LaMar Boschman sees far too many Christians praise the guitar hanging around the neck of their worship leader.

The mood of the music has become the master.

The trend alarms Boschman, who almost 30 years ago helped usher in the current style of contemporary Christian music. In the decades since, however, Boschman has watched worship lose much of its meaning as the worshiper works himself into a fabricated frenzy.

“One of the concerns I have is that we have a Western model of worship with its presentation of art,” said Boschman, who July 3 through July 7 will celebrate 20 years as founder of the International Worship Institute in Texas with a special Platinum IWI summit in Dallas. “But Jesus and Yahweh is Eastern, more organic, which means it’s timeless and has little to do with technology.

“I like to say it’s not art but what’s in the heart. If it’s in the heart you can let the guitar just hang there and it’s worship. For the dancer, it’s the devotion in the motion.”

In some ways, Boschman has come full circle. With a twist. He grew up a Mennonite in Canada thinking demonstrative worship was blasphemy, but a life-changing church service in 1973 changed his outlook. After the Lord led him to read Psalm 132:4 – “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord!” – he not only accepted “vertical” worship but began teaching and preaching it.

Now, while still promoting the positives of Spirit-filled worship, Boschman is trying to re-educate Christians to the true meaning of worship. His latest offering, “Exploring the Mysteries of Worship,” is a 12-weeks of worship study guide that seeks to reverse alarming statistics such as: