where we didn’t want to leave. Our church went into a season of growth and tripled in size. Other churches started calling us and asking us if we could come and help them to learn how to do Contemporary Worship.

These ministry opportunities grew into Becoming True Worshipers Seminars. We began traveling to other states: Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, etc… and people were getting really excited about these powerful insights.

While serving as a Chairman of the Music Department at Central Christian College, McPherson, KS, I developed a new course entitled: Philosophy of Music and Worship. Twenty eight classroom discussions designed to cover all the basics every musician would need to know in order to become an effective worship leader.

A few years later, while serving a Pastor of Worship Arts, I started writing a series of articles on worship for our church’s monthly newsletter. That’s when the idea for a book started growing in my mind. We continued to attend other worship seminars, learning great things from other worship leaders. But then I began to notice that many of the truths God had revealed to us weren’t being covered in other books and worship seminars.

Last year, the call to write a book grew stronger. In a conversation with an administrator at Pentecostal Theological Seminary, the person mentioned to me the lack of good teaching materials on worship for the seminary level. My daughter, Melissa, who works at Regent University School of Divinity concurred. She said they also were having difficulty finding good resource books on worship and encouraged me to write one..

With my background as a Musician, College Professor, Pastor and Worship Leader, I figured perhaps I could help meet this need. As a result, here is Becoming True Worshipers- a guide book for Worship Leaders and Pastors that can also serve as a resource for worship studies at Christian Colleges and Seminaries. This book combines in-depth musical knowledge, solid Biblical theology on worship with practical application for local churches. This is a book for those who want to grow deeper in their understanding of the priority, the process and the power of True Worship.

-M. Thomas Seaman

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are many people who have contributed to this book through their investment in my life. One of my earliest memories was sitting in the playpen right beside the piano as my mother, Carole Seaman gave piano lessons to high school students. Starting at age 6, she taught me to play the piano. My father, Mill Seaman taught our family to sing harmonies while riding in the car as we traveled all over South Dakota singing in local churches. From day one, I was in church every week learning to sing the good old gospel hymns. In fourth grade, I started learning to play the trumpet and joined the band. When I was 14, My Dad went on a Missions trip to Mexico and brought me back a guitar. In high school, I was privileged to attend Sunshine Bible Academy. where the Choir Director, Mr. Melhauf inspired me to make music my life calling. .

I’m thankful for the excellent music faculty at Sterling College where I majored in music both vocal and instrumental. Upon graduation I taught music in Christian Schools for 21 years. I had a great experience at Wichita State University where I received a Masters Degree in Music Education with an emphasis in Choral Conducting. From there I went on to serve 14 years as the Music Department Chairman at Central Christian College, McPherson, KS.

While teaching at the college, we were serving as Minister of Music at local churches when we first connected with the Modern Worship movement. Special thanks go to Lamar Boschman, Steve Fry and Bob Fitts at the International Worship leaders Institute, Dallas, TX. for introducing us to the power of worship. We are thankful for additional worship wisdom received from Paul Baloche, Don Moen, Paul Wilbur, Bob Sorge, Rory Noland and Dr. Ron Kenoly. I would also like to express my gratitude for all the members of our worship teams who so faithfully walked with us through this journey into True Worship.

Special thanks goes to my family, especially my children for encouraging me and helping me to write this book. I’m most thankful to God for my wife Jane who has been my partner in ministry for 37 years. None of this would be possible without her love and support. Most of all I desire to thank God. We have been truly blessed with His presence and His power in our lives.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are kind of worshipers the Father seeks.    - John 4:23

CHAPTER 1

The Priority of Worship

When I first read this passage and noticed that God was seeking true worshipers, I was surprised. Growing up in the mainstream Evangelical world, I got the impression from Church and my Pastors that Missions was the #1 priority in life. We had pictures of missionaries on the wall, missions offerings every week, and big missions conferences every year. We had a lot of sermons on the great Co-Mission, but I don’t recall any sermons or emphasis on