Continue in Worship

What's in YOUR worship!
If this brings to mind big burly Norseman running around a vacation spot, you have caught my intent. Are there big burly sins in your life that are stealing you times of worship? Are they stealing your tithe, your prayer time, your moments where there is just you and God.
Do you come to know Jesus by making a deal with him that if he does X than you will believe? Do you prove God in the tithe by putting it aside in your budget and if he COMES THROUGH than you will actually give it to him? Though we have all done this, or variations of them, the answer is NO!!! Come to Him ALL you who are burdened and heavy laden and He WILL give you rest. Bring the tithe into the storehouse (give your tithe) and than see that He will open the windows of heaven. Let the little children come unto me.
In our salvation He draws us, but in all other matters of our faith we, or for those who can't for themselves need others to step out for us in faith, need to step out to receive the gifts and healing from God.
Does our worship to God have teeth or are we just gumming along?
WHAT'S IN YOUR WORSHIP!!

To God be the glory
for all he has done,
to lift up our spirits to Him.
His kindness and mercy
He gives to us now,
To show us how we can begin.

The glory of God
is with us today,
to show us that He is near.
To care for the needs
of His children below,
and for all of us, that He would hold dear.

This glory he shows
is for all of us,
all of the days of our lives.
To God be the glory
form this day on,
as we, submit our lives unto Him.

Billy G

The Permeation Of Relativism

When I was in high school and college we learned about the post-modern philosophy of relativism.  This includes statements like “to each His own” and “it works for me.”  The  American Heritage Dictionary defines relativism as "The doctrine that no ideas or beliefs are universally true but that all are, instead, “relative” — that is, their validity depends on the circumstances in which they are applied."


When applied to religion this leads to what’s to universalism, the “all roads lead to Heaven” doctrine.   Meaning as long as you have faith in some type of god you’ll make it in (assuming you’re generally a “good” person – as if we could even measure that, haha).


Ten years ago this way of thinking still seemed to be pretty liberal to me and only a minority of people I knew actually believed in these concepts.  But now, ten years later, I’ve been realizing how much more this type of thinking has permeated our culture and even the church.


You hear people saying things like, “My God…” and we see t-shirts that say “Jesus is my homeboy” (I think that is so funny).  We make God out to be smaller and foolishly inflate ourselves until we’re somehow on the same level as Him.


Even on doctrinal issues I hear things like, “For me, I believe you can lose your salvation” or the opposite, “I believe in eternal security so I know I’ll always be saved.”


What we don’t get is that either true or it isn’t.  It doesn’t matter what YOU believe, feel, desire, or choose!  We’ve lost the concept of truth.  Truth exists outside of our opinions or even knowledge of it’s existence.  The same is true about God.  He doesn’t need our faith or belief in Him to be who He is.  In fact, what we know of Him is still very limited compared to his infinite existance.  So, ultimately we also have a limited view of the full scope truth --- so what we DO know is what God has revealed to us.


The farther we get from this accurate concept of truth, the farther we get from knowing God for who He is, the pursuit of that knowledge, and the deserving fear and respect of His majesty.


In wanting to accept others, we tolerate their faulty beliefs as alternative possibilities, diluting and changing God’s words and the message He was left for us in the Bible.  God is “unchanging, unaffected by anything or anyone.  He doesn’t change with the crowd, go with the flow, or alter to please somebody else” (Giglio, page 68).


We don’t really know what infinite is all about.  We can’t put God in a box and we will never be able to completely define Him since our minds are finite.  Infinite has no boundaries or limits.  For example:  is God powerful enough to create a boulder that’s too heavy for Him to lift?  Or, “if God is all-knowing for all time then how come He created Satan?  Can He or did He create sin?


We must accept that there is mystery to the universe that we won’t fully understand on this side of eternity.  We must learn our place and trust our awesome Creator.


-Rich

Oh the Wonderful Cross..

How dark was it? How utterly deserving of his wrath were we? Was there any good thing in us to save us from Gods Wrath? I would say Dark, Utterly, and Nada, but that's just me.

Oh the wonderful cross, what does it mean to me. It transformed a dead me into a living me. It changed a very dark me into a me that is in His light. It stopped a headlong race towards a dark and "life"less eternity. He came into my life and cleaned out the old sinful nature and took up residence. Wow what a bum deal He got!! The glories of heaven to the trash heap of my heart, bummer.

Like any new homeowner He brought new "light"bulbs. New window treatments and a lot of cleaning supplies. He brought new tunes also. Out with the I Want to hold your hand and in with Amazing Love. Out with, Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer, and in with Indescribable, Amazing Grace, and The Old Rugged Cross.

Worship is now a way of life. There are now no more mountains to worship upon, only the mountains of our heart. There has come the day that we need to worship God in His Spirit and in His Truth. Worship is a good way to show Him that you have changed on the inside, the total giving up of ourselves to His Glory and His presence.

There is nothing we have,
To give to Him now,
But the worship he so deserves.
The glory he shows
To all of us here,
His glory we now Behold.

Oh The Wonderful Cross...

Billy G

I think that a lot of teachings on worship muddy the waters and make it more confusing. Years ago, as I led worship at another church, they claimed to have a “revelation” of worship. They followed a philosophy called the “Tabernacle of David” to supposedly gain access to the “Holy of Holies”. The way this teaching went, you “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.” That was the outer court. Then you eventually make your way through the inner court through a series of songs to the “Holy Place” and finally into the “Holy of holies” where the real worship and communion in the Lord’s presence was to take place.

The real meaning went like this: “Sing the fast songs first, dance around and clap, do medium tempo songs to bridge the gap into the slow songs toward the end. Then I have an ethereal experience that feels great.”

Everyone would scream “No! That’s not what I meant!” But really it was. One Sunday I sang the slow songs first about giving thanks to the Lord then moved to faster songs that were strong and heart-felt. Some came up to me and told me they didn’t understand where I was leading them. When I asked them to consider the words and that the words fit the teaching they didn’t know what to say. It didn’t fit the profile.

Worship is not about song order or (as some do) waving flags. I think about the example of Abraham. Abraham laid his bound son on an altar on Mount Moriah in obedience to God’s call and prepared to end the young man’s life. But what he said to the servants was that He and Isaac were going forward to “worship”, then come back. Abraham was going to lay down the most precious son that he loved and was planning to offer him to God. Now that is worship. Not raised hands or song selection. Laid-down lives and surrender. In that situation God graciously provided a substitute ram to take Isaac’s place, which was a type of Christ.

As I read through chapter 4 of Giglio’s book I was again reminded that what Jesus took upon himself at the cross was the penalty for my judgment.

I can muse all day long about how great He is and reflect on His immensity in Creation. I can see how small I am in relation to the great distances between stars and the mind-bending size of multiple galaxies and star-forming clusters. That’s exciting and He is worthy to be praised for all that to be sure. But when the Holy Spirit makes real to my heart about the judgment that I truly deserve and how Jesus loved me enough to take that judgment freely upon His shoulders at the cross when He didn’t have to, I’m struck with a greater awe than the size of the universe. The one shows great power, to be sure. But the other shows a great love beyond reason.

I worship at the Cross. Hebrews tells us that we have boldness to enter into the Holiest of All by the blood of Jesus (Heb. 10:19). Not jumping through hoops. Nothing generated through song order. But open entry, by a new and living way, which He has consecrated for us, through His flesh, we draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. He provided His blood and took our judgment. That causes me to respond with gratitude and the living sacrifice of myself at His altar.

Worship demands my entire devotion, my all. No reserve, nothing held back. I’m leaning to lay it all down before Him and give him what He so rightfully deserves: everything! --Chris

So Far Behind

Today I have just one question.  And I don’t have the answer, at least not yet.  We know that we were made to worship, created by God to ultimately praise Him forever without ceasing.  And so is creation.  The starry hosts (as Louie writes) --  “day after day they echo back to God and shout at the top of their lungs to anyone else who’s paying attention that He is huge.  All-powerful.  Glorious.  Limitless.”  And as I read that I realized that I need to do that too.

So here’s the question…why am I not worshipping with all my life and with all my heart?  Of course I know I will eventually in Heaven, but why am I so far behind now?  Anyone know the answer?

I like what Giglio writes later in chapter 3.  It addresses the problem behind my burning question:

“Don’t waste your worship on some little god, squandering your birthright on idols made only the human imagination.  Guard your worship…and carefully evaluate all potential takers…Enjoying the things that God has made is not a sin, but when we elevate any of these to the highest place in our hearts, we’ve gone too far and cheated both God and ourselves.”

One last quote to ponder:

“Simply put: We become what we worship.  If you don’t like who you’re becoming, take a quick inventory of the things on the throne of your heart.  If you want to become more and more like Jesus, keep your worship focused squarely on Him.”

-Rich

He's seeking you

"He's seeking you so you can know just how amazing He is.
He's seeking you so you can know what you're created to do.
He's seeking you so you can find Him and value Him with all your heart.
He's seeking you because He's God...
     and He knows you can't live without Him.


That, my friend, explains a ton of stuff for us. 


For one, it explains why you worship and why you're good at it...and it explains why Jesus willingly came.  He came to connect us to God and awaken us to the possibility of centering our worship on who and what matters most...forever."


- Louie Giglio


posted by Rich

Hello mister knowledge, how do you do?

What is the purpose of life?  Don’t we all have to ask that question at some point.  And the reason we’re asking is because everything that has led us to that point simply isn’t good enough; it cannot explain the reason for our existence.

I’m going to sound like a know-it-all, but here’s the answer in one word:  WORSHIP.  And I think that’s why Louie wrote the book “The Air I Breathe,” so we could get it.  And that one word packs a big punch -- it can be endlessly explained.   And the fulfillment of this one-word answer won’t happen on this earth, it happens only when we’re in heaven face to face with the living God!

The one alternative way to understand the complete answer is in hell for those who do not know God.  They may be atheists or misguided deists in this life, but they won’t be after they die.  They’ll get it too and they’ll realize that they missed it.

I want to get it.  I want to feel it.  It’s like I used to feel it years ago when I was hungry, searching for something more.  We can’t usually identify the longing as worship, but we know our passions were made to give worth to something greater.  But without knowledge, that’s all we have is feelings.

Which is why knowledge is so important!  When we first learn more about God and begin to put a face to our worship, it’s the most amazing thing.  It’s like our emotionally longing heart says to our enlightened mind, “hello mister knowledge, how do you do,” and we begin to focus our feelings on the truth of a God who loves us so much that he sent his son Jesus to restore our broken relationship with Him.

And now, years later I get it.  I get the knowledge anyway, but now the feelings grow dim at times.  Sometimes it’s just like coals burning and God needs to stoke my fire so I can get more excited about Him.  A life of worship is constantly balancing mind and heart.

Yet one certain feeling remains:  I long for that day when I will see God fully and my worship will be complete.

- Rich

Living a God Life

Sometimes life doesn't seem fair. You get sick, you break your arm, the kids puke on the floor, or the dog thinks you look a lot like a fire hydrant. It just doesn't seem that there is any way that you can worhsip God through the mess of life.

Sometimes we feel close to God and sometimes we feel far from God, but our faith in God doesn't depend on how we feel, it is based on the truths found in His love letters to us, The Bible. He helps us in our down times and is a constant encouragement to us even when things are going well.

In our reading this week we learned about the statue to "TO AN UNKNOWN GOD", in Athans. Sometimes we treat our relationship with Jesus as if He was the statue "UNKNOWN". Worshiping our jobs, our family, our cars, houses, pets, our stuffed animals..etc. Take time, every day to talk to Jesus and desire His Word. Life is busy, it is also short, take time to live a God Life.

Billy G

Walk This Way..

Some may think that I am a man of few words and some of you are now picking yourselves off the floor from laughing....the rest are just deers in the headlights, but one thing is for sure I am a blog novice, so here goes:

What stood out to me in this weeks reading is that we are ALL created, by God, to worship. With the trip to MJ's concert and seeing the lauding, adoration, and yes worship that is seen of the faces of those who were in attendance. They are not aware that they are worshiping but they were, none the less, Worshiping him. In the absence of God to worship we will, by our nature, find something, or someone, to worship, money, sports teams, movie stars, music stars, or Sponge Bob Square Pants.

As we go about our day let us always be mindful about who, or what, we are to be worshiping. When we have decisions to make, let us call on the one who made us. When we decide paper or plastic, let it be done to the glory of God, not the glory of Al Gore. Let us not worship the created things, but the Creator.

I am not a good, do with out kind of guy, but may be the chief of sinners when it comes to wanting "things". I believe that God has brought me into this season of my life to show me how much can be done without having things.

Lord may I learn this or any other lesson that You have for me, so I do not have to journey this way again.... Amen!!

Billy G

Reading In The Waiting Room

As I reread the words of chapter one in “The Air I Breathe,” I can’t help but think back to the first time I opened this book.  It was four months ago and I was reading in the hospital waiting room while my 3-year old daughter was getting her tonsils out.  I was there with my wife, who at the time was very pregnant with our third child.  The gift of life is so precious.

It makes me wonder why God created humans in the first place.  After all, He existed before us and is complete without us.  Why create us at all?  The best answer we have is that He wanted to share his love with creation.

And He has given us the same heart.  We are, after all, created in His image.  Just like our heavenly Father delights in us, so can I, in my own little way, take pleasure in parenting three beautiful children.

The life He breathes into us is an amazing thing.

- Rich

What is worship?

How do we define worship? Is it simply playing songs we all know and love? Is it simply meeting on Sundays and raising our hands and then bowing our heads to pray? Of course, all of these are integral parts of worship, yet worship in and of itself is more than just Sunday morning meetings, it is a lifestyle. We have been called to worship, which means that we have been called to make a new commitment to Christ every day and to strive to shine His light through the darkness of this dying world.

Sean Hook

Why Define Worship

This is a repost.  It originally came from Bob Kauflin at http://www.worshipsource.com/articles/why-define-worship-worship-defined.


WHY DEFINE WORSHIP?

Why spend time defining worship? Is it really that big a deal? Isn’t it more important that we simply do it?

It’s hard for us to know whether or not we’re doing something if we’re not sure what that "something" is. If I define "eating" as simply looking at food, you wouldn’t enjoy coming over to my house to "eat." If "breathing" is something I only do when I get with a group of people on Sunday mornings, then how do I describe what I do the rest of the time?

I heard theologian David Peterson say that defining words is important because not only do we use words, but words use us. That’s true, even if we’re unaware of it. Once we assign meaning to a word, it both reflects and shapes our world view. That’s why conversations about evangelicalism, the emerging church, or even Christianity can be confusing. We have to agree on what those words actually MEAN.

"Worship" is another one of those words. When someone refers to worship, they can be talking about any number of things: a time of singing, a meeting, a style of music, a certain type of religious liturgy, a mystical experience, something in contrast to "praise," or a type of Christian band. Do any of these comments sound familiar?

"By the third song, I was really worshipping." [Who or what were you worshipping before the third song?]

"Worship gets me to the place where I don’t have to think about anything." [Worshipping God actually requires thinking very clearly about the Word, works, and worthiness of God.]

"Will there be worship at the meeting?" [Definitely. The question is of who or what.]

"With only 20 minutes, we really didn’t have time to worship." [As though we "warm up" to worship God, rather than seek to honor him with our every thought and action.]

"Fred is doing the worship this morning." [Hopefully, everyone else will join in.]
"I really love your worship." [This is a comment I sometimes get after leading God’s praise in song. I usually respond by saying, "I hope you worshipped too!"]

"Susie’s a real worshipper!" [This probably means that Susie is physically expressive when she sings songs of praise to God. Whether that means she’s a worshipper of God or not requires a little more information.]

Please don’t misunderstand these comments. I’m not encouraging anyone to become the "word police." There are few things more obnoxious than someone who misses your main point because they’re adjusting your use of a certain word (and my friends have told me more than once I’m that obnoxious person). However, thinking and speaking of worship more broadly and biblically will both clarify some of our discussions and, more importantly, contribute to consistently passionate and God-honoring actions in all of life.

written by Bob Kauflin / posted by Rich

Because Of Your Love

Jesus You endured my pain
Savior You bore all my shame
All because of Your love


Maker of the universe
Broken for the sins of the earth
All because of Your love


Because Of Your cross my debt is paid
Because of Your blood my sins are washed away
Now all of my life I freely give
Because of Your love
Because of Your love I live

song by Phil Whickham / posted by Rich

Surviving Tragedy

Texting is the in-thing. I resisted it for as long as I could, but I now find myself txtg my bff 4ever back 4rth all day. And last Saturday I received one of those texts you hope you’ll never get. 

  From Bethany : We got in an accident on 190…it was not my fault. Think we r all ok. Cops here.

I rushed away from my job to meet my wife and 3 little kids on the shoulder of the highway. Our minivan was completely smashed in the front. Thankfully everyone was ok aside from a few bumps and bruises and we got them safely home.

For the next 48 hours, every time I prayed with my kids we thanked God that everyone in our family was still alive and not hurt. It was such an emotional experience as I realized how close I was that day to losing my family.

Sometimes it takes a survived tragedy to realize how our lives are utterly and completely in God’s hands. In the end we have very little control of what happens to us. God not only creates us and redeems us to new life…each and every breath come from Him.

I’m naturally a very controlling person so it takes big things like this for me to realize that I’m not in control -- He is. Sunday’s message was about living according to God’s plan (not your own) in order to give Him all the glory. After this weekend I’m even more convinced that there is no other way but His. It is my desire that my life and my family bring glory to God, the one who has granted us life yet again!


- Rich

Not Leading Worship

It’s very rare, much more than I realized.  Today I did something that I haven’t done in over a year.  I went to church with my family.  And it's the best thing I could have done.

The reality is that every single week for longer than I can track, I've been leading worship on Sundays.  Every week I come early to church.  Every week I finalize details and rehearse before the service.  Every week I mentally gear up to give my all to the worship.  And every Sunday morning I don't get to be much of a dad.  Today was remarkably refreshing and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

It was the whole week’s experience, really.  Every other week I’m thinking about songs in my head, analyzing every little detail.  The musicians, the dynamics, the transitions, the length, the spiritual takeaway, tying it together with the whole service -- all of these things consume my thinking.  And this week I got to lay it all down.  And the world continued to spin on it’s access successfully without me!

The biggest takeaway for me was to relax.  Chill out.  Lay back.  And trust in God.  The words of Ecclesiates 2:22-23, as depressing as they are, ring true when “getting the job done” is deified as an end in itself.

What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

- Rich