The Lipscomb News: I Saw the Lord theme of 2002 Collins Lectures

Terry Briley at Lipscomb: "The book of Isaiah begins with an analysis of Israel's worship. Outwardly, there's nothing wrong. But their hearts are not engaged and their lives are disconnected from their worship."  This featured Rick Atchley who would launch an effort at UNITY with the Christian Church. To that end--being mentored by the NACC--Rick has reneged on his promise not to add the Sabbath instrumental service to the Sunday service 'until Jesus comes.'  Now, he says that was then and now is now. l He was tauting UNITY in the I Saw the Lord" in the 2002 lectures at David Lipscomb University.
The book of Isaiah begins with an analysis of Israel’s worship. Outwardly, there’s nothing wrong. But their hearts are not engaged and their lives are disconnected from their worship. In the vision in chapter 6, Isaiah identifies himself as typical of the people,” Briley said.
  “That’s the God he’s holding up before them Ð if they can see the holiness of God, and that the Holy One is the God of Israel and has a relationship with them, they’re not going to think they can manipulate God or go through the motions Ð to worship and then live in ways that are inconsistent with His nature and be o.k.,” Briley said.
  Isaiah’s image of God is one of exaltation, love, compassion and patience for His people. “In the same way that Isaiah had to have God’s gracious cleansing for him to go forward, you have the One who is going to bear the sins of the people for them to be restored to fellowship with Him,” Briley said.
  “I think that is a central part of the book Ð the idea of catching a glimpse of the true nature of God and being transformed as a result,” he said.
Lipscomb still honopring Rick Atchley who has gone instrumental as planned working with th NACC. Al Maxey reviewing John Mark Hicks who missed all of the anti-musical stuff
Read Rubel Shelly Affirming This
See Adam Clark to refute this.
Hear Amos, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Stephen REFUTE this false teaching.

Because of musical idolatry at Mount Sinai, God turned Israel over to worship the Starry Host. This included Saturn whose number is 666. He is Molech, Remphan, Chiun and many other names pointing directly to MUSICAL IDOLATRY AND PROSTITUTION.

When Israel's elders "fired" God and demanded a king like he NATIONS they meant to be able to worship like the nations:

Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the desert that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries, Eze.20:23

You say, "We want to be like the nations (heathen, gowy), like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone." But what you have in mind will never happen. Eze.20:32

Therefore, the worship in Israel and even in Judah at Jerusalem the musical worship was LIKE THE NATIONS to whom god had "married" them when they polluted His Covenant of Grace.

You can CONNECT as many hearts to musical idolatry as you wish but it will still be idolatry.

"Sacrifices, rituals, festivals honoring Yahweh abounded,
but these rites were tangible evidence of lack of knowledge,
........... for they expressed the popular belief
........... that Yahweh could be pleased and pacified by cultic ceremonies.

"The condemnation of cultic rites introduced in Amos 4:4 f. and 5:4 f. is picked up again with new vehemence. It has been argued that Amos was not opposed to cultic ritual per se but condemned the mind set of the people by which responsibility to Yahweh was performed perfunctorily and without relationship to daily life and society.

"If we take Amos' words as they stand, there seems to be little doubt that he condemned the entire religious pattern--feasts, sacrifices, ritual music, offerings, tithes--everything. Gerald LaRue, History of the O.T.

We will go further and point you to Isaiah 5 where the FORM of their worship was pagan idolatry with wine, song and musical instrument. Therefore, recover the "keys to knowledge" and grasp that

The result was that the "audience" hungered and thirsted for the Word of God but could not find it because in the words of Jesus, "The doctors of the law had taken away the key to knowledge."

There's everything wrong.

Recovery from this shallow but always-popular blindness to Spiritual truth is not guaranteed: the blind do lead the blind right into the ditch. Therefore, you have to JUST SAY NO and get your free Word and spend your hard-earned money on bread (Isaiah 55:1-2) because no religious institution has any claim to one penny which was not then devoted to the poor or even evangelists if GO.

That is one of the primary meanings of THE GOSPEL and the evidence points to a growing number of people who are stopping the collection plates and legalistic tithing to support men who give no evidence of spiritual discernment or care for the flock.

This is the same common view of Amos where "nothing which they did in their religious festivals was wrong worship: they just had a bad mental attitude." Justin Martyr had a different view.

We will show you that this is wrong and express the doubt that you are ever going to be given the Blackaby-King or Shelly "assignment" to be Isaiah for your times and actually see and hear from God audibly or see Him High and Lifted Up.

This is not just hyperbole: these people actually claim to actually see and audibly hear what you canoot see and hear. This claim of spiritual superiority is enough to attract the masses but Jesus would say: "Don't go out: the kingdom of God is WITHIN YOU."

To make it clear that the charismatic and visionary experiences of men who believe that they are apostles, we could call your attention some Rick Atchley information and to Don Finto who has been a shaker and mover of the Charismatic Jubilee.

But it is also a view often expressed by Rubel Shelly as he denounces the old and makes claims which the gulible travellers will accept when couched in the midst of mind-altering music:

Rubel Shelly: And the same Holy Spirit has been doing that same redemptive work from that day until this one. I am a Christian because the continuing ministry of the gospel

  1. by the power of the Holy Spirit
  2. convicted me of my sin,
  3. showed me the impossibility of creating my own righteous path to God,
  4. and made me sense the guilty verdict that had been pronounced on me.
  5. Then he glorified Christ before my eyes,
  6. convinced me that he was the only way to eternal life,
  7. and invited me to open my mind, heart, and life to him
  8. so I could be saved.

John Calvin identifies fanatics who believe that the Spirit OF Christ works on then without hearing the Words of the Spirit OF Christ.

We are redeemed by the blood of the lamb and not by a post-Christ Holy Spirit person. But then we don't "take liberties" with Scripture to make up our own narrative. Those lacking the SPIRIT OF CHRIST lust to take away the credit due to the FULLY INCARNATED IN FLESH AND BLOOD Jesus Christ and give it to the SPIRIT who does not taste of death or get "His" hands dirty:

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: Ga.3:13

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.Tit.2:14

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. Lu.24:39

The Body of Christ or Church lives, moves and has its being in the arena of flesh and bones. Therefore, we have to identify with a Jesus Christ Who sacrificed Himself rather than one who lusted for music and theatrical performance as the MEDIATOR:

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Ep.5:30

The more Grace-Centered we become the more difficult it seems to be saved. John Calvin couldn't have said it better. However, Jesus made it much easier but rejecting baptism is often the result of postmodernism:

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15
........... He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
........... but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:16

You see, Jesus didn't say "go make worshipers" but go make disciples. One comes into a relationship with the Master Carpenter by being baptized and taking on the name of the Teacher. That is why neither synagogue or church was a pagan worship center where you sought some psychological experience: both were schools of the Bible and we expect no musical worship teams or charismatic experiences in SCHOOL OF THE BIBLE. Therefore, our Doctors of the Law are promoting pagan worship rather than Christian discipleship. THEY and WE do not have the same God, same Lord, same Bible or same church. That is why THEY gracefully rename THEIRS.

I suppose there is some psychological power in holding out a pattern for being saved which depends on symptoms which have to be manufactured by "praise worship." But Jesus might call it legalism.

Rubel Shelly also says:
The Holy Guest will supply everything you need. In your weakness,
you will feel his strength.
Not only through the exhortation of the Word of God
but in your daily routine,
you will hear from
and experience the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's time for you to begin hearing the voice of God speak to you
in those moments to tell you, "Ah, but look at
what's inside you!"
And then perhaps these explicit words will come ringing in your ears

If you want to see the SECOND CHAPTER of Rubel Shelly's RE-IMAGING OR RE-VISIONING THE CHURCH, you can click on Lipscomb's Site with some of the same presenters and the same essential theme.

In addition to trying to get a vision of God, Lipscomb will bring you the Sowers of Discord and Conflict Creators to help you resolve your conflict. This always boils down to the Heglian Dialectic where the "scholar-driven" neo-paganism makes you pay for the conflict which the conflicters have learned how to resolve-in their favor. It all reads like Machiavelli or Hitler's effort to help the "intellectuals" rule over the "human material."


Lipscomb's quotes will be in red:

A study of the book of Isaiah will be the focus of this year's Willard Collins Summer Lectures at Lipscomb University.

"I Saw the Lord: The Vision of God in Isaiah" will be presented June 9-12 at Lipscomb.

Rubel Shelly and friends just held the Re-Visioning or Re-imaging conference in Nashville. Unfortunately, the new vision looks just like that practiced at the Towers of Babel, Mount Sinai and all examples of connecting music with telling God "we will not listen to your words." Just like Judah:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Is.23:15

"Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. Is.23:16

Postmodernism and Narrative Theology always tells God "we will not listen to you" and He always sends music and theatrical performance as MARK of the Beast (ZOE or LUCIFER).

Rubel Shelly: April 4-6, 2002 Putting on a new pair of glasses makes what was distorted now focused and clear.

We see the world as it really is -
........... not what our old glasses led us to see.

The Body of Christ needs to re-vision - to look through new glasses for a fresh perspective.
John Mark Hicks: Grounding a new vision of the Lord's Supper as table in the primitive biblical witness, John Mark will explain how this can be incorporated in the communal life of the church...

"Revisioning the Lord's Supper: Can We 'Do' Table at Church?

This follows on the heels of the Catholic and Methodist feminists and lesbian re-imaging the church to accommodate Sophia-Zoe worship where the 'minor jeovahs' are relegated to forming musical worship teams. Why? Why to worship the Gnostic and ancient Babylonian Sophia (the serpent) and Zoe (the Beast). They are versions of Lucifer--for which Max Lucado holds out hope--who is bisexual but primarily female.

She was in the garden of Eden with her pipes and tambourines.

Rubel Shelly: "Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

One of the five themes our church affirms in its Mission Statement is authentic and meaningful worship. Like Isaiah, we don't know who we are or what we should do until we see the Lord --

In my opinion, the single most important thing to an authentically spiritual life is to learn how to praise God.
 
It connects us to the source of all things spiritual. high and lifted up! (Isa. 6:1ff)

Rather than self-exibition, if one truly had this prayer answered he would not invent more ancient superstitious and legalistic "praise rituals" singing his own songs. Rather, like Isaiah, he was fall down:

Then said I, Woe is me for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips:

........... for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Is.6:5

We know that the "located traveling salesmen" are not serious about wanting to see the Lord because it would bring on confession and demand the following response:

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isa 6:8

This is the same messageto those who had seen the resurrected Lord:

And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. John 20:20
 
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. John 20:21

Those who are sent have both the Divine Motivation as well as being a co-perceiver of the Word of Christ which is the Mind of Christ which is the Holy Spirit:

And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: John 20:22

Jesus then told them that they could go bind and remit sins which means to baptize those who "accept the will of God for their lives."

One of the world's oldest legalistic superstitions is that by singing praises you could actuall ASSIST the gods so that they didn't fail to give you good gifts. However, there was no praise "ritual" in Israel, the Synagogues or the early church because church is school of the Bible.


Terry Briley at Lipscomb:
Keynote speakers for the series will include Rick Atchley, Fort Worth; Don McLaughlin, Atlanta; Harold Shank, Memphis; and Steve Flatt, president of Lipscomb University.
See how Rick Atchley the conflictor from the wild west proposes to resolve the conflict caused by the leaders by using narrative theology (The Shelly filter of "taking liberties) when they dismissed the deacons and replaced them with professional "ministers." And even yet, "A Missionary in Residence."

The deacons are dismissed, they say, in order to select Special Servants, both male and female. When the conflict sowed great discord, they changed their mind and tried to justify the Deaconess from the Bible and church history which is about 100% against them. The Special Servants, of course, can be used or dismissed on demand so that the PYRAMID OF POWER has the on-site ministers dominating the church and the elders being a "board." This is a restoration of Catholicism and conflicts with the purpose of the Restoration Movement.

Rick Atchley lying about all of the Bible and known history to IMPOSE instrumental music.

However, it is in Lipscomb's interest to manufacture a breed of "ministers" who can become masters. Lipscomb has passed its 100th birthday beyond which NO institution built by the money of church members has not been stolen.

Terry Briley at Lipscomb: Additional speakers will include F. LaGard Smith, Joe Beam, Mike Tanaro, Randy Becton, Greg Anderson, Phil Kinzer, Tim Woodroof, Larry Cantrell, Shana Pounders Curtis, Carolyn Baldwin Tucker, John Mark Hicks and more.

Joe Beam claims for his book about what the Bible claims for itself: if you find yourself in a bookstore don't believe that you had anything to do with it. God has guided you there to buy this book because the FREE ONE needs narrated.

Remember that the thesis of Isaiah compared to the warning of Jesus is that trying to peddle the Free Word (Isaiah 55) gets your eyes blinded and ears plugged and God no longer speaks to you.

Therefore, we would expect that any professional "watering of the wine" will just lead you astray. This is true of the promo remarks by Lipscomb:

Terry Briley at Lipscomb: The book of Isaiah was written for a people who had lost sight of the glory, majesty and holiness of God, says Dr. Terry Briley, professor of Bible. Briley is scheduled to present a textual study of Isaiah Monday through Wednesday during the lectureship.

No, Isaiah had this vision because he was a prophet chosen by God to go warn the people, then and now, that they had lost contact with a VISION OF THE WORD of God.

The Israelites saw the glory of God literally at Mount Sinai but Psalm 106 says:

Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. Psalm 106: 12

They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: Psalm 106: 13
But
lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. Psalm 106: 14

And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. Psalm 106: 15

Furthermore, they lost their vision when their "doctors of the Law" took away the key to knowledge by turning synagogue or school of the Bible into a pagan worship ritual.

Stephen in Acts 7 says that as a result of the musical idolatry which was the worship of Molech, etc. including Saturn as a primary Wandering Star God TURNED THEM OVER TO WORSHIP THE STARRY HOST. His number is 666. Both Israel and Judah spend more money and "worship" on Satan than they did on right living and practice of social justice.

This should inform the scholar because Stephen got killed for telling the clergy of his day that the musical rejoicing of Israel at Mount Sinai was a way to ignore the Word of God's Book of the Covenant of Grace. As a result of this "transgression" God turned them over to worship the starry host. This included Remphan or Chiun in Israel and Molech in Jerusalem.

Here is how they worshiped the starry host with Molech in Jerusalem. We believe that There's Something Wrong!
They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them: Psalm 106: 34
But were
mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. Psalm 106: 35
And they
served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Psalm 106: 36

Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, Psalm 106: 37

And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Psalm 106: 38

Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Psalm 106: 39

Terry Briley at Lipscomb: Outwardly, there's nothing wrong?

Isaiah in chapter 30 shows how the Israelites would be destroyed "to the beat of musical worship" just as the Assyrians would be defeated. God "turns people over" to that which they lust after: in Revelation 18 the Babylon Harlot lusts for commerce and music and the end-time whore will be addicted to music as the world's oldest legalistic superstition.

Therefore, don't believe it when the writer sells you the notion that THERE'S NOTHING WRONG with their worship. Someone is trying to fool someone!

Terry Briley at Lipscomb: The people of Isaiah's day "seem to be viewing God as they did the pagan gods. As long as they see Him as they see themselves, there is no way they are going to fulfill God's purpose for them," Briley said.

That is still true: all that WE call worship is treating God as if He is just another 'person.' Ezekiel 33, Isaiah 5 and Amos 5 proves that MUSICAL PERFORMANCE was the MARK that people believed that creating "worship excitement" excited or seduced the gods.

THEY WERE WORSHIPING PAGAN GODS: THAT'S WHY IT LOOKS THAT WAY.

As a result of worshiping "the starry host" at Mount Sinai, God turned them over and "answered their prayers." Therefore, Isaiah speaks of a people who had lost more than a vision: they were doing what they wanted to do.

And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Acts 7:41

Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Acts 7:42

Stephen connects this to Amos's parallel to Isaiah and proves that they WERE worshiping pagan idols or the starry host. There is no way that a GOOD METAL ATTITUDE would have made IDOLATRY with music acceptable.

The principle worship word is to "give heed to God by giving heed to His Word." That was the people's synagogue while the clergy class was quarantined by God in Jerusalem and the temple. Outside of the camp, the people always synagogued to learn the Word, live right and practice social justice.

The spectacle worship promoted by anyone Lipscomb will invite is a restoration of ancient, legalist paganism.

If the writer cannot see that there's anything wrong with their worship then he cannot explain Isaiah.

Terry Briley at Lipscomb: Jesus' citation of Isaiah 6 in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 suggests that losing sight of the glory of God is recurrent in human history, making a study of the book just as relevant today."

We suggest that most people have never seen the glory of God. The problem is that people lose sight--with professional help--of the Word of God in which God makes Himself known. Contrary to preachery opinion, Jesud didn't speak parables to MAKE CLEAR His preaching. Rather, the same people who repudiated the Word of God and turn to musical religious festivals were so UNCLEAN because of their actions that Jesus refused to even speak to them. I suggest that THERE'S SOMETHING MIGHTY WRONG.

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Isa 6:10

In the words of Jesus, the agents of the Devil who is identified as a liar because he speaks on his own, plucked up the seed as fast as it could be planted.

Stephen also saw the glory of God but he called Him Lord Jesus. Therefore, we have lost the glory of God to us when we replace Jesus fully come in the flesh with a Spirit "person" more competent for His Dispensation:

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, Ac.7:55

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Ac.7:56
And they stoned Stephen,

calling upon God, and
saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Acts 7:59

Isaiah 6:9 says that the problem was with hearing and understanding and perceiving the Word which is the only way we SEE the Lord unless we are a charismatic.

And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Isaiah 6:9

The loss of the Book of the Covenant at Mount Sinai was the restoration of Egyptian Musical Idolatry. This was the "because of transgression" spoken of by Paul even as he warned about the 'rising up to play' in 1 Cor 10 and Romans 10. This was musical idolatry. While Dr. Rubel Shelly in his Narrative Theology sees the Exodus as a "pattern for Christian worship and community" Psalm 106 and all of Bible scholarship BE (Before Me) saw this as the pivotal loss of God's Word because of musical idolatry.

Here is the "pattern" defined by Ezekiel compared to that of Jesus. That which BLINDED Israel was the musical worship of idols so that the people hungered and thirsted for the Word but could never find it because the Doctors of the Law had stolen the key to knowledge as the expression of the Spirit of Christ.

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Isaiah 6:10

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, Isaiah 6:11
And the Lord have removed men
far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. Isaiah 6:12

But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Isaiah 6:13

God told Ezekiel that they would listen to his WORDS just like they listened to God's words: they treated both like a musical prostitute who sings great songs and makes instrumental melody but it is just for the excitement.

They would later pipe and try to get Jesus to do the Dionysus singing and dancing to prove that He was perverted.

Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you,
 
and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. Ezek 33:30
 
And they come unto thee as the people cometh,
and they sit before thee as my people,
 
and they hear thy words,
but they will not do them:
for with their mouth they shew much love, (erotic praise songs)
 
but their heart goeth after their covetousness. Ezek 33:31
Ye hypocrites (actors), well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, Matt 15:7
 
This people draweth nigh unto me
with their mouth,  
and honoreth me with their lips;
but their heart is far from me. Matt 15:8
 
But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matt 15:9
 
And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:Matt 15:10
 
But He spoke to them in parables and they couldn't understand because they had the wrong "seeker" motive.
And, lo, thou art unto them
 
as a very lovely song
 
of one that hath a pleasant voice,
 
and can play well on an instrument:
 
for they hear thy words,
 
but they do them not. Ezek 33:32
 
And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,)
 
then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. Ezek 33:33
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man;
 
but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Matt 15:11
 
Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? Matt 15:12
 
But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Matt 15:13
 
Let them alone:they be blind leaders of the blind.
 
And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matt 15:14
Jesus said that they had lost contact with the WORD because He was the personal VISION of the invisible Spirit God. Therefore, to try to be Lifted Up to catch a VISION OF GOD is rank paganism and proof that Jesus has poked out the spiritual eyes and plugged the ears of the Doctors of the Law:

Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. Matthew 13: 13

And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: Matthew 13: 14

For this peoples heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Matthew 13: 15

Therefore, the pre-post-modern Bible and Jesus said that the people in Isaiah lost their vision of the Word which is the only LIGHT they are going to get. If you focus on gathering a Multitude you can be assured that they are not there to hear from Christ Who gave you the Word, free of cost:

All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: Matthew 13:34

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Matthew 13: 35

Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. Matthew 13: 36

Terry Briley at Lipscomb: The book of Isaiah begins with an analysis of Israel's worship.

Outwardly, there's nothing wrong.
But their hearts are not engaged and their lives are disconnected from their worship.

No, there was something fundamentally wrong with their worship. Remember that when Israel's elders fired God and demanded a king like the nations it was so that they could WORSHIP LIKE THE NATIONS. Thereafter, Israel was on the path to captivity and destruction and God gave the kings to lead them there.

Ecclesiasticus 48

1. Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch.
2. He brought a famine upon them, and by his zeal he made them few in number.
3
. By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens, and also three times brought down fire.
4
. How glorious you were, O Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! And who has the right to boast which you have?
5
. You who raised a corpse from death and from Hades, by the word of the Most High;
6
. who brought kings down to destruction, and famous men from their beds;
7
. who heard rebuke at Sinai and judgments of vengeance at Horeb;
8
. who anointed kings to inflict retribution,

and prophets to succeed you.

This began at Mount Sinai with musical idolatry:

Ephraim Syrus On Our Lord notes that Sinai was a test.

O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. Hosea 13:9

I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? Hosea 13:10

I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. Hosea 13:11

Because TRUTH HAS FAILED, when conflict arises because the elders or preacher decides to restore the Aaronic priesthood and the Levitical musicians "to bring the worshipers into the presence of God" the solution is to learn how TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT I CREATED. Those who object to, for instance, the restoration of the Deaconess to help rule over the flock, anyone who objects just has a problem that their hearts are not engaged and their lives are disconnected from their worship.

However, Narrative Theology picks proof texts and then switches their meaning to fit the problem. It's ok if your hearts are engaged.

However, Isaiah begins with a total repudiation of Israel's worship:

THE vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Isaiah 1: 1

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children,

and they have rebelled against me. Isaiah 1: 2
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his masters crib: but
Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Isaiah 1: 3

Isn't there SOMETHING OUTWARDLY WRONG?

According to the Book of Enoch and similar documents, God will come with ten thousands of His Saints to execute judgment. Enoch makes the point that even dumb TREES and animals obey the LAWS of God. However, Satan came into Genun (Jubal) in his youth and taught him how to make musical instruments which, he claimed, actually housed the devils. When you STRUCK or WHACKED a string and really ground it into bits (psallo) the demons spoke FROM WITHIN the instruments.

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Isaiah 1:4

And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Isaiah 1:8

Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Isaiah 1: 9

For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. Isaiah 1: 29

Oh, I get it! There was nothing wrong in Sodom and Gomorrah: But their hearts are not engaged and their lives are disconnected from their worship!

In the vision in chapter 6, Isaiah identifies himself as typical of the people,Briley said.

No, Isaiah was a prophet and prophets are not TYPICAL of the people. Rather, the prophets always rise up to repudiate the forms of worship as "religious festivals" as noted in Isaiah 5. Isaiah really begins with THE vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

Only as a sinner did Isaiah see himself as typical

Then said I, Woe is me for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips:
........... for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Is.6:5

We know that the "located traveling salesmen" are not serious about wanting to see the Lord because it would bring on confession and demand the following response:

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isa 6:8

This was a REVELATION OR ORACLE through a dream. That is, Isaiah was given this vision directly by God because God had selected him as a prophesying prophet. No. If you are having visions and hearing voices then Jim Jones and David Koresh should warn you.

In Amos, a father and son went into the same temple prostitute but the word-stealers, the doctors of the Law Jesus fired, insist on saying that THERE'S NOTHING WRONG, they just had a bad mental attitude.

Stealing the people's money with "pledges and collection plates and signing over widow's property to the 'church'' to deprive her children of support" was ok: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG, they just had a bad mental attitude.

Singing and improvising on instruments which caused the people to hunger and thirst for the Word and causing them to go into captivity and death was ok: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG, they just had a bad mental attitude.

Well, we have collected about 55 pages of Bible and theological comments B.E. (Before Me) which proves that the MANNER in which they worshiped was wrong: their manner was wrong BECAUSE they had a bad mental attitude.

This was really the worship to which God had abandoned Israel because of the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai which earned them the Law "because of transgression."

The leaders condemned by Amos had turned righteousness and justice into religious festivals of wine, women and song.

The result was that the people hungered and thirsted because they COULD NOT FIND the Word of God.

The leaders in Isaiah 5 had turned their attention to wine, women and song.

The result was that the people hungered and thirsted for the Word but could not find it.

"Among the scholars" of Lipscomb we are going to try to sell the notion that the failure induced by them is the result of failing to get a PERSONAL REVELATION like Isaiah which we are told is just TYPICAL of the people.

However, the failure created by the "conflict resolvers" is the introduction of new wineskins, women and musical worship teams and instruments: "Holy Entertainment" if you can read it without gaggint.

This with Bible 101aaa and a bit of history know that the FORM of the worship recorded by Amos and Isaiah was Canaanite Baalism which depended on wine, women and music.

However, among the scholars to whom Isaiah 6 is directed, claim that Outwardly, there's nothing wrong.

And we ask with Isaiah:

HO, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isa 55:1

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Is.55:2

The FORM of Israel's worship was OUTWARDLY wrong BECAUSE they had a bad mental attitude. God would not accept these OUTWARD FORMS imposed because of musical idolatry at Mount Sinai because they were devoted to the worship of the STARRY HOST:

"This passage (Amos 5:23-24) shows us that Amos was opposed to the forms in which people acted out their worship of God, and other passages strengthen this impression.

Turning back to the Mosaic period, Amos asks the rhetorical question: 'Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?" (5:25). He is merciless in his attack on the shrines, especially the royal shrine of Jeroboam II at Bethel (3:14; 7:7-9, 10-17; 9:1). It is very doubtful, however, that he intended a wholesale abolition of the system of worship.

Rather, Amos was probably demanding that the cult be purified, for it had become so contaminated by pagan thought and practice that the people had become indifferent to the true worship of Yahweh and the demand of his torah... He demanded that everything be swept away that did not conform to the proper worship of Yahweh." (Anderson, Bernard, Understanding OT, p. 277).

Flash Back

Now, why won't the "scholars" call a conference and answer Briley's contention by backing up and grasping from chapter 5 that the religious festivals are like those of Amos and describe the worship of the planets and starry host all of whom represent Satan.

Isaiah chapter 6 where THERE'S NOTHING WRONG always has an Isaiah chapter 5 attached to it:

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant:

and he looked for judgment,
but behold
oppression; f
or righteousness,
but
behold a cry. Isaiah 5:7

The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. Isaiah 5:7NIV

A Cry is:

Caaq (h6817) tsaw-ak'; a prim. root; to shriek; (by impl.) to proclaim (an assembly): - * at all, call together, cry (out), gather (selves) (together).

Jesus promised to be in the MIDST of the twos and threes who are ELECTED by the INVITATION to "come learn of me."

People who build mega churches when the growth ideal is about 150 members (re Mormons) are adding house to house and oppressing the widows and working people. By the collection plate, which Paul said was not a commandment, and restoring the legalistic Tithe, modern members are oppressed more and more.

Music creates "spiritual anxiety through religious rituals." Therefore, those who add praise teams are deliberately dissociating the members to force them into conformity. The result is that they sing their own improvised songs just like David and starve the people for the Word of Christ.

However, what we see happening is that God is taking the houses away from God's people and giving them to the pagan musical legalists. Remember that in this song where when God sings you had better watch out, the vineyard represents the people of Israel. Therefore, it was the national worship which had Solomon spending more on shrines or "church houses" for his pagan wives than on the temple which was looted within five years of his death.

Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth Isaiah 5:8

In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Isaiah 5:9

Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. Isaiah 5:10

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them Isaiah 5:11

And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. Isa 5:12

Festivals were always worship but the Jews had turned the yearly festivals to daily festivals and took up just as many offerings:

I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Isa 5:21

Must ye always rejoice, and go into my holy places continually, as they that keep a feast? and must ye go with a pipe, as those that rejoice into the mountain of the Lord, to the God of Israel Isaiah 30:29 LXX

Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Isa 5:13

Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. Isa 5:14

Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. Is.14:11

There is always a Divine "but."

But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Isaiah 5:16

When you produce conflict and sow discord over "worship styles" remember that Jesus said that the Father only accepts worship which is in spirit (in the mind) and in truth (according to His Word). God knows only how we live a righteous life and practice social justice: He is not listening to the "children piping" trying to make Jesus do the Dionysus song and dance routine.

Furthermore, music and wine was introduced specificially to dull the senses and allow them to forget God's purpose for their assemblies. Albert Barnes noted that--

"they introduced them (instruments) to their feasts of revelry, and thus made them the occasion of forgetting God. Forgetfulness of God in, connection with music and dancing, is beautifully described by Job." (Barnes, Isaiah, p. 128)

Adam Clark wrote what any student of Bible 101aaa knows about the nature of the "worship" defined by both Amos and Isaiah. These were both about RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS which had been transformed from infrequent trips of the mature males to the temple and the frequent study of the word to FREQUENT religious rituals just to oppress the people with bizziness:

Verse 11. Wo unto them that rise up early] There is a likeness between this and the following passage of the prophet Amos, chap. vi. 3-6, who probably wrote before Isaiah. If the latter be the copier, he seems hardly to have equalled the elegance of the original:- "Ye that put far away the evil day And affect the seat of violence; Who lie upon beds of ivory, And stretch yourselves upon your couches; And eat the lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the stall; Who chant to the sound of the viol, And like David invent for yourselves instruments of music; Who quaff wine in large bowls, And are anointed with the choicest ointments:

But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph."

Is Briley correct? Can we put far awy the evil day, act violently, lie upon beds of ivory (idols), stretch on couches (a pagan ritual), eat veal while the people starve AS LONG AS WE HAVE A GOOD MENTAL ATTITUDE? Really, was THERE NOTHING WRONG?

Psalm 41 predicts that Judas will attempt to triumph over Jesus where triumph means "play loud instruments and make a joyful noise before the Lord." This was the warrior's chant to panic the enemy.

The Judas Bag attached to the spotted flute case is identified in the classics and the Bible as derived from "speaking in tongues" and "of the world."

Therefore, lying on couches and making music is not just a bad mental attitude. The oxgoad on the left helps keep the 'worshipers' upright as they sing, play instruments and dance to drunkeness: often "without wine."

Quasten notes that the "Religious Festivals" in Isaiah 5 and Amos 5 was the marzeah which was a feast with and for dead ancestors.

"It was the same with regard to music at the meal of the dead. When at the end of the meal the funeral guests

would resort to their own pleasures,
to
playing and dancing,
it was because music was originally supposed to have
offered comfort to the dead."

They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Psalm 106: 28 (The Marzeah Amos 5, 6)

Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. Psalm 106: 29
Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed. Psalm 106: 30

And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. Psalm 106: 31

The festival with and for the dead condemned by Amos and Isaiah:

"The marzeah had an extremely long history extending at least from the 14th century B.C. through the Roman period. In the 14th century B.C., it was prominently associated with the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), on the coast of Syria... The marzeah was a pagan ritual that took the form of a social and religious association... Some scholars regard the funerary marzeah as a feast for--and with--deceased ancestors (or Rephaim, a proper name in the Bible for the inhabitants of Sheol)." (King, Biblical Archaeological Review, Aug, 1988, p. 35, 35)

"we recognize the same elements: the sacrifices and libation, the cultic feast in which the congregation gets a share of food and drink after it has been blessed by the king, and the merry-making, now in the form of instrumental and vocal music. But the central act of the ritual, which was performed by the king, is called literally 'drinking' the god (Gurney, O. R. Some Aspects of Hittite Religion, p. 33-34, Oxford University Press, 1977)

"Doubtless they sounded harmoniously in their own ears; but it reached no further. Their melody, like much Church-music, was for itself, and ended in itself. 'Let Christian chanters learn hence, not to set the whole devotion of Psalmody in a good voice, subtelty of modulation and rapid intonation, quavering like birds, to tickle the ears of the curious,

take them off to themselves and away from prayer, lest they hear from God." (Barnes, Albert, Amos, p. 300)

"The Holy Spirit, uttering His voice by Amos, pronounces the rich to be wretched on account of their luxury: 'Those that drink strained wine, and recline on an ivory couch,' he says; and what else similar he adds by way of reproach. Especial regard is to be paid to decency (as the myth represents Athene, whoever she was, out of regard to it, giving up the pleasure of the flute because of the unseemliness of the sight). (Clement of Alexandria, p. 245).

"...these same people were punctilious in their religious observances. Never did such abundant sacrifices smoke to Yahweh from the altars at Dan and Bethel and other sanctuaries in Israel; and the note of praise rose regularly and loudly from tongue and harp.

Was not this the worship in which Yahweh delighted? So they thought, but the voice of yahweh through His prophet told a different story." (F.F. Bruce, Israel, p. 58).

There was no congregational singing with instrumental accompaniment among the "people's" congregation. There was no praise service in the Synagogue.

"The prophets were singularly unimpressed by all this religious busyness. They asserted that the people had abandoned the true God for heathen idolatries and that their much-frequented sanctuaries were sinks of iniquity. Recent archaeological discoveries go a long way towards confirming their condemnation of popular religion. It is significant, for example, that on the ostraca from eighth-century Samaria, the proportion of names compounded with Baal suggests that no less than a third of the population practiced some form of Canaanite religion." (Heaton, E. W., Everyday Life in the Old Testament, Scribners), p. 231).

You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god -- which you made for yourselves. Amos 5:26

Yea, ye took the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Raephan, the image of them which ye made for yourselves." Amos 5:26 LXX

"The neighboring gods of Phoenicia, Canaan, Moab--Baal, Melkart, Astarte, Chemosh, Moloch, etcwere particularly attractive to Jerusalem, while the old Sem calf-worship seriously affected the state religion of the Northern Kingdom...the worship of the sun, moon, stars and signs of the Zodiac became so intensely fascinating that these were introduced even into the temple itself (2 Ki. 17:16; 21:3-7; 23:4, 12; Jer. 19:13; Ezek. 8:16; Amos 5:26)" (Int Std Bible Ency., Idolatry, p. 1448).

See the musical worship of Tammuz by the women in the temple.

"Amos stressed "that violations of the moral law could not be remedied by means of festive rites, offerings, or liturgical indulgence on the part of the sinner. In point of fact, God was already standing beside the altar (Am. 9:1ff), poised and ready to shatter it.

No ritual, however, elaborate and symbolic in nature,
could possibly substitute for the sincere worship of the human spirit, grounded in high moral and ethical principles." (Harrison, R. K., Introduction to the Old Testamant, Eerdmans, p. 895).

Therefore, it was because THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THEIR WORSHIP that Isaiah continued to show that God punishes people with that which they "lust after." They lusted after wine, women and music which made them deaf to the Word of God, so God sent them strong delusions that they believe their own lies and be damned.

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Isaiah 6:10

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, Isaiah 6:11

While those who charged you to sow discord and run your members off "for a price" they are now quite ready to RESOLVE THE CONFLICT (for a price). However, the members are heeding the warning to flee the unholy City (Jerusalem=Sodom). The people are not fleeing for their life because the can't CATCH A VISION OF THE GLORY OF GOD but because the musical and rhetorical performers are "standing in the holy place" of church architecture claiming that they can, in Rubel Shelly's words, "Lead you into the presence of God."

And that is the way it has always been prophesied so rather than try to resolve the conflict you are stuck with locusts from under the earth and you just need to get out:

And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. Isaiah 6:12

But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Isaiah 6:13

Isaiah's image of the remnant is something like "a tiny drop of juice from a mostly rotten grape from a bare cluster from a dead vine form a vineyard whose walls God has broken down so that the BEAST PEOPLE can come in and eat up your inheritance.

Therefore, if your mega-church built by human pride goes from 4,000 to 400 be glad and rejoice that you have seen God taking His people out of the pagan worship temples, one from the grinders, one from the vineyard, one from the church houses stolen from widows who will need them no longer.

Yes, THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG in Ezekiel and in Nashville: the musical soothsayers peep and mutter trying to restore the Marzeah which is a musical festival with and for dead ancestors hoping to get a VISION OF THE INVISIBLE. The familiar spirit was an old wineskin and had the same meaning as the nebel (harp) and the sounding brass of 1 Cor. 13:

The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. Isa 8:11

He said: "Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary; Isa 8:12-14a

but for both houses of Israel he will
be a
stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.

And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured." -- Isa 8:14b-15

Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples. Isa 8:16

I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him. Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. Isa 8:17-18

And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? Is.8:19

> To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word,
> it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20

Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Isaiah 8:21

"From ancient times dance and theatre have played a vital role in China , Korea , and Japan . Many performances of plays and dances were closely tied to religious beliefs and customs. In China, records from about 1000 BC describe magnificently costumed

male and female shamans who sang and danced to musical accompaniment, drawing the heavenly spirits down to earth through their performance.

Impersonation of other characters through makeup and costume was occurring at least by the 4th century Bc. Many masked dances in Korea have a religious function.

Rubel Shelly etal have FACILITATED the insertion of pagan musical worship teams with the clear claim that "they can lead you into the presence of God." That seems to usurp the role of Lord Jesus Christ.

"Throughout East Asia the descendants of magico-religious performances can be seen in a variety of guises. Whether designed to pray for longevity or for a rich harvest or to ward off disease and evil,

the rituals of impersonation of supernatural beings through masks and costumes

and the repetition of rhythmic music and patterns of movement
perform the function of
linking man to the spiritual world beyond.

Hence, from the earliest times in East Asia, dance, music, and dramatic mimesis have been naturally fused through their religious function. Britannica Members

Rubel Shelly and John York also NARRATE the Exodus into a pattern for Christian worship and community. However, it was because of the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai that God ABANDONED the nation to worship the astrial deities because THAT WAS THEIR PRAYER. There are numerous statements of this FALL. Click to read Augustines notes of Psalm 106.

"An interesting reference to idolatry and Moloch worship and their connection with demonism is found in Psalm 106:36, 37. The Hebrews are said to have 'mingled themselves with the nations... learned their works and served their idols... ye they sacrificed their sons and daughters unto demons... In fact, Manasseh's idolatries were the result of a gigantic outburst of demon-energized occultism. He is said to have practed augury, and used enchantment, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits (divining demons) and with wizards (those possessed of occult knowledge because under the control of a divining demon ) (II Kings 21:6; II Chron. 33:6)." (Unger, Merrill, Archaeology and the Old Testament, Zondervan, P. 279)

I believe that it is error to teach that OUTWARDLY NOTHING IS WRONG!

But, Again Terry Briley at Lipscomb: The book of Isaiah begins with an analysis of Israel's worship. Outwardly, there's nothing wrong. But their hearts are not engaged and their lives are disconnected from their worship.

Jesus warned you that the Doctors of the Law "take away the key to knowledge." Therefore, the doctors primarily speak to themselves trying to pretend that once-Christian colleges are the manufacturing plants for DITTO-HEADS who just embarrass themselves by their ignorance of and proof-texting of the Book of Isaiah and the rest of the word.

However, the prophets understood what God planned as well as Israel's failure to either "enter the kingdom" or to permit others to enter. They understood that true "singing" was a symbol for telling the nations about the mighty deeds of God. Because Paul knew the failed history of Israel he knew that Isaiah defined true singing which was not the paganistic musical entertainment which signalled the end of the Israelite nation. In chapter five Isaiah "sang" about Israel's failure through false music, prophesied the coming of Messiah in chapter eleven and in chapter twelve defined true "singing" 

In that day you will say:

I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Isa 12:1

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation." With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isa 12:2-3

"Give thanks (sing) to the LORD, call on his name; (sing to God)

make known among the nations what he has done, and (teach the Gentiles) proclaim that his name is exalted. Isa 12:4

Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; (sing to God)

let this be known to all the world. Isa 12:5 (teach the Gentiles)

As Rubel Shelly claims that the Bible Writers sieved their "scripture" from philosophy and their own personal agenda, it is interesting what Lucian of Samosata said about the Seeker-Centers of his day:

Alexander, on the other hand, preferred his native place, urging very truly that an enterprise like theirs required congenial soil to give it a start,

in the shape of 'fat-heads' and simpletons; that was a fair description, he said, of the Paphlagonians beyond Abonutichus;

they were mostly superstitious and well-to-do; one had only to go there with someone to play the flute, the tambourine, or the cymbals, set the proverbial mantic (prophetic) sieve a-spinning, and there they would all be gaping as if he were a god from heaven.

You cannot make it with blind eyes and deaf ears but you can certainly lead the blind into a ditch and Jesus says "that's ok." The affirmation of Amos and the claim that God introduced musical instruments is the FATAL FLAW which opens the gates to the modern, pagan forms of ritual.

Now, that Lipscomb has joined him in the new VISION QUEST for the lost church we can assure you that there will always be a few fat-heads and simpletons to pay the bill.

Musical Worship Index

Home Page

Counter added 1.23.05 9:24a 2200  10.10.07 2191 8.24.08