This book is an African contribution to the Christian Theology of Worship from an African Perspective. It is a truism that all cultures have that Church could be used to elucidate Christian Theology. This book uses the idea of food in traditional religious practice to interrogate the relationship between the idea of praise as a fruit of lips in Hos.14:2 and Heb. 13:15, respectively. Praise is the fruit of human lips to be offered to God.
The Old Testament worship, with its heavy animal sacrifice orientated, insists effective worship must include praise. Despite the atonement of Jesus Christ, offering praise as the sacrifice of the lips of Christians is still necessary for worship service. There is something to the imagery of praise as food, as an act of worship of God!
The use of praise in the Bible is similar to the traditional use of food as a sacrifice. The posit of Hos.14:2 and Heb.13:15 shows praise is essential to worship service. The above idea correlates with African traditional culture in that no one approaches any significant person empty-handed. For God, in Africa, no worship service is complete without a gift for the gods, and food is the most common gift. The perversity of praise as a sacrifice in the Christian worship experience shows that we still create time to praise, however short a worship service may be. Creating time to praise at every worship service presents Christians the opportunity to offer God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips!
You will also note that praise in worship opportunity comes very early during worship service, indicating its dominance in the worship experience. The shows we take sacrificing fruit of our lips early as our worship experience. The insistence of Heb. 13:15 that praise is the sacrifice through Jesus Christ and that it is the fruit of our lips asserts praise as the only sacrifice left for the Church.
The author argues that African Christians are familiar with how the concept and use of food sacrifice in traditional African religious practices differ from Christian understanding and practice. However, every African God has peculiar food that is acceptable. That praise is acceptable to the Christian God as befitting food asserts praise as the fruit of our lips God awaits in every worship opportunity.
However, traditional religionists take time to offer their gods the right and acceptable meals rightly prepared and presented in the right way, which compels Christians to offer God quality fruit of our lips. To offer African gods unacceptable food is like trying to poison such a god, which incurs the anger of such a God. The above submission makes it common knowledge for African Christians to offer God quality praise, and He will accept.
The above calls attention to what goes on in our Churches in the name of praise to God. Since praise is the only sacrifice left for the Church, this book ex-rays contemporary praise as a sacrifice in contemporary churches. The report will help you determine the quality of what goes around you as praise in your next worship opportunity. I assure you, you will praise God better in your next worship service.
Sure, African traditional religious worshippers are careful to determine what food they offer their gods. It is of great importance for African Christians, indeed, Christians the world over, to have a good sense of praise as the fruit of our lips to offer God acceptable fruit. This book examines praise within the context of the African cultural milieu and the Bible and makes the following claim:
Since there is no sacrifice left for the Church other than praise through Jesus Christ, Christians worldwide are to offer God the sacrifice God will accept. It further insists praise is always for a reason. God does not demand praise, He commands it. No Christian should disobey God.
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