Created to Worship

By Bj Abulude

21st Century worship is being driven, it seems, by Music! Popular culture and the entertainment industry have captivated the minds of Christians everywhere. Many people go into Churches today expecting similar levels of showmanship or gimmicks applied as they would be in any secular pop or rock concert! Or perhaps Church leaders are themselves convinced that no-one would come unless they can put up a great show? Created to worship encourages Christians to get back to the basics of worship; exploring how the songs we sing can arguably shape our daily Christian experience. In a world full of noise and great distractions, disciples of Jesus Christ are encouraged to delve deeper into the scriptures so that with renewed faith we can build our worship upon the foundations and truth of God's Word.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bj Abulude
• Release date: Sep 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9798201746728

Book preview

Created to Worship

endorsements

‘Created to Worship’ brings us back to a biblical understanding of what real worship is all about. The reason we exist, why we were created, is to have relationship with and worship the triune God.

The book lays foundations for us about worship, which we would do well to bear in mind as we bring our praise and worship to our Creator. Although our whole lives are worship to God, Bj focuses on our musical and sung worship, especially when we gather together. There are some good challenges for us to consider and some provoking questions for us to answer. However, I pray that this book will help worship leaders, song writers, musicians, and every worshipper not only to have an understanding about worship, but also to find a new release in true worship to the one true God!’

David S Bareham: – Elder Community Church Chafford Hundred, oversees the South Essex Cluster – Relational Mission.

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‘In a day when myriads of voices seek our attention using all forms of entertainment, sadly but inevitably, this influence has crept into some Church services, reducing worship to what we sing and how relatable the songs are.

Created to Worship beckons the reader into a meaningful, Christ-centred, holistic relationship with God from which true worship will naturally flow. Bj takes us on a journey through the Scriptures to help us understand what God, rather than man, defines as worship. The book seeks to answer the Who, What, When Where and How of the reason we exist on Earth – to worship our Creator.

Prepare to have your views challenged, your perspective potentially redefined; your relationship with God invigorated.

I believe Created to Worship is a pivotal addition to the Canon on Worship that exists for today’s Church’

Toyin Onabowu: – Choir director, Worship Leader, Author of ‘Meditations from Psalms’.

Created to Worship

Bj. Abulude

INSPIRATIONS PUBLISHING

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scriptures marked YLT are from the Young's Literal Translation Bible (Public Domain)

Copyright © 2018 by Bj. Abulude.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Bj. Abulude

www.bjabulude.com

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Created to Worship Bj. Abulude. —Reprinted 2022.

ISBN 978-1-9164104-0-4 Inspirations Publishing

Dedicated to the glory of God

‘The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.’ (Habakkuk 2:14)

Acknowledgements

How could I say Thank You to my Father, Lord and King in a way that would ever begin to be enough? You have been so good to me and my soul knows this very well. I am so grateful You granted me the grace to identify and answer Your call on my life!

Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness: but a faithful man, who can find? (Proverbs 20:6)

I am grateful for my faithful man Temitope for who you are (I wish I could break convention and place an appropriate emoji here!) Thank you for being my best friend for as long as I have known you and so much more since... My husband and friend who wants the best for me, believes in me a whole lot more than I believe in myself, and pursues as much as he possibly can, on my behalf...

I am so thankful to God for my indomitable Triple-O; Olumide, Oluwafemi and Oluwatobiloba – arrows in the hand of a mighty man; with the Holy Spirit as your teacher and guide, you will all surely remain more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Thank you, my dear Jumoke for helping me to truly see Luke 13:6–9, and for challenging me to dig deeper in my walk with the Holy Spirit.

I am grateful, dear Toyin for your insights and general hand-holding ...

Thank you for being my chief encourager Aderoju; you are a joy of many generations!

I am eternally grateful to my late parents, Chief D. O. Fadele and Mrs. M. A. Fadele. You both helped me develop a love for reading from a young age. Thank you for introducing me to the incontrovertible proof of the existence of God, beautiful music and for all the love and laughter!

Contents

Preface

We were created for Relationship

What is He worth?

What is Praise, what is Worship?

Enter His gates.

Praise is a weapon

Songs of the Lord; – singing and writing songs of worship.

Play skilfully – Wanted; a worship band.

Praise or Performance

Delight yourself in the Lord.

Bibliography

You must be born again

preface

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I was apprehended by God from a young age. I did not realise it at the time, but I have never doubted that God exists. I was an avid reader as a child, so when my dad bought the 10-volume set of ‘The Bible Story’ by Arthur S Maxwell, I devoured those books. I never imagined that the stories within were anything but true.

Like most people, including those who contest the existence of God, I knew to run to Him whenever I was afraid or confused. I always believed Jesus is real, but I did not know that I could have a personal, day-to-day relationship with Him.

I was finally confronted by His Grace and knew I had to choose to live my life for Him. By this time, however, I had also developed a great hindrance. You see, I love music, and singing. I had always taken part in choirs while in school, but somehow, I knew that if I wanted to dedicate my life to God and His Word, I would have to choose between listening to and singing songs of praise to Him and the clubbing sounds of the mid to late Eighties. No one ever said this to me, but I knew... I think I realised it was a consecration God wanted of me and this disturbed me greatly. I was disturbed because, prior to this, my experience of ‘Christian music’ was limited to Hymns, Christmas carols, and traditional Christian music from the radio. It appeared that there was nothing on offer for young Christians like me; those with a love for ‘good’ music. Interestingly, I learnt something about God’s nature when I realised that I was not exposed to the more contemporary style of Christian music until I made the commitment to fully follow God. Praise God! I was born again by the power of the Holy Spirit and I have been singing to God and for His glory ever since.

I became acquainted with music from very gifted musicians, singers, and songwriters who had dedicated their gifts to God and were allowing Him to use them to advance the Gospel and His Kingdom.

I considered myself blessed to be part of a Church body which had an awesome music ministry. I learnt to study God’s word seriously as an integral part of my calling. We were taught to place an equal emphasis on spiritual development as well as the development of musical skills and talents. At the time, I saw many people come to Christ under the conviction of the Holy Spirit after hearing the choir sing; even when there was no preaching at all. There were also times the congregation would become so caught up in worship and praise that the Pastor would be unable to preach for the duration of the service.

I came to understand that the Word of God is the carrier of His power and observed little difference between God's word being spoken or sung. The truth of the gospel can be conveyed as easily in a melody as it is by a preacher. The Spirit of God breathing upon His word makes the power of God available; the yoke is destroyed because of the anointing. (See Isaiah 10:27)

In the past decade or so, I began to notice disquiet within me, as I became aware of a trend which was making me increasingly uncomfortable.

When I first began to listen to Praise and Worship music, the songs were always clear about what they were. They were songs of praise or adoration offered to God, and the lyrics reflected this. Of course, there were always other types of songs – songs to edify or ‘build up’ the Church, songs of repentance and so on, but mostly, the songs of praise were just that. They were dedicated to singing about who God is, His character, His Promises and what He has done. However, I began to notice that many of the newer songs, ostensibly labeled as songs for worship, were changing focus almost imperceptibly. More and more songs were being presented as songs of Praise or songs for corporate worship, but the subject was no longer primarily about God, but was relating more to how we feel about God, how helpless and hopeless we are (a direct contrast to our position in Christ) and what He has done, is doing, or will do for us. This change as mentioned is subtle, but the negative effects can be far reaching. If we focus on our feelings, we are tempted to think of ourselves more highly than we should. This often gives rise to the attitude that says, ‘what can God do for me?’ rather than, ‘why did God place me here? What is my purpose?’ Whenever we are overly concerned about ourselves, how we feel, or what we need, we become passive Christians who do not understand that God placed us here on earth, for a purpose – His purpose, and that He has already given us access to everything we need to accomplish His plan.

As previously mentioned, the difference is not easy to discern. The challenge I have found is this; regardless of how noble my motives are, once I remove my focus from God and who He is, I am no longer exalting Him, but now in the danger of exalting self instead. Of course, once ‘self’ takes centre stage, confusion often follows close behind. We forget that it is always better to concentrate on the greatness of God rather than whatever needs we may be facing. Fear and doubt vanish when we place our focus on our God; how great, powerful, and yet loving He is.

Unfortunately, it appears that more songs are detailing the problems, neglecting the New Covenant, ignoring the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within every born-again Christian who receives Him, and eventually making the word of God of no effect because of the traditions of men. (Mark 7:13). Nice-sounding sentiments are systematically eroding our understanding of the truth of God’s word. In the guise of ‘humility’, rather than acknowledging the good within because the Holy Spirit now lives in us; these songs are encouraging believers to rehash their shortcomings, passively waiting for God to come and do something about the very things He has asked us to deal with. Many new songs, with melodies as beautiful as to pull on the heartstrings of the most hardened person and performed to the highest levels of skills and creativity, are getting into the mainstream of popular Christian worship in our Churches today. These songs, beautiful as they sound, often seem to have traded creating an exciting hook or a great and emotional vibe for scriptural verity.

Why would professing Christians, who receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and have trusted Him to guide and lead them daily, be singing about their desperation for God? ‘The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth’ (Psalm 145:18). In light of the dramatic change at the New Birth, we are no longer ‘without Him’. Some of these songs ask for the presence of God, though He has told us in the scriptures that He will never leave us nor forsake us. The subject of a sustained attack from the devil may feel that God has distanced Himself from them, personal sin may also make God seem far away; but He promised never to leave us!

I was led to write this book upon realising that many simply do not know any better, and more of those who should