A Word from Keith Haygood

A Word from Keith Haygood

Posted on Oct 2, 2007 in BGCO, church, worship by Wes Kenney 1 Comment

Keith Haygood serves as Worship and Music Ministries Specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He provides resources and training opportunites for those involved in local church music ministry, as well as providing leadership for the Oklahoma Baptist All-State Youth Choir and Orchestra, and serving as the conductor of the Oklahoma Baptist Symphony. With his permission, I want to share with you a column he wrote for the October edition of the BGCO’s Worship and Music Ministry e-newsletter, e.worship.ok:

Have you ever gotten into your car after church on Sunday and asked yourself, “What just happened here?” Does it seem that you are doing all you can do and yet you are not connecting with people nor are you helping them to connect with God? Is it possible for the church to meet week after week and just go through the motions, yet never sense the moving of the Holy Spirit? After all, even in His great commission, Jesus said, “I am with you always…”

God spoke through the prophet Amos:

I hate, I reject your festivals; nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

I believe that we are often guilty of presenting our music and our prayers to the Lord as an end of itself, when God’s desire is that we come to Him with clean hands and a pure heart. The song we sing and play for Him must be the song that has come as the cry of our hearts, not some religious rite. This is why God rebukes the religious in Amos 5. He is looking to the heart. His desire is that we be real with Him. He already knows our hearts, so why do we play games with Him in our worship experiences? God’s desire is that we walk according to His Word day after day. If we do, corporate worship will be much sweeter because it will come as an outpouring of what God has done in our lives all week long.

Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. -Psalm 111:1

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  Scott Gordon Oct 2 2007 - 12:56 pm

  Wes and Keith,

  Wes, thanks for reposting this article for us.

  Keith, thanks for reminding us that the heart of worship is very significant. In all that we proclaim from our churches, a heartless worship is as damaging to our witness and ministries as is doctrinally weak and Gospel-less preaching.

  SOLA GRATIA!

  Reply