ThisCowIsPurple.com

I decided to make and update a to-do list! hahaha..

1. Pack up house (my room is DONE)
2. Mount projector for children’s church
3. Move children’s notice board down
4. Move house with pastor
5. Get new van with pastor (the current one is in australia.. LOL! okay.. lame..)
6. Read finish FBI

That seems to be about right. Anyway, I repaired my keyboard! some ribbon cable inside was loose so I just wiggled it until it works. Now I’m using it again.. :)

First ginormous picture on the blog!

For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live
Not I but Christ that lives within me
His Cross will never ask for more than I can give
For its not my strength but His
There’s no greater sacrifice
For I am crucified with Christ and yet I live

Philips Craig & Dean

Galatians 2:20 was passing through my mind and I suddenly thought that I really need to get back to obeying everything God has already revealed to me through his word and leave the rest to God. Even after numerous conversations with many different people about this topic in the past 3 weeks, I gradually fell by the wayside caught up in my studies, movies, gadgets, coding and logic. I think I still can finish reading the FBI readings! Haha… its crazy alot la! but I think I should finish it up even if its just skimming through.

As a side note, I drew up a new layout based on the 960 grid system. It loks really organized and all.. Not going for fancy graphics and all. Just a solid layout thats valid xhtml and css this round. Thats going to be crazy hard as I’ve never observed proper web standards before. See it below!

I originally wanted to save it for when I redo my blog.. but.. oh well.

After one month of not typing out my thoughts here. I’ve actually realised that I don’t gain much time. It just goes into some other black hole. Still, that isn’t the reason I blog here before I redesign it.

I’d like to dedicate my 1000th post to my dearest darling yx in the US of A. Somehow, after 4 months. I finally actually find myself missing something. Now, that sounds bad, but as I said before.. I don’t think I actually miss people very much at all. I only feel that the loss of shared times and memories is something we will never get back.

Haha.. so there you have it. An unspectacular 1000th post. Come back soon!

I was pondering this recently and found this little article here which talks about it. Its seems pretty sound and an accurate intepretation of scripture.

Chris,

You asked:

“What does the Bible say about raising your hands during worship?”

Firstly, let me thank you for your question and your desire to find the truth of God’s word on this matter. I’ll begin by saying that the phenomenon of raising hands in worship is a relatively new one that has been made popular through the charismatic and ‘modern worship’ movements that focus largely on appealing to the emotions of their crowds. It is also important to note that these groups do not stop with the raising of hands but encourage all sorts of body movement, dancing, jumping up and down, shouting, etc.

The groups that use this practice, if pressed, will hang their hats on a single new testament scripture. (some will attempt to use some Old Testament scriptures as well, but it is important to remember that the way we worship in the New Testament church must be dictated by New Testament scripture) The scripture used by the “holy hands” crowd, as you may already expect, is this one:

1 Timothy 2:8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath anddoubting;

There are several problems for using this as an authoritative verse for the use of raising our hands in worship. First, lets look at the problems that common sense and context present. Lets look at the verses immediately following 1 Timothy 2:8

8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; 9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with proprity and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. 11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

Now, you may already be noticing some inconsistencies. In these verses, there is a distinct line drawn between men and women. Paul says, “here is what I want you men to do,” and ‘in like manner’, “here are some instructions for you ladies”. So, do those who practice raising hands in worship restrict this practice to the men only? Taking this further, if they take Paul’s instructions on ‘lifting holy hands’ literally, do they interpretverse 11 with the same boldness and restrict the role of teaching publicly to the men only, as Paul clearly dictates? What about modesty, which Paul speaks of in verses 9 and 10? I see little modesty in the assemblies where ‘lifting hands’ is encouraged. In fact many times you can see an uncanny resemblance between the “holy gyrations” of these worshipers and the debaucherous dancing of a nightclub crowd.

Now, that in and of itself does not prove that lifting holy hands in worship is wrong, but it does show some glaring  inconsistencies among this movement and proves that we ought to take care in accepting their interpretations of the scriptures.

Going further, I do not believe for a moment that 1 Timothy 2:8 is even referring to the literal act of one raising up their hands, but simply that they should have hands that they are not ashamed to hold up before the world. Again, if this verse is to be taken literally, then we would see those of the charismatic movement praying on street corners, in restaurants, at the mall, etc., with their hands raised to the heavens, since Paul says to do this ‘everywhere’… I for one have never witnessed this.

The Jewish people had a lot of ideas about cleanliness and often this was tied directly to a persons hands. For this reason, Paul uses this figure simply to denote that men should not be afraid to show their holiness in any place without any doubting and with no malice in their hearts, just as women may show their holiness everywhere by the modesty of their dress and the humbleness of their attitudes. Let me include here a couple of verses that show the importance placed on the idea of ‘clean hands’ among the Jews.

Mark 7:1-6 shows the ideas that the Pharisees held about the cleanliness of one’s hands:

Mark 7:1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” 6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.

Now the pharisees were focusing the importance on the physical cleanliness of things, but Jesus brings it back into the proper sphere. The heart must be clean or else the physical cleanness of a person means nothing. I believe this is the spirit that Paul had in mind, as we realize he is a follower of Jesus and not of the pharisees. We can also see the use of mentioning the hands to refer to a persons spiritual condition in the book of James:

James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Now James uses the figure of cleansing the hands but what he actually means is that their hearts need to be cleansed and purified. This is what Paul was saying to Timothy. Men ought to go about freely with pure hearts in everyplace that they may go without a doubt in their heart.

What does it prove if I raise up my hands in an assembly of worshippers? The simple fact is that God is not into theatrics. He is interested in the condition of my heart and I can wave my hands in the air till they turn blue and fall off, but if I have a hard and unbelieving heart, it amounts to absolutely nothing.

God reveals to us how He wants to be worshipped under the new covenant and no where is the literal raising of hands mentioned. Those who wish to worship God in spirit and in truth, will do just that without adding to or taking away from God’s simple New Testament plan.

Finally, I leave you with this passage that shows the folly of trying to use our own feeble hands in worship to the great I AM.

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; “for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing,
Him I proclaim to you: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. ACTS 17:22-25 (emphasis mine)

Chris, I appreciate your desire to study and learn more about this issue and hope that the things I have presented have been helpful to you. I would love for you to continue studying about the simple acts of worship that God has set forth for His church to observe in these New Testament times. Please check out these links at your convenience and please continue to communicate with me as you study God’s word!

Here is an article titled, ” A look at our worship”

And here is another called “The Worship of the Church”:

There are other articles on the site that focus in on specific areas of worship as well and we hope you find them helpful! Thanks you again for contacting us, and may God bless you as you study His word.

This response was prepared by Justin Murdock of the Garrett’s Creek Church of Christ for thegospelfortoday.com

UPDATE:

We appreciate Chris taking the time to reply to this answer and thought we’d post the reply here.

“Thank you for the information. I feel the same as you do after researching the Bible. Sadly there are some who want the Church to “bend over backwards” to accommodate and make people feel good. They however seem to forget what the Bible teaches.

Thanks again

~ Chris”

Had a crazy zany time with the ancient TJ band alumni on saturday night. They went for supper after practise. It was mad! haha.. anyway, the pieces look quite good. I’m glad I went down because its really great. Player wise its not like super skilled.. but I feel the cumulative experience is very great and somehow its like a well oiled machine and I’m just a new cog in the system.

KB spoil! ARGH

yannhowe: tpoe a wai
tpe a wai
taipe a wai
Chung: y
yannhowe: hahaha
cut paste
big one can
Chung: Y
yannhowe: this is stupid
Chung: YYYYY

Its a funny presetation of the gospel by agapella on thir recent christmas CD

 

 Internal Affairs [2:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (26)

What it feels like after a workout.

1 min - hurting

10min - tired

1 day - ache

But the thing thats really delayed is the overall effects like muscle mass, fat loss, weight gain/loss. In fact, my slacking last couple of weeks are showing already in another area. Feeling lethargic again after a week or two of energy. I was wondering why I don’t fall asleep in sermons and lectures anymore last couple of weeks. I think its because I exercised alot. haha.. Started regular exercise again a few days ago. Hopefully I shall see some tangible results in a while. Honestly, its not easy to get into a regime. Tend to slack when I see even abit of results. Shall sleep early too. Going to have a long day tomorrow

• Go to Jaben with William
• Write essay/report/debug program while he does his stuff
• go down to TJC to play for band. Want to pick up my clarinet again.

I shall blog some other thoughts I’m having after more extensive research and experimentation on myself. Can we rely on experience? I guess “No” in the sense that we cannot exalt our own experience above any revealed revelation but yes, it is a decent indicator combined with the discernment of God. Still, I think what FBI had to teach about God’s will in questionable areas is the best - Do what is already revealed to you, then the parts which are unrevealed might start to become clear.

Just came back from this SSO concert. Shirley called me after her lesson with TXP and asked me if I wanted to see him play. Its free anyway! hahaha.. So i grabbed my stuff and went out in time for the second half, kinda glad I didn’t waste my time with the first (contemporary rubbish). It HAS to be the most awesome concert in my recent years. The audience was pleased.. because the clapping was so long the conductor came out 4 times! haha.

Anyway, it was a ballet score written in the middle of the 20th century based on Romeo and Juliet. It was really really lovely and so well written. Maybe I know the story intimately thats why I understand.. but I really think the composer did a great job writing such beautiful music.

After that TXP sent Shirley then me home. ops, so malu. I’m going off to mess with my PootyPod! :)

Ma Yue is playing his clarinet (first time I’ll be hearing it) next week Friday. Anyone wants to go?