Twenty-two year old Dan Korocz is the Youth Music Director of Christian City Church, Oxford Falls. He comes across as an enthusiastic, humble young man who has a passion for getting his church's message out to as many young people as he can. He wants to see the current generation of young people filling stadiums to sing, shout, dance and jump up and down in praise of God.
To explain his understanding of worship, Dan refers extensively to the life of David, and to other biblical passages to support his line of reasoning. It is pleasing that he urges his readers several times to read the Bible for themselves. But the passages he cites do not always support the point of view he presents.
Dan tells us that David was beset by problems in the earlier part of his life because he did not ask for God's guidance. Later, he learnt his lesson and always sought to be in the centre of God's will by asking him for assistance with all major decisions. But one of David's biggest failures came late in his life, when he sent Joab to take a census of Israel and Judah.
Although he reminds us that worship has to do with our whole lives, and not just the time that we spend together in church, his book portrays worship as being essentially a musical experience, as if the reading and proclamation of God's Word and other aspects of Christians meeting together are not.
Dan makes a number of bold assertions which are simple errors of fact, such as his statement that "the Bible talks about faith being the only thing that pleases God" (page 114). But his comments about the purpose of worship are more troubling. Dan says that we offer praise in our meetings to enable us to enter God's presence (pages 76 and 80). But Jesus promised that he is present wherever two or three disciples are gathered in his name (Matthew 18:20), and also assured us he is with us at all times (Matthew 28:20).
Dan also tells us (page 74) that "where there is praise being lifted, God always shows up". There is nothing Satan can do to someone who praises. If only Job had known this!
Dan says a key job of a worship leader (by which he means the person leading the singing, dancing, etc) is to call down the presence of God on the meeting (page 51), which, though it involves having "the anointing' and takes years and years of experience, Dan presumably now has, at the age of twenty-two. But Dan also reveals that he experiences this sensation of God "being in the house" at secular live music performances. Whenever he is in an arena, the music, the atmosphere and the crowd give him a strong sense of God's presence (pages 44-45). I think Dan is confusing excitement with the Holy Spirit.
Dan rightly reminds us that a leader should be a humble servant, but must also be willing to give direction. As he sees it, (page 57) "Being a Christian is all about being a leader," because God promises that his people will be "the head and not the tail" in Deuteronomy 28:13. He tells all readers of his book (page 54) that "with a little bit of care and help, you have the potential to become a great leader".
Unfortunately, this is typical of Dan's exegesis, because he seems to view every Bible verse as being directly applicable to every Christian. So Bible verses that speak of God's mighty power being displayed when he created universe, also tell us that we have this same power when we speak God's Word (page 91). Because Romans 8:31 asks, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" and because the promises of God are "yes and Amen," God has "given you the thumbs up to go ahead with all your dreams and desire (sic)."
It is interesting that Korocz's acknowledgments page mentions his fiancé (sic), his family, the pastoral team of his church, but not his editor. I wonder if there was one, because the book contains a huge amount of typos, misspellings, wrong use of words, poor punctuation and grammar. (Heléna, another Ark House book, is superbly presented; I wonder what went wrong with Worship?)
This could be a helpful book to read if you are researching what young Pentecostals are thinking, but there are much more reliable books available on worship. I recommend Worship by the Book, edited by Don Carson, and worth its price for his thoughtful introductory essay. It also contains insightful contributions from Tim Keller, Mark Ashton and Kent Hughes. And Bob Kauflin's website features articles that reflect a more biblical approach to this vital subject. Kauflin, also a Pentecostal, has maturity on his side, and also a belief in the sovereignty of God.
