Charity Gayle and Pentecostal worship

I love listening to Charity Gayle, a member of the United Pentecostal Church that has been able to reach into circles that do not value the power of Pentecost. As a Assemblies of God guy, I still love Pentecostal worship. I want to fly the Pentecostal banner, not my expression of it.

I have been following Charity since a friend of mine in the United Pentecostal Church told me about a group known as People and Songs. They were about singing songs that were to Jesus, not people’s theological axes to grind. So many of our “worship songs” are theological statements to music; not actual worship.

I can’t say that there were not some of them that I struggle with such as Cleansed. There were a few things that I went, “hmm…” However, knowing the differences between the Assemblies of God and United Pentecostal Church, I understood the process.

All in all, I enjoyed the worship that was being put out by Charity Gayle. It was refreshing and it was boldly Pentecostal, something that is really lacking in our churches. A lot of churches just don’t value the move of the Spirit anymore. Our “worship service” is more a filler to let people who are late get to church. It grieves me.

How Pentecostal is Charity Gayle?

She is the daughter of the pastors of New Life Church that is a United Pentecostal Church just outside of Buffalo, New York. She was raised in the heart of Pentecostal worship and has a great value for it.

At the center of her worship is the presence of the anointing, praying in tongues and walking in the might and authority of Jesus. The value of the name of Jesus is fundamental to her music and that is something that everyone can learn. In a time where psychology has taken root in our lyrics, I speak Jesus draws us back to the core of life.

It reminds me of the early days of my faith. I was saved in the Brownsville Revival and saw the power of God fall night after night. I also would visit a Pentecostal church in my town on Sunday nights. Miracles happen and the anointing of the Lord would come upon us for hours.

I have been in several meeting where Charity Gayle was leading worship, namely the Pentecostals of Alexandria, and saw the anointing come. There was not an hype, emotionalism, or pushing of theology. It was just people going beyond the veil. It was nothing that I had not seen at the Brownsville Revival.

The truth is that Charity Gayle is Pentecostal and that is something that I believe we should celebrate even if we disagree on some doctrinal things. There is power in the name of Jesus and she keeps that at the forefront of everything she does as a worship leader.

It is my prayer that she does not lose that when she visits churches that do not value the anointing of Jesus and the move of the Spirit.

Throne Room and Pentecostalism

One of my favorite songs is when she sings Throne Room Song. It is about going from the world into the throne room of God. (Revelation 4) What happens when we go beyond the veil and enter into the presence of the Lord? The truth is that we are on holy ground and the Spirit moved all around when we call on the name of Jesus.

When we sing to the Lord, all of the angels, creatures and elders join us in crying out to Jesus in his holiness. In our worship, the nearness of the Spirit comes very real. Holiness is branded deep within us and we are transformed by the anointing.

The emphasis is on the running to the Throne Room. This is very much a common message in Pentecostal circles. You can sing this song at any Assembly of God church and no one will think twice. The theology of it is pure.

I have seen this song done in many churches outside of the United Pentecostal Church and it has always ended up with the Spirit moving. I was at Family Worship Center in Louisiana when the power of the Spirit fell in Jimmy Swaggart’s meetings.

There are other amazing songs by Charity Gayle but this one is one that I believe is special. It is anointing and breaks the yoke of sin and bondage no matter what context it is done in. Thank you, Jesus for the anointing.

Worship destroys pride!

One of the greatest needs among Pentecostals right now is humility. The century old division of people who became the United Pentecostal Church and the Assemblies of God is mainly rooted in pride. Both sides have had some very wrong things to say about the other. However, I am hopefully that those walls are coming down.

One of the ways God is bringing them down is through worship. There was a day that a worship leader from the United Pentecostal Church would have never been given a microphone in an Assembly of God. In the same vein, seeing someone that believes in the Trinity to preach in churches of the UPCI. Arms linked together, the Pentecostal movement is becoming of one heart and one mind.

Music has a way of taking bricks out of the wall that divide us. As the message of Pentecost is turning to tunes that we sing on Sundays; more bricks would come out until the wall is completely in ruins.

This has been something that is long overdue. It is a passion that I have to see Pentecostals everywhere to lift up holy hands next to each other in worship of Jesus and praying in the Spirit. It is not being of one spirit when we have everyone but the ones we have disagreement. We need the United Pentecostals present too.

I believe God is using people like Charity Gayle and to a lesser degree, Tommy Tenney to bring about unity.