photo by Shelagh Murphy via pexels sung worship , receiving experiences of God ’ s presence is not the goal in that moment . Declaring God ’ s truth together is more the emphasis . And , in so doing , we believe that we ’ ll come to a deeper acknowledgement of Almighty God .
The people in this second team would probably not say things like , “ God inhabits the praises of his people !”
Now , on all the fundamental core values of faith in Jesus as The Christ , both teams would agree . And both teams want to worship , or show the worth of God , through the songs and singing . Both would recognize that God is omnipresent - that He is everywhere at all times .
And , interestingly , there ’ s an enormous amount of overlap of the two teams . I have just my own experiences and relationships to inform this opinion , but it would seem to me that there are a good number of people attending very Reformed , structured , even liturgical church services who are actually very Pentecostal in their experiences , gifting and expression .
Similarly , there are those who might attend more Charismatically-styled services , but who may not be experiencing God in the same ways as some others around them and might even be a bit dubious about some of what they hear and see .
Personally , I ’ m on both teams … and neither . I ’ m equally comfortable gathering with members of the “ sing it till you feel it ” team and the “ sing correct theology ” team ( or any blend of the two ) to worship God together . It does sadden me sometimes , though , when some people think I ’ m “ not Pentecostal enough ” and others think I ’ m “ too Pentecostal ”. Oh well .
I actually believe we need each other more than we realize ! Maybe some of us could use a bit of an experiential “ jolt ” from God ! Maybe some of us could deepen our knowledge and reverence for God . Maybe each team could help the other to get there .
I don ’ t want to go into details here , but please know that there have been times and places where deep , powerful , clearly-from-God ( to
me at least ), supernatural experiences have occurred in my life . I believe that I am filled with and baptized by God ’ s Holy Spirit . I believe I have received Spiritual gifts that reassure me of this . From time to time , I become more tangibly aware of God ’ s presence . But I would not say that “ God showed up ”. That He wasn ’ t there and then He was . He was and is always there . I just become more aware sometimes .
Using language that suggests that people - created beings - can and should do certain things in certain ways so that God will “ show up ” or so that His presence will become manifest amongst us is troubling to me . But so is having a set mind and a hard heart against the more experiential , supernatural , perhaps “ Pentecostal ” things of God .
A far more important goal than having experiences of God ’ s presence ( or not ) from time to time , surely , is to be swimming more and more deeply into the constant , everywhere-and-all-the-time omnipresence of God . To live our lives , as the Protestant Reformers used to say , Coram Deo . In the
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