Worship Is More Than Music

It is a very unfortunate pattern of thought which has developed among our churches.  The thought expressed in language that describes the music of a church worship service as "worship".  It is the same thought that entitles music ministers as "worship leaders".  Music can and should be a part of worship but worship does not equal music.  Consider Abraham as he takes his son Isaac up Mt. Moriah for the great test of faith.  Wood and knife in hand, he is ready to make a fire and offer a sacrifice of faith.  Isaac notices that they are without an animal and asks, "where is the lamb?"  Abraham responds, "God will provide."  Abraham gave his servants directions to stay there with the donkey because he and his son were going to "worship".  He is about to offer Isaac as a sacrifice in obedience to God's command, believing that God would take care of them.  There was no praise team.  No power point projector.  No 5 piece band.  No dimming of lights.  Just a man offering his life in faithful service to his Lord.  This is worship.  Worship is obedience to the word of God.  Worship is walking by faith, not by sight.  Worship can include music, but more important than the emotions felt during musical performance is the question, "How do you respond to God's Word?"  Are you just as worshipful at the time of invitation as you are during the music?  The desire of the worshipful heart must be obedience to God's word as one leaves the parking lot and enters the week.  I have noticed many people lusting after the emotional experience that music can provide instead of concentrating on the depth of Scripture.  Therefore, there is a common act of idolatry present among us.  Many are bowing their hearts to an emotional experience rather than concentrating on God's word and will.  In John 9:31 is the testimony of a man Jesus had cured of blindness reminding us that "a worshiper of God does His will."  I like power point and hymnals.  I like every musical instrument (when played well with right spirit) under the sun.  I appreciate other people helping to lead us in singing.  But these are only a part of worship.  The manifestation of true worship is a life lived out for the glory of God in submission to His word.

Christ's Power and Presence

I have just returned from Burundi which is a small country in east Africa.  Burundi borders Rwanda and Uganda and is one of the three poorest countries in the world.  The average person in this war torn country makes approximately 300 dollars per year (US).  The people have experienced over 20 years of civil war and are now only in the sixth year of peace.  We worked in the capital city of Bujumbura as well as the Bujumbura Rural and Cibitoke provinces.  Many of the areas in which we worked were under travel warnings due to recent violence and although we were sometimes escorted by armed guards we never felt unsafe.  The Lord used us to start 7 new churches in these areas and to establish the fifth campus of the Busia Baptist Bible College which is based in Kenya.  One may wonder how we could feel so safe in a completely unknown land with an unknown language in a country that has recently experienced such intense violence.  How could we have such certainty in the safety of our mission?  The answer is found in Matthew 28:18-20.  Jesus commissioned His disciples to “Go and make disciples” but first He made sure that they knew that as they were going they would be doing so in His power.  In verse 18 Jesus says that He has “all authority in heaven and on earth.”  When we go to make disciples (students, followers) of Jesus Christ, whether we go next door or across the seas, we are going in the authority of the resurrected Christ and He has all authority.  Jesus also promises that as we are going to fulfill His Great Commission He “will be you always, even unto the end of the age.”  When we go to make disciples of Jesus Christ we are going with the presence of Christ.  It is the presence and the power of Christ that compel us to go.  It is the presence and power of Christ that provide us peace, faith, safety, and contentment.  No matter the environment in which we find ourselves we can be certain of the power and presence of Christ as we are obedient to His words.  

Voice of a Southern Baptist Prophet - B.H. Carroll

“A church with a little creed is a church with a little life. The more divine doctrines a church can agree on, the greater its power, and the wider its usefulness. The fewer its articles of faith, the fewer its bonds of union. The modern cry, ‘Less creed, more liberty’, is a degeneration from the vertebrate to the jellyfish, and means less unity and less morality, and it means more heresy. Definitive truth does not create heresy - it only exposes and corrects it. Shut off the creeds and confessions and the Christian world would fill up with heresy unsuspected and uncorrected, but none the less deadly.”           


- B. H. Carroll  An Interpretation of the English Bible

GateWay East Africa Ministries

November 9, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

Sifa Mungu!  Praise God!  We have just returned from doing the Lord’s work in Burundi.  God blessed our trip in so many ways and I am so thankful that so many of you were able to participate in this glorious kingdom work.  We were able to work for 9 days witnessing in the communities of Kabezi, Migera, Ruziba, Nkenga, Kanyosha, Rugombo, Kinyinya, and Gakungwe.  The Lord has established 7 new churches in these areas and we witnessed 4,704 people express the desire to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.  To God be the glory!

Burundi is definitely the most poverty stricken country in which we have worked.  There is an overpopulation of children and we witnessed much malnutrition and disease.  But with these conditions also comes a great responsiveness to the gospel.  The people know they need help.  Not only do they sense the need for help in this life but one can see their sense of need for hope in the life to come.  It is heartbreaking to see so many children and adults living in such difficult conditions.  Yet, at the same time it is encouraging to see people being transformed by the power of the gospel.  There is a great movement of God occurring among the people of Burundi.  One example of this can be seen in many of the governing leaders of the nation.  We were invited to meet with many of their Parliament and Senate as well as the mayor of Bujumbura.  Pastor Andre Dugger from Nashville led us all in prayer and Pastor Samson Kisia from Nairobi brought greetings from our churches.  I preached God’s Word to this group of Senators and members of Parliament and we sang songs of God’s praise in their chambers.  God is doing a wonderful work among them and I pray that God will raise up a country out of the ashes of many years of war to be a testimony of what He can and will do with a people who will look to Him for guidance.  

There are other denominations represented in the country but little of it is biblical.  It is so common in these east African nations to be nominally “Christian” and to be thoroughly unbiblical.  In response to the need for doctrinal fortification we are working to establish a Bible college in Burundi that will be able to serve the pastors and church leaders of Burundi and Rwanda.  We have now seen many new churches started in both of these countries and the vast majority of the pastors are untrained.  We must provide strong Biblical training or much of our work will be in vain.  I am currently working with the national leaders to start this school and I plan to go back soon to teach and strengthen the school and churches.  

God has been increasing the importance of this ministry and the burden of my heart for the people of east Africa.  Many others have shared with me that God has been doing the same in their heart.  In response to this burden we have set up GateWay East Africa Ministries that will be serving the east African countries in this region.  More information will be coming, but for now you can look at GateWay East Africa on Facebook and richmondgoolsby.blogspot.com.  We are committed to continuing to plant new churches in this area of the world and to start Bible colleges to train the national leaders.  We are also praying about taking a medical team for a trip of medical treatment and evangelism to Burundi in the near future.  Please be praying for us and may God bless you as you serve Him.

Grace and Peace, 

Pastor Richmond Goolsby

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses,  commit these things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”    2 Timothy 2:2

2 Burundi Update

Our last day of work is complete.  We have seen 5294 professions of faith with 7 new churches started and 1 existing church strengthened.  We began our day by meeting with many of the Parliament, Senate, and the Mayor of Bujumbura.  I was invited to come and preach to them.  It was a wonderful time.  We presented the Mayor a gift Bible which was very nice.  We also presented one for the President although he was unable to attend.  The Senators and members of Parliament were very responsive to my sermon and God was present in a very special way.  The Mayor was very hospitable and very thankful for my preaching.  We will rest tomorrow and do some sightseeing.  Sunday morning we will have one large worship service with 7 of the churches and will be baptizing many of the new believers.  After the worship service we will change clothes at the hotel and go to the airport.  I have had many dreams of Mexican food and awakened myself to disappointment.  We are so excited to come home and share with everyone about God's faithful and miraculous hand during this trip.

Grace and Peace,
Richmond