Hi Friends,

This morning I was listening to a reggae worship band while getting my store setup for the workday. There are many forms of worship God delights in. Some are related to musical expression and others related to our lifestyle and what we do in our labors.

Personally, I get a lot of joy out of the worship expressions coming from the nations, that is the cry of worship coming forth from the many ethnic groups across the globe. Jesus promises an inheritance to come forth from every people and tongue. As God brings deliverance to the many peoples, He also puts songs of worship, justice, and deliverance in their hearts.

These songs are the testimony of Jesus given to a culture and a people. He becomes the song and rally cry that washes away injustice and gives voice to a people who are now free from sin, shame, and destruction.

These songs are often birthed in the waning moments of captivity when a people group is most oppressed. In these moments there is always someone who meets Jesus, and they lift up the cry of their people to the ears of God, singing the songs of their culture with genuine audacity, proclaiming a freedom and hope they have not yet seen.

These songs are a pilgrimage of identity, when at first but a few people become a new creation in Christ Jesus. Their worship echoes the old being put to death and the new being brought forth into glorious life. As their story is shared entire cultures are transformed. History tells us again and again that this is so.

I am fully convinced the songs coming forth from any culture become a self-fulfilling prophecy. They are like the rudder of a ship, and if these songs proclaim Jesus they will turn entire people groups. We often steer away from certain forms of music because they are deemed less-than-holy. I am of the belief that we need to steer towards these forms of music because they are the cry of a culture. Any song can be a song of God if it exalts Jesus.

The Lord is asking us, “Where are our worshipping evangelists?” Grab a Bible and a song, my friends.

–  J.S. Marek