Year: 2013

Categories
Worship

Worship Wars

This phrase – “worship wars” – is often used to discuss the ways that people argue about church music, but truly that battle over church music is really just a “music style war” – arguing over the style of music I want in my service (so serving “I” & “my” becomes the focus instead of “we” & “Him.”)

The truth is that a real worship war is taking place at a much deeper level – in the heart of each of us. Each of us has to determine what or who we will worship – and often that turns into a battle… a worship war!

” … even those men and women who don’t enjoy worshiping their Maker can sometimes be seen with their bodies painted in team colors, becoming emotionally affected for hours, sometimes days, by how the game went…. They’re ready for worship any day of the week… But, their hearts are yielded to lesser things.”

This isn’t to say you can’t enjoy watching a game, but when does it turn into worship? Is your heart yielded to “lesser things”? Do you ever find yourself putting way too much emphasis on things that aren’t eternally significant?

“Because we humans are worshipers, we are rejoicers. It’s what we do. Every single person, whether religious or irreligious, actively worships. They have identified something bigger than themselves that they believe is worthy of their money, time, and the meditations of their hearts…. It comes naturally…. Easily. Enjoyably. But in our sinfulness, this tendency to worship things other than God is an exercise in disappointment. It offers us nothing but temporary satisfaction…. Since we are worshipers by God’s design, the problem is not that we rejoice but rather that we rejoice wrongly.”

It is so easy to fall into the trap of worshiping the lesser things. There are so many things vying for our attention. There are so many competing voices out there, and each one is shouting “worship me!” I’m not sure that I can draw for you exactly where the line is between enjoyment and worship, but I definitely think that if our allegiance to and passion for ______ (fill in the blank with your own personal worship war word or words!)… if our allegiance to and passion for those things are greater than our passion for God, enjoyment of His Word, and devotion to His church… then we’ve gone too far and crossed the line.

What do you find are the biggest worship war dangers for you/us today?

How do you make sure that your worship of God is stronger than your other passions & devotions?

When you realize that your worship for lesser things has become too strong, how do you re-orient yourself?

(Quotes from ‘Creature of the Word’ by Matt Chandler)

Categories
Christian Living

The Storms of Life

“What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Seasoned fishermen. Long hours on the water. Tough & capable.
Words we could use to describe Jesus’ disciples.

These men were probably more at home on the water than on the land.
And so they knew when it was time to be concerned. And they were there.
They found themselves in a storm so fierce that they feared for their lives.

Does that sound familiar to your own situation? We are seasoned at handling the things in life that blow our way. We are completely self-sufficient, or so we think. But then we unexpectedly find ourselves facing a storm of life that is so far beyond our own control. A storm that, when it slams into us, we are helpless & hopeless as we try to face it on our own.

The disciples tried to handle the storm in their own power… “We are the fishermen. We are used to the water. Jesus is just a carpenter. Why wake him? What could he do to help?” This, of course, is the root of the problem in many of our situations… failing to call upon Jesus soon enough due to our fighting the terrible storm in our own strength.

But eventually the disciples accepted their own inability to master the situation. And at that moment they had at least one necessary ingredient for true faith — an awareness of their helplessness as they realized… “We’re going to drown!” At that moment they cried out to Jesus – mostly out of desperation rather than with faith that he would actually stop the storm, since they did not yet have a full grasp of who He was.

But when Jesus heard their cry, He did something about it. And it proved who He was.
Jesus is not only able to rescue… He desires to do so!

Certainly He can do so regarding our eternity, but as the disciples found out, Jesus also desires to bring rescue in our everyday lives. Jesus wants to be our daily Savior – saving us from the life we would have without Him. He says – “I have come that you might have life, life more abundantly.”

And the type of saving He provided – that of perfect calm – tells us what kind of man Jesus is.

The One with complete power and authority over all things.

Such power can do far more than just calm a storm or heal a sickness. It can transform life. That’s the business He’s in, and that is what this storm story is really about – who Christ really is. Though the disciples are rescued, the story is not really about what we can get out of Him, but rather that Jesus – One who has the power to end a storm with His voice – can be no less than God Himself. Therefore, He is worthy of worship, irrespective of when & How he chooses to use that power in our lives.

And if that is the truth, then we need to…
1. Be about the business of the Father – not your own business;
2. Be anxious for nothing – know that you are in God’s hands;
3. Don’t wait to cry out to God – He wants to be your daily Savior – helping you to experience daily abundant life and transformation; and
4. Know that Jesus is God, and He has the power to save completely & will use that power in our lives to bring glory to Him.

Sometimes Jesus will use His power to still the storms in our lives, and sometimes they will be unstilled – but it will always be done in a way that will bring glory to His name – something that we should be honored to be a part of.

How has Jesus stilled storms of life you faced?

Categories
Worship

Start A New Tradition

Christmas is only 5 days away… December 25th is coming fast!
How did it get here so quickly?

Well, now that it is here, you will soon be gathered together with loved ones in the living room or den. You’ll be watching children or grandchildren open presents with smiles and laughter. You will probably eat a bit too much, but you’ll also have a great time reminiscing about family stories with people you love but don’t see often enough. These are some of the reasons that we call this holiday season “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

But I hope you remember that the real reason it is the most wonderful time of the year is because of the Gift of Jesus.

We come up with elaborate plans to make Christmas memorable. My challenge to you this year is to strive to make Christmas memorable in regards to the gift of Jesus – God With Us!

I have known one family who baked a birthday cake and threw a birthday party each year for Jesus. I have heard of families who make this a “simplifying” time in their home – cleaning out shelves and taking unexpired food to the food pantry, going through closets and donating good clothes to a clothes closet, and asking children to give away some of their nice toys. Doing these things can remind us how we have more than enough and that others have needs at Christmastime.

(A quick “aside” – As you might could imply from what I said above about unexpired, good, nice things… I do have a problem when we give away our junk to others and then pat ourselves on the back for our generosity! “Doing unto others as you’d have done to you” requires us to give good things away! Sacrificially, Generously, & Cheerfully – that’s God’s plan for our giving. You’d be amazed at the amount of junk that was donated to our church in Bay St. Louis to distribute to people after Katrina – much of it was only fit for the trashcan! God was sacrificially generous to send Jesus to us, we are to do the same for others. OK, now back to my original points of focusing on Christ at Christmas…)

So how can you help your family focus on Jesus this year? One great new tradition you can begin this year to help do so is to read the Story of the Birth of Jesus with your family. Before you open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, take time to gather your family around you and read the Christmas story from the Bible. Here are the portions that we most often use:
Luke 2:1-7 The Census, Journey, & Birth
Matt 1:18-25 The Angel Visits Joseph
Luke 2:8-20 The Shepherds & Angels
Matt 2:1-12 The Wise Men Bring Gifts

Read these Christmas story passages with your family, and then say a prayer to God thanking Him for the greatest gift of all – Jesus! That is one of the traditions my family has had for many years, and it has been a powerful memory for me throughout my life. If you haven’t made Christmas about Jesus, then I hope you will consider starting a new tradition that celebrates Jesus this year.

Categories
Worship

Placed In His Arms

Another scraping from the bowl…

“What is the ultimate good in the good news? It all ends in one thing: God Himself.
All the words of the gospel lead to him, or they are not gospel.”

“For example, “salvation” is not good news if it only saves from hell and not for God.
“Forgiveness” is not good news if it only gives relief from guilt and doesn’t open the way to God.
“Justification” is not good news if it only makes us legally acceptable to God, but doesn’t bring fellowship with God.
“Redemption” is not good news if it only liberates us from bondage, but doesn’t bring us to God.
“Adoption” is not good news if it only puts us in the Father’s family but not in his arms.”

Just reading these words helps to fill me up. I don’t just want heaven, I want to be with my Father. I want to be in fellowship with Him. I want to be in His arms. I’m so glad He provided Jesus to allow me to rest there forever!

(quote from Jon Piper’s book ‘For Your Joy’)

Categories
Worship

Scraping From The Bowl

Today, my family will celebrate Christmas together. Mom’ll have a ton of food prepared – including some delicious, silky smooth, Christmas fudge with pecans! One of my fondest Christmas memories is Mom making fudge, because of that glorious moment when Mom had just finished putting the fudge in the pan, but there was still warm, ooey-gooey remnants of fudge in the bowl. She would call us into the kitchen and let us “scrape the bowl” to get all the tastiest remains out. Those spoonfuls of warm chocolate were sooooo good!

In a post many moons ago, I indicated that I would try to provide more “snippets,” or shorter thoughts, instead of having to get every idea fully developed. Of course, that has not often happened, as once I get started on a thought, I like to give as much “meat” to the idea as possible, instead of leaving it as just the skeleton framework. Yesterday’s “dissertation” is a great example! But today I am going to be true to my prior statement and give you a scraping from the bowl!

“There is only one explanation for God’s sacrifice for us. It is not us. It is “the riches of his grace”. It is all free. It is not a response to our worth. It is the overflow of his infinite worth…. The heart of the Bible and the heart of Christianity is not an explanation of where evil came from, but a demonstration of how God enters into it and turns it for the very opposite—everlasting righteousness and joy.”

I hope God has entered into your life to provide you with everlasting righteousness and joy!

(quote from ‘For Your Joy’ by Jon Piper)