The God Culture: What Is Glory?

Timothy Jay Schwab who is the God Culture has a new foundations lesson. This time is asking What is Glory? Is he going to talk about to glorious Cross? Well if you have come this far you know Tim has nothing to say about what Christ did on the cross.  Let's take a look. 

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FOUNDATIONS – Week 34

What Is Glory?

Key Texts:

Exodus 33–34; Isaiah 6; John 1; Revelation 21

The word glory is used often in worship.

But what does Scripture mean by it?

Is glory merely brightness?

Is it power?

Is it honor?

Or is it something deeper?

Moses asked Yahuah:

> “I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory.”

> (Exodus 33:18)

Yahuah answered by proclaiming His own character:

> “Yahuah, Yahuah Elohim, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth...”

> (Exodus 34:6)

This is crucial.

When Moses asked to see Yahuah’s glory, Yahuah revealed His name, His goodness, His mercy, His justice, and His character.

Glory is not merely light surrounding Him.

It is the revelation of who He is.

Isaiah saw Yahuah upon His throne and heard the seraphim cry:

> “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahuah of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.”

> (Isaiah 6:3)

His glory fills creation because creation reveals its Creator.

Yet John tells us that this glory came near:

> “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory... full of grace and truth.”

> (John 1:14)

The glory revealed to Moses in goodness and truth was displayed in the life of Yahusha.

He revealed the Father.

He embodied grace and truth.

He showed what the character of Yahuah looks like when lived among men.

Finally, Revelation describes the New Jerusalem:

> “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of Elohim did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

> (Revelation 21:23)

The story of Scripture moves toward a world completely illuminated by His presence.

Biblical glory is therefore more than brilliance.

It is Yahuah making Himself known.

His holiness revealed.

His goodness displayed.

His power made visible.

His presence dwelling among His people.

Question for Discussion

When people look at our lives, do they merely hear us speak about Yahuah—or can they see something of His character revealed?

Wow.  Not a single word about the gloriousness of the cross.  It's incredible. It's like he hates Jesus Christ.   But let's hear what noted theologian Father Ted Crilly has to say.

Ah, right… sits up straighter, adjusts the collar, and peers at the page like it’s a suspicious letter from the bishop

Week 34, is it? “What Is Glory?”

Well now. Let’s have a look.

Tim starts with Moses asking to see Yahuah’s glory, and gets the famous reply about mercy, grace, longsuffering, goodness and truth. Fair enough — that’s straight out of Exodus 34. Then Isaiah’s “Holy, holy, holy” and the earth full of His glory. Still grand. Then — and here’s the bit that nearly made me drop me tea — he actually quotes John 1:14:

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory… full of grace and truth.”

Would you look at that. He named Yahusha. He linked the glory revealed to Moses with the life of the Man Himself. And he finishes with Revelation 21 where the Lamb is the light of the city.

pauses, blinks

That’s… better than the last few, isn’t it? Compared to the holiness that was just “keep the law,” the righteousness that was just “keep the commandments,” and the gospel that somehow forgot the cross entirely, this one at least lets the incarnate Word into the room. Credit where it’s due. He didn’t leave Christ completely out of the picture this time.

But — and there’s always a but with these Foundations lessons — he still stops short of the real heart of it.

Glory in Scripture isn’t only “God showing His character.” The ultimate place the glory of God is revealed is on the cross. Jesus Himself said it: “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified” (John 12:23), and He was talking about His death. The glory of the Father is most fully displayed when the Son lays down His life for sinners. That’s the glory that leaves the seraphim covering their faces and the disciples falling on theirs. Tim gets as far as “He embodied grace and truth” and “He showed what the character of Yahuah looks like,” but he never takes the next step and says how — by dying for the ungodly, rising again, and conquering sin and death.

So we’ve got a glory that’s mostly revelation of character and presence… but the supreme act that displays that character is still missing. Classic Tim. He can bring Yahusha into the definition when it suits the narrative, but the blood and the empty tomb still get left outside the door.

And the discussion question at the end? “When people look at our lives, do they see something of His character revealed?”

Ah, there it is. Back to us again. Back to the practical, lived-out imitation. Not wrong in itself, mind you — but in the context of this whole series it always feels like the weight is being put on our performance rather than on what the Lamb has already done.

Still… progress of a sort. At least this week the Man gets a proper mention and the Lamb gets to light the city.

sighs, reaches for the teapot

Go on then. Pour us another cup. I’ve a feeling Week 35 will be along any minute, and God alone knows what he’ll do to “What Is Grace” or “What Is the Cross” when he finally gets there.

Careful now.

Down with this sort of thing… but slightly less vigorously than last time.

The God Culture: What Is Worship?

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has a new foundations series article. This time it's about worship. What is worship? Well, for anyone who has been paying attention to this series and is familiar with Tim's theology there is only one answer. But let's take a look. 

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FOUNDATIONS: WEEK 33

What Is Worship?

Key Texts: Genesis 22; Exodus 20; John 4:23–24; Colossians 3:16; Revelation 4

Today, many define worship as music.

Others define it as an emotional experience.

But how does Scripture define worship?

The first time the word appears, Abraham says:

"I and the lad will go yonder and worship..."

(Genesis 22:5)

There is no mention of music.

No choir.

No instruments.

No congregation.

Worship begins with faith, obedience, and surrender to Yahuah.

At Mount Sinai, worship is inseparable from covenant:

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

(Exodus 20:3)

True worship is not merely what we sing.

It is whom we serve.

Yahusha later declared:

"The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth... God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

(John 4:23–24)

Notice the balance.

Not spirit without truth.

Not truth without spirit.

Both.

Paul then encourages believers:

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to Yahuah."

(Colossians 3:16)

Music is therefore an essential beautiful expression of worship—but Scripture never limits worship to music.

Worship flows from hearts filled with His Word.

It overflows in gratitude.

It teaches.

It encourages.

It praises.

Finally, John's vision reveals worship as it truly is:

"Holy, holy, holy, Yahuah Elohim Almighty..."

(Revelation 4:8)

Heaven is filled with worship—not because of emotion alone, but because Yahuah alone is worthy.

Biblical worship is therefore much more than a song, though it does include songs.

It is a life surrendered to Yahuah...

Grounded in truth...

Filled with His Word...

Expressed in obedience...

Overflowing in praise. 

Question for Discussion 

If music were taken away, would your life still be an act of worship?

On the surface that sounds inoffensive enough but looking deeper the familiar pattern of Tim's doctrine can be plainly seen. Worship  is "a life surrendered" to God "expressed in obedience." That is to say to worship is law keeping. It's the same old judaizing song and dance. 

Note that Tim brings up Abraham.

The first time the word appears, Abraham says:

"I and the lad will go yonder and worship..."

(Genesis 22:5)

What Tim fails to mention is the worship being done here is sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac left their servants to go sacrifice to the Lord. Here is the context:

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

And of course this is a foreshadowing and type of Christ. The Father provided himself a lamb by offering up his only Son Jesus Christ. It's sad but typical that for Tim worship has nothing to do with Jesus Christ and his finished work. For two millennia a central part of the worship of Christ has been the eucharist, the bread and wine, symbolizing the new covenant made through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. But Tim has nothing to say about that. 

Let's hear from. noted theologian Father Ted Crilly. 

Ah, Philippine Fails, me lad... puts the teacup down with a quiet clink and nods slowly

I’ve read Tim’s Week 33 lesson on “What Is Worship?” and this one is a bit more careful than some of the others. He actually gets a few things right on the surface.

What’s good about it

He’s correct that worship is not just music or an emotional high. Abraham’s “worship” in Genesis 22 was an act of costly obedience. True worship involves spirit and truth (John 4). Music is a beautiful expression, but it isn’t the whole of it. Fair enough. Many modern churches could stand to hear that.

Where the familiar problem appears

Even in this softer lesson, Tim still steers everything back into his usual channel. Notice the key words he keeps circling:

• Obedience 
• Surrender 
• Covenant 
• Truth 
• Walking in His ways

In every previous Foundations lesson, those words have meant the same thing: keeping the Torah — the Sabbath, the feasts, the dietary laws, the whole system. So when he defines worship as “a life surrendered to Yahuah… grounded in truth… expressed in obedience,” what he really means is a life ordered around Torah observance.That’s the quiet redefinition again.

What’s missing

There is almost no focus on the New Testament center of Christian worship: the finished work of Christ. In the New Covenant, true worship is centered on the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 5). We worship the Father through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. The cross is the great act of worship that makes all our worship acceptable. Tim never really lands there. He lands on obedience.

Paul’s teaching in Romans 12:1 is clearer: presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is our spiritual worship — and that flows out of the mercies of God shown in the gospel (the whole argument of Romans 1–11). Tim flips the order. Obedience becomes the main thing; the gospel becomes background.

Father Ted’s Plain Verdict

This lesson is less aggressive than some of the earlier ones, but the foundation is still the same. Worship is being quietly redefined as covenant loyalty expressed through law-keeping. Christ is present, but He’s not allowed to be the full and final center.

True Christian worship is not first about how carefully we keep the old system. It is about coming to the Father through the Son, by the Spirit, resting in the finished work of the cross, and then living out of that grace.Tim keeps making obedience the engine.

The New Testament makes the gospel the engine, and obedience the fruit.Down with this sort of thing, lad — even when it comes dressed in reasonable clothes.The real question isn’t only “If music were taken away, would your life still be worship?”

The deeper question is: Is your worship centered on the finished work of Christ, or on your performance of the system?

...Right, I’m off to thank the Lord that we can worship in spirit and in truth because the veil has been torn and the way is open through the blood of Jesus

.Go on, go on, go on — have a cuppa. You keep spotting the same underlying current. Tim’s Foundations keep flowing toward the law. The real river of living water flows from the cross. Keep holding fast to that. It’s far better.

Father Ted he makes no mention of the eucharist in his lesson about worship!

Ah, Philippine Fails, me lad... sits up straight and puts the teacup down with a firm clink

You’re absolutely right. And it’s a very telling omission.

In a whole lesson on what worship is, Tim never once mentions the Lord’s Supper — the Eucharist, the Communion, the breaking of bread. Not a word.

For a Catholic priest (and for most of historic Christianity), that silence is deafening.

Why it matters

From the earliest days of the Church, the central act of Christian worship was not a song service or a lecture on obedience. It was the gathering of the people of God around the Table — remembering the Lord’s death until He comes, feeding on Christ by faith, and offering the one sacrifice of Christ present under the signs of bread and wine.Jesus Himself instituted it.

The apostles continued in it (Acts 2:42).

Paul gave careful instruction about it (1 Corinthians 11).

The early Church fathers treated it as the heart of Sunday worship.Yet in Tim’s definition of worship — faith, obedience, surrender, spirit and truth, music, heaven’s praise — the Table is completely absent.

What that reveals

This fits the larger pattern we’ve been watching for months. Tim’s system is heavily oriented around:

• Returning to Torah 
• Keeping the appointed times 
• Covenant obedience 
• Law as the main structure of the Christian life

In that framework, the sacraments (especially the Eucharist) don’t fit comfortably. The focus stays on what wedo — our obedience, our surrender, our keeping of the commandments — rather than on what Christ has done and continues to give us in the means of grace.

A worship that has no real place for the Lord’s Supper is a worship that has quietly shifted its center of gravity away from the cross and the finished work of Christ.

Father Ted’s Plain Take

You’re sharp to notice it, lad. A lesson on biblical worship that never mentions the very meal Jesus commanded us to keep in remembrance of Him is already telling us something important about the system behind it.

True Christian worship is not mainly about how carefully we perform the old covenant patterns. It is about coming to the Father through the Son, in the Spirit — and at the heart of that gathering is the Table where we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Tim can talk about spirit and truth all day long. But if the Table Christ gave us is missing, something essential has been left out.

Down with this sort of thing.

Very careful now.

The Church has been gathered around that Table for two thousand years. Any “restoration” that has no real place for it is not restoring the faith of the apostles. It’s building something else.

...Right, I’m off to say a quiet prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of the Eucharist — the place where worship is not just talked about, but received.Go on, go on, go on — have a cuppa. You’re seeing the gaps clearly. Keep noticing what’s missing. Often that’s where the real theology shows itself.

The God Culture: What Is Restoration?

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has a new foundations series lesson. This time he is asking: what is restoration? Well, if you have been following this blog or know anything about The God Culture's doctrine you would know that for Tim, restoration is all about keeping the law once more and relearning geography. The Philippines is the real holy land, dont'tcha know. But let's see what he has to say. 

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FOUNDATIONS: WEEK 32

What Is Restoration? 

Key Texts: Deuteronomy 30; Isaiah 58; Acts 3:19–21

The story of Scripture is not merely about creation.

It is about restoration.

From Genesis to Revelation, Yahuah continually calls His people back to Himself.

Moses declared: 

"If thou shalt return unto Yahuah thy Elohim... He will turn thy captivity... and gather thee again."

(Deuteronomy 30) 

Isaiah described true restoration as repairing what had been broken: 

"Thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in."

(Isaiah 58:12) 

Peter proclaimed the same hope after Messiah's resurrection: 

"...whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."

(Acts 3:21) 

Notice Peter's words carefully.

Restoration is not a new idea.

It is what the prophets have spoken since the world began.

Yahuah is restoring what sin has fractured.

He restores hearts.

He restores covenant.

He restores truth.

He restores worship.

And one day, He will restore all creation under the reign of Messiah.

Biblical restoration is not inventing something new.

It is returning to what Yahuah established from the beginning. 

Question for Discussion 

If restoration means returning to what Yahuah established, what areas of our faith should always be tested against Scripture rather than tradition?

Once again, there is not a word about Christ in this lesson. It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ that restores all things. In Christ we are made new.

Colossians 1:19–20: For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The underlying assumption behind what Tim is really teaching is a return to or a restoration of keeping the Mosaic law. Lawkeeping is the current running through all his lessons. 

But let's hear from noted theologian Father Ted Crilly.

Ah, Philippine Fails, me lad... puts the teacup down with a slow, heavy sigh

I’ve read Tim’s Week 32 lesson on “What Is Restoration?” and once again he gets close enough to the truth to sound spiritual… and then quietly steers the whole thing back into the same old ditch.

What Tim is saying

• The whole story of Scripture is about restoration.
• God keeps calling His people back to Himself (Deuteronomy 30).
• True restoration is “repairing the breach” and restoring the old paths (Isaiah 58).
• Peter spoke of the “times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21).
• Therefore, biblical restoration is not inventing something new — it is returning to what Yahuah established from the beginning.

On the surface it sounds lovely. Who doesn’t want restoration? But look at what he is actually teaching.

The Real Meaning in Tim’s System

When Tim says “return to what Yahuah established from the beginning,” he does not primarily mean returning to faith in the finished work of Christ, repentance, and life in the Spirit. In every previous Foundations lesson, that phrase has meant:

• Return to the Torah 
• Return to the Sabbath 
• Return to the feasts 
• Return to the dietary laws 
• Return to the old covenant ways

“Restoration” becomes another word for Torah restoration. That’s the project.

What’s Missing (Again)

Christ is mentioned only in passing — “under the reign of Messiah.” There is almost no focus on the central New Testament truth: that restoration has already begun in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The cross is the great turning point. The breach has already been repaired by His blood. The new heart has already been promised and given through the Spirit. The Kingdom has already broken in.

Peter’s sermon in Acts 3 is not a call to go back to Sinai. It is a call to repent and turn to the Messiah so that times of refreshing may come. Tim quietly turns it into a call to restore the old system.

The Pattern Holds

This is the same song, just in a softer key:

• Faith = obedience to the law 
• Grace = power to keep the law 
• Truth = the law 
• Rest = the Sabbath 
• Inheritance = remaining faithful to the covenant 
• Now Restoration = returning to what was established from the beginning (i.e., the Torah)

Everything keeps circling back to the same center. Christ is never allowed to be the full and final answer. He is always the One who confirms the old system so we can go back to it more sincerely.

Father Ted’s Plain Verdict

This is not the gospel of restoration.

This is the gospel of regression dressed up as restoration.True biblical restoration is not primarily about going back to the old paths of Sinai. It is about being made new in Christ. The old has passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The law was a tutor to bring us to Christ. Now that Christ has come, we are no longer under the tutor.Tim wants to restore the tutor.

The apostles preached the arrival of the Teacher.

Down with this sort of thing, lad.

Very careful now.

The real restoration has already begun in the finished work of Jesus. We don’t need to go back to the shadows to find it. We find it by coming to Him.

...Right, I’m off to thank the Lord that the great breach has already been repaired by the blood of the Lamb.

Go on, go on, go on — have a cuppa. You keep seeing the same pattern with clear eyes. Tim’s “restoration” always leads back to the law. The real gospel leads us forward into the freedom and newness of life in Christ. That’s the restoration worth having. Keep holding fast to it.