Praise and Worship - Part 2

  This is the second part of my series on praise and worship. In this article we will look at the roots of the word worship, and what worship truly is.

Worship

   Some Christians look at worship as a slow song or hymn that you sing in church. They portray it as a more methodical way of praising God. I believe worship is much more then that. Here are some Hebrew roots for the word worship that show why worship is much more important then just a slow song.

Shachah - To prostrate, reflex in homage to royalty or God, to bow down yourself, humbly beseech.

Cagad - To prostrate oneself in homage, or fall down.


   These two words have almost identical meanings. They both mean to become prostrate before God in reverence & awe. Notice that neither have any mention of music or praise. Merely to prostrate oneself is considered worship.
     The word Shachah  meaning to humbly beseech. You cannot lie to God about humility. Worship is internal! Worship is a state of heart not a slow rhythm that is "worshipful". We need to rise above the outward signs of worship and look inward. If your worship isn't true worship then you will never truly praise God. Praise is the outward manifestation of Worship.
     Look into your heart & look at what you truly worship. Do you meditate on God? Or does your mind wander to more trivial things?

Billy :D

To be continued.....
     

Praise & Worship part 1

   There are many ways in which praise and worship have been portrayed. Some Christians choose to say that worship is only useful for getting you in the proper state of mind. So that you can learn about God. Others claim that worship is the ultimate goal and that learning isn't nearly as useful as praise. I differ from both of these points, and I will show the flaws I see in each argument.

 Praise

    Praise is often associated with fast music and a more modern approach to worship. While this can be included in praise. Praise is not limited to it. Praise is simply the act of glorifying God's name and proclaiming his virtues. Some Hebrew words for praise are....
Halal - To Shine, boast over God, or celebrate foolishly. An abandonment of self , a boasting in the Lord,  
             and being in love with the Lord.
Tehillah - To sing Halal, a hymn, a song of spontaneous praise, glorifying God in song. This is the kind of     
                 praise God inhabits.
Shebach - To address in a loud voice, tone, or shout. To command, triumph, or glory; to shout    
                  proclaiming with a loud voice
Zamar - To touch the strings, to play with instruments.


    These are some of the most common forms of the word praise in Hebrew. Lets look at each definition one by one to see if we can come up with a working definition for praise . In the word Halal (Which is the root for hallelujah by the way) it uses praise as an act of boasting in God and being selfless. It also includes the love of our God and the reflection of his righteousness as a part of praise. Tehillah  states praise as a song that is a medium between God and Man. We no longer need this medium because Jesus has given us direct connection with God through prayer, but it still exists and is still a powerful way of coming in direct contact with our heavenly father. Shebach is a very interesting representation of praise. It includes speaking as praise. This opens up endless possibilities & puts a gravity on our words that would not be there without this avenue. It gives insight into the true job of a pastor. Their job isn't first to teach their flock. Their first job is to praise God, and the benefits of that include teaching a flock! Lastly Zamar tells us that music is an important part of praise as well.
    So If we look at these definitions and meld them together. We find that Praise in it's truest sense is an outward manifestation of the love and grace of Christ. Which permeates the entire being of a elect child of God. Which is displayed through song, teaching, evangelizing, and our every day speech.
Billy :D

To be continued.....

Magic Mountain

 I went with BEST to Magic Mountain for our 8th grade trip. The drive there and back was fun and we ate lots of snacks. A family with a full size van was driving a lot of us so that made it basically a party.  We went on all the good rides at Magic Mountain. Yep it was fun, we had a good time.

My church is going to Magic Mountain for 8th grade as well, but I can't go because it's on the same day as my family party for 8th grade.

DaVe

Fresno art hop - Fresno old architecture - Chicken pot pie shop

  For my art/photography credit we have done several things including going to art museums and going on photo shoots etc... One of these shoots included going to the Fulton mall to take shots of the different sculptures and art pieces stationed throughout the mall. We also drove around downtown and I took pics of historical buildings. We stopped for dinner at the chicken pot pie shop. Which lives up to it's name by serving amazing chicken pot pies.
Billy :D

Riverpark Banquet and Speech/Debate Open House

   A couple weeks ago I went to the Senior Banquet at Riverpark. It was held directly after church, and it lasted a couple hours. They showed pictures of all the seniors. Then Pastor Kevin talked about each of them a little. Then he sent them around to shake the hands of the different senior leaders. It was cool.
   The Speech and Debate club Open House was held today from 2:30 to 5:00. We still got to see a mock debate round, and hear several speeches on the benefits of debate.
Billy :D

This is what happend on my birthday

We had a little bit of time to play wii and watch a movie and have fun then (since we are just moving into our new house) we painted and worked on the house. It really all began by my parents waking me up with really load obnoxious voices singing the birthday song. They also had my dogs jump on my bed. They gave my a big banner that they decorated with all kinds of words and stuff including a $20 bill taped to it and some amazing cinnamon rolls. My big present was a Netbook. It is kinda for school and kinda for personal use. It was expensive, so I didn't get a party. Granny & Papa gave me money to go toward a goal I have set for myself and we had a BBQ.  Meme & Papa are going to celebrate our birthdays with us at the end of the month. We have the tradition of going to pizza and seeing the Shrek movies. So we are waiting a few weeks till it is in the theaters. I hope they want to go to Johns Inc Pizza because I have a birthday card from that place that I've been waiting to use. Okay so now I am 14.
                                                
                                                                                                                                     Eric David Vincent

Best Game Night

This time the game night was held at the Moriarty's house. We got there and chatted and ate. Mostly we just hung out. Though we did end up playing catchphrase and  little scrabble.
Billy :D

Policemen's Memorial

A few weeks ago I went to one of my favorite choir performances.  PSCA, the choir I'm in sings at the police memorial annually. Afterward they give us lunch, which was ok but not bad or good food.  Anyway we sang "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Land of our Dreams"  I like both of the songs, but hey I love singing. Poor me, choir is out for the summer.


 Eric David Vincent 

Bowen's party aka long time no see

 I went to my friends birthday party. I had not seen him for a while so I was really glad to be going. We hiked, played video games and had fun with nerf guns. It was great to be in the mountains again. It was awesome to be with Bowen. Oh and his mom made homemade pizza for his birthday, the best flavor was thai pizza. Good food, good friend, good time.                                                                                                                     Eric David Vincent

Spanish

I'm taking Spanish 2 this year. So for the cultural immersion part of that subject I have done several things. I have eaten traditional Mexican food and listened to live mariachi. I have cooked authentic Mexican foods. I have also listened to Spanish radio and watched Spanish TV shows. I toured a museum and two art studios of Mexican culture. Lastly I will be watching Spanish movies when they arrive in the mail from netflix.
Billy :D

A china cabinet in a small world

   My mom needed a china cabinet for her Grandma's china. So while we were searching for one we came across a piece that was being sold by the owner on Craigslist. We took a look and in the process found out that the person we bought it from is friends with some of our friends. Namely the Woolworth's. So we called up Weston and asked him to come help us move a china cabinet we were buying. We refrained from telling him that the owner of the cabinet knew him. So it was interesting as we knocked on the door and out comes Weston's moms friend! Anyway after the greetings we managed to get the cabinet out of the garage and transfer it to our trailer. Finally installing it into our dining room where the china etc..now resides.
Billy :D

Morro Bay with my cousins

        We went to Morro Bay with Bryanna, Andrew, Nicole, Johnny, Gabby, Ashley and Jessica, my cousins. Well and our parents too. When we got there we found CHEFA's high school group there too. We had a good time collecting shells and playing in the water at Morro Strand Beach. We walked to the end of Morro Rock to check it out. While we were at that section we flew kites, looked at the birds, fish, otters and sea stars. We walked to the other side and got some fresh saltwater taffy. We tried to play chess at the giant chess game, but we didn't get a turn. We just ended up hanging out and having a good time just being with my cousins.We did get to play the normal sized chess games and then we went out to dinner at their favorite restaurant.

                                                                                                                                    rickydave;)

Fresno Art Hop

A few days ago we went "art hoping" in downtown Fresno.  Most of the art galleys in Fresno take part in this. Anyway we toured a lot of them and had a good time.  Though a few of them smelled too much like wine. This is because the gallery owners had appetizers and drinks set out for "art hoppers" to enjoy. Some people enjoyed a LOT too much. We went to six gallerys my favorite one was a studio that worked with glass.

Rickydave

Yosimite Fitness & Sonic

About a month ago BEST went to Yosemite Fitness for a rock climbing field trip. We climbed for a couple hours, and chatted. Most of us also learned how to belay. After our climbing experience we walked over to Sonic and bought some snacks. We stayed and chatted for about a half hour sipping our drinks and snacking on fries. I'm just now writing about it cuz I've been too busy.
Billy :D

Chefa Banquet

    Last Friday was the Chefa banquet. I wore the suit we bought last year except I bought a new tie. It was held at Pardini's restaurant. First we talked and ate. Then they called up the seniors one by one and made them give answer a few questions. We finished up the evening by doing several contra dances.
Billy :D

A break from the city

Ok if you are going to Bass Lake you have to try this place it is called "The Forks" This restaurant is awesome. My  family likes the burgers and fries. It is right next to the lake, so we always order our food to go and sit by the lake to eat it, which is what we did this time. I hadn't been there in a long time, so I was really glad to be there.  On the way home we stopped at  an Oakhurst art gallery. The lady there told us all about native folklore. It was a fun day.

  rickydave ;)

On the minds of men AKA " I See...

Once I met a man who said to me
" how do you do". I answered " I live and I'm free ".
" We are glad " was his warm reply.
Quite perplexed I questioned " why
I see only you, but you speak of two"
" We speak as two merely because it is true".
" For I do not lie and neither does he".
With a look quite perplexed I managed " I see..."
         

                                                                                                                                            billy

House Projects

     We have been doing a lot of projects around the house. Mostly they were effects of the move, but there are some pieces that just needed to be painted and we finally got around to them. We have painted a headboard,  a large throne looking chair (a hall tree), and a bedroom. We have cleaned up around the yard and have emptied out and organized the garage. We hung all kinds of art and pictures (plus weapons). We have been running around like a one legged man in a butt kicking contest! The new house is beginning to look like it's actually livable, and we are getting up to speed on our schooling.
Billy  :D