By Mathew Victor
THE young man who wanted to be a pop singer had a dramatic encounter with Jesus Christ in 1976. The love of the Lord displayed at Calvary turned his life completely. When he realized who he was in Jesus Christ, his goals, ambitions and priorities in life changed one by one. He now wanted to sing only for Jesus. Later in his life, compelled by his love for the Lord and a desire to save perishing souls, K Jacob quit his job as a college lecturer and decided to serve the Lord. That was in 1986. Pastor K Jacob, founder of Revival Christian Worship Centre in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, has since been ministering to hundreds of people all around the country. He is known as one of the foremost worship leaders in Tamil Nadu. The Christian Messenger met him in Chennai recently. Excerpts from the interview:
What according to you is worship?
Worship is the highest form of praise. We worship God for His person, character, attributes and perfection. We worship Him for who He is. It is the outpouring of our soul in deep expressions of reverence, awe, wonder and adoration.
How would you define praise?
Praise is an expression of heartfelt gratitude and thanksgiving to God for all that He has done for us.
How then should we worship?
Worship is a lifestyle. It should become the lifestyle of every Christian. It’s a big question and it has a vast answer. Simply put, we should worship God in holiness. People should feel the presence of God during worship, otherwise it’s a waste of time. He is the Hero of our worship, so He must be there. If a worship leader is not leading the people to the presence of God, he is not doing his job right.
How should we not worship?
We should not worship with hypocrisy in our hearts. You should not stop worshiping God at the emotional level. It should be an exercise where both your spirit and body are involved. That is true worship. That’s when you feel God’s presence.
Tell us what hinders or mars worship.
Wrong motives, ego problems, unholy living and lack of personal worship could hinder worship. The choir should have a worship session before the real worship starts. The choir should experience the presence of God even before the worship begins.
What are the qualities of a worship leader?
He should be a committed and dedicated person: committed to God and the Church. He should be a model to the congregation and the society. He must spend time with God in worship and prayer every day. It will be good if he is also a good singer with some knowledge of music.
Your emphasis is on God’s glory in worship. Can you elaborate on that?
This the third stage in the praise and worship time. Seeing God’s glory in worship is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:18. We must worship Him till you are filled with His glorious presence. Habakkuk 2:14 says: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” It’s the worship pattern of the Tabernacle – you should be able to go from the outer court to the holy place. And then, from the holy place to the most holy place. Getting into the glorious presence is like entering into the most holy place. Unfortunately, most of the worship sessions these days lack this aspect. We stop at the holy place itself. We are satisfied with it. But that’s not the right approach. We should go beyond it and enter into the most holy place.
This interview was published in the November 2010 edition of The Christian Messenger newspaper.
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