As followers of Christ and Ministers of the Gospel, the King's aim to "seek first the Kingdom." They minister together in Knoxville, TN through their ministry, Middle Man Ministries. This blog contains their hopes, dreams, and daily struggles as they strive to encounter the Kingdom of God in ministry & daily life.
For Worship Wednesday today, I want to share my journal entry from yesterday:
Today as I was walking Toby, I was observing the trees and the sky. It looked and felt like winter. It was quiet, still, cold and a bit dreary. In the past, this kind of day would have really depressed me, and I would not have been able to find anything to be thankful for or any reason to praise the Creator of it all. However, today, I saw an odd beauty in the dull, gray day. I started thinking of Him, the Light of the World, and how He really shines on a day like today. Oh, the stark contrast! The God of love and light is with me on a cold, gray, lonely day. His presence can be felt and is magnified in the dark, dull and dim. I began to compose a poem in my head as I ended my walk. Here is that poem:
My Winter Prayer
On this quiet, gray winter day
Cold and cloudy, dull and dim
Set Your spark of light within me
Warm me with Your loving hand
Light Your flame of love inside me
Let the embers drift away
May they warm one cold and lonely
Waiting for a hopeful ray
In this season dark and dusky
Cold and weary, frozen through
Thaw our hearts and warm our souls
With sunshine, fire, and flame of You
Oh the joy of feeling His presence no matter what the climate in our life may look like right now! How wonderful to be able to set our hearts toward our God in worship in every season!
There is much that I would like to share on the blog, but I haven't really been able to get my thoughts together and make time for possibly lengthy blog posts. However, I do want to continue to share some thoughts and insights that come my way. So, for the next little while, I may be making a series of brief posts like this one.
I have begun to read the New Testament from the very beginning, and as I was reading in Matthew 8 today, I had a God moment. Being the second week of advent, we have been focusing on peace at church and in personal advent studies. My readings don't always relate to each other, but today God pieced things together so beautifully. He gave me a portrait of peace.
Matthew 8:23-24 from The Voice translation:
"And then Jesus got into a boat, and His disciples followed Him. Out of nowhere a vicious storm blew over the sea. Waves were lapping up over the boat, threatening to overtake it! Yet Jesus was asleep."
In this account, Jesus is the perfect portrait of peace. Of course he is asleep during a vicious storm...He is the Prince of Peace! When we follow Jesus, we are certainly sure to come across some vicious storms ourselves, but we can allow Jesus to be our peace and then we too can rest in the middle of chaos and crisis. So, in this second week of advent, I celebrate the Prince of Peace and ask Him to be my peace today and always.
There are many many new things going on in the King Family. I have neglected the blog for so long that I am afraid I won’t be able to share all the details, but I do want to share the basics of all that God has been doing in our lives these last several months. He has turned our lives upside down and we wouldn't have it any other way!
I feel like the real breakthrough started in July when I wrote the poem, “The Way” that I shared on the blog. That poem was my commitment to follow wherever the Lord was leading and submit to Him fully, surrendering all my dreams, all my plans, and all my ways. After writing that poem, God lead us to leave the church where we were ministering. We had no clear direction as to where to go next, we just heard Him clearly say that it was time to move on. So, we took a step of faith and walked away from our ministry there and the salary that went along with it. We immediately entered into the most difficult financial struggle of our lives, but there was a peace in my heart about the decision we had made. We were trusting the Lord to do something! As difficult as it was to hold onto Him, we knew that He was all that we had to hold onto!
Then, in the midst of this struggle, we received some news that turned our world completely upside down. On August 16th, I found out that I was pregnant! After 4 years of praying for and trying to conceive a child, we had given up hope, and here in the midst of financial crisis, God chose to send that child to us. We were in complete shock! Then, after the feelings of shock came an unbelievable joy! We could not understand God’s timing in all of this, but we were so grateful for the gift that He had given us…the chance to enter into a new ministry called parenthood.
A month passed and we continued praying and trusting the Lord, though it was not easy. We visited a few different churches and had the opportunity to minister in a few other churches. We worked on organizing our ministry, Middle Man Ministries, and the Lord gave us new goals and ideas. We planned, prepared and executed the annual Praise 96.3 Youth Conference once again, and began to discuss the success of the event over the years and whether we should continue it or not. Then, the Monday after the conference, my dear husband gets a call from a church whose youth had attended the conference. They had heard that He was currently between churches and wanted to interview him for a position working with their students. We had felt like the Lord was leading us into a time away from church ministry to be refreshed and renewed, so we were not pursuing any church positions at the time. However, we also feel that we should never turn down an opportunity to meet and talk with people who contact us about ministry. So, we made plans to meet with the committee that Wednesday and talk with them.
Wednesday came, and we drove out to the church. We met the pastor and the youth committee and talked with them for over an hour. We could feel the genuine love and concern that they had for the young people. We could hear in their voices that they wanted something more for their youth, something solid! Everything they wanted seemed to line up with our passion to see the lives of students changed and to see them experience real spiritual growth and development. We began to feel drawn to the church and its people. Then, Thursday morning, the committee called and offered us the position with a generous salary. We wanted to visit for a few weeks before making a decision, but by the second week, we couldn't hold out any longer. We knew that this was a God ordained opportunity and we began to have a vision for the ministry. So, we accepted the position and we haven’t looked back.
In the 2 months that we have been there, Grace Baptist Church already feels like home. The people feel like family to us, and we feel greatly blessed to have found a place to worship and to serve in community with other believers! I don’t know how long God will allow us to stay at Grace, but I can tell you that I have never felt more welcomed and loved by a church family. I can tell you that unless God has other plans, we intend to raise our family at Grace and watch many many youth grow into adulthood, loving and serving God!
We have been so blessed these last few months. Even though we are still in the midst of a financial struggle, God has proven that He is faithful and trustworthy if we will just submit to Him. He has provided for us financially, He has given us a loving and supportive community to worship and serve with, and He has blessed us with the child that we had prayed for all these years.
As we say at Grace every Sunday morning, God is good…all the time, and all the time…God is good! We look forward to what God is going to do in our ministry and in our family!
I wonder if there is a Prayer Warrior like Mosses out there???
11 And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’ 13 “Furthermore the Lord spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed they are a stiff-necked people. 14 Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ 15 “So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God—had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. 17 Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18 And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was angry with you, to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me at that time also. 20 And the Lord was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain. 22 “Also at Taberah and Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. 23 Likewise, when the Lord sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and you did not believe Him nor obey His voice. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you. 25 “Thus I prostrated myself before the Lord; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the Lord had said He would destroy you. 26 Therefore I prayed to the Lord, and said: ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin, 28 lest the land from which You brought us should say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.” 29 Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’ Deuteronomy 9:11-29 (NKJV)
Moses interceded for his people even after God promised him in verse 14 "Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’" Moses pleaded with God to preserve his people time and time again. After they sinned, Moses was there begging God for another chance. We know that God did grant Moses' request and his people did take the promised land and out of this lineage came a Savior called Jesus Christ. My plea with you today is that you will NOT give up on your loved ones and friends who have gone astray. Moses was a MIGHTY PRAYER WARRIOR who refused to stop praying for his people, and his request was granted. Will you be a MIGHTY PRAYER WARRIOR for this perverse and corrupt generation?
Well, here we are in 2012 and so far removed from the US Civil Rights Era, however racial and ethnic discrimination still exists. When we think about discrimination, prejudice and bigotry we may contain our thoughts to modern times. However, this was a Biblical issue as well. Read with me a passage in Matthew.
As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.
Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees sawit, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Matthew 9:9-13 (NKJV)
We see that Jesus did not only NOT discriminate against the "different people" he would fellowship with them. I hear of churches across the country rejecting people as "Members" because... well a number of excuses... I mean reasons. The truth is when people aren't just like us that makes us uncomfortable and we choose one of three options. 1) Get over ourselves and show the love that God showed us, because when were still sinners He allowed His Son to die so we could be perfect in Him. This option, simply put, is to love the people where they are. 2) Ignore them and they will go away. 3) Tell them that they are not welcomed or not welcomed until they conform to your ideology. The shame is that many churches have selected one of the latter two. We want the Cookie Cutter Christians, the slicked down, three piece suit wearing, King Jame Version Bible holding Christian. The "RELIGIOUS LEADERS" of that day could not understand why Jesus would associate with the "SCUM OF THE EARTH" Well, here is my question to the Pharisees of today... Do you send a six year old child to a college classroom or do you start them in Kindergarten so they can grow in wisdom and knowledge gradually to the desired level? We need to love people where they are without prejudice while at the same time, in love, teaching them what is acceptable for your church. Every church has different expectations, doctrines and traditions, but someone who is unfamiliar should not be made to feel uncomfortable on their first visit. The church should openly receive everyone regardless of who they are, what they wear, or who they used to be. Christianity is a constant process of growing in Christ. I'm not what I was, nor what I'm going to be in Christ. I hope that your church and you as an individual will embrace this openness to THE WORLD and not condemn. To rephrase Jesus' question, Is it not the homeless, the home owner, the employed and unemployed, the Muslim, the Atheist, the Christian, & the Terrorist, the white, the black, the Hispanic, the Chinese, and even the CHIEF OF SINNERS, who Jesus came to save. FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD is the answer to that. We may call them sick, but that is exactly who the Great Physician came for. I want to challenge you that if someone stumbles into your worship service this week that doesn't look like they belong there, shake their hand and invite them to sit next to you. God surely loves and accepts that person after he even accepts you... doesn't he?
Have you ever been in a place where you needed something and every thing you tried seemed not to work? I think it is safe to say that we've all been there at one time or another... perhaps we're even there now. We can worry over a situation, stress out over examining options, and even get to a place where we have decided for ourselves what the right thing to do is and tell God the solutions that we've come up with. But look at what today's passage has to say about this.
When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.”And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them. Luke 9:12-17 (NKJV)
It was getting late in the day and the disciples showed good intentions by wanting to see that needs were met however their problem was they were trying to solve the problem on their own and in their own understanding. They first approached Jesus with the idea just to release the people to fend for themselves but Jesus charged them to feed the multitude. Again using their own solutions they explained to Jesus that they had a limited supply and they told Jesus that they must go buy meat. As the story continues Jesus blesses what they already had and there were leftovers.
I don't know what type of food you need... physical food, financial food, relational food, of even spiritual food, but what I do know is that if we would stop trying to tell God what to do we might just find ourselves with more than we need!
I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. Psalms 37:25 (NKJV).
For the sake of argument let's say that I need $200 for a bill, and I pray for that $200... if it's God's will I will receive the $200. All my life I have been told that God already knows what I need. Let's imagine now that rather than praying for the $200 I simply say, "God I am in need. Will you bless what I have so it will be sufficient?" I believe as small as the fish and bread may appear to man, if God blesses it, then the very thing that we had to begin with will be more than enough. That $200 that I needed might turn into $500. We tend to limit God by asking for a limited amount or by trying to solve the problem ourselves. You may be praying for just enough while God wants to give you what you need plus leftovers. I want to encourage you first, not to limit God and second & most importantly, rather than worrying over a situation, stressing out over it, examining options, and even getting to that place where we have decided what is right, allow God to bless what you have and go BEYOND MEETING THE NEEDS in your life.
You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You. “You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram, And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name Abraham; You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give the land of the Canaanites, The Hittites, the Amorites, The Perizzites, the Jebusites, And the Girgashites To give it to his descendants. You have performed Your words, For You are righteous. “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea. You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants, And against all the people of his land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day. And You divided the sea before them, So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; And their persecutors You threw into the deep, As a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel. “You came down also on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant. You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, And told them to go in to possess the land Which You had sworn to give them. Nehemiah 9:6-15 (NKJV)
It seems like we just go from one problem to another as we travel through life. As we look forward it can be real easy to be discouraged and depressed over life situations. Life can be so overwhelming many times that it leaves us hopeless. Tomorrow is uncertain, that much we know, but at the same time we know yesterday is history. This passage in Nehemiah recounts times where God had provided and protected His people. The people were about to sign a document that symbolized a new covenant with God. As they were looking forward to this covenant they looked back with praise. They were reminded where God had brought them from and I believe that this must have brought comfort and boldness for the future. Look back in your life at those time where you have to acknowledge that God showed up for you... If he was there then, our unchanging God will be there tomorrow. I would like to warn you that looking at the past gives us an opportunity to keep things the way they used to be in the "good old days". This is NOT what I am encouraging. We need to look back with praise so we can look forward with boldness. Remembering what God has done for us in uncertain times will give us strength and boldness for the uncertain times to come. God has instructed us not to worry, but this is a hard concept to follow through on. I want to encourage you to make this phrase your statement of faith... I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I do know who holds tomorrow.
In a day and age when the average adult attention span is twenty minutes, air condition is a requirement, and media, TV and internet give us instant access to entertainment, church can be boring and uncomfortable. I don't believe it is because God is asking too much of us, but I think it is the fact that we have become a soft generation. Our great grandparents can tell us of church meetings that lasted for hours without air conditioning, media presentations and the only instrument was a piano... So why do we complain for one Sunday that the air conditioning is broken? Why do we tell the visiting preacher that we must be out by noon? Why do we tell the worship leader that the music must conform to our idea of worship? Today's passage will give us a glimpse of what I believe is uncomfortable worship.
"Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads.Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one–fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God. And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: “Stand upandbless theLordyour God Forever and ever! “Blessed be Your glorious name, Which is exalted above all blessing and praise! You alonearetheLord; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You." Nehemiah 9:1-6 (NKJV)
To think that they would endure around 3 hours of scripture reading and another 3 hours in prayer, confession and worship... If you continue reading in the ninth chapter of Nehemiah, they begin reminding the people each thing that God had done for them. Worship was not something that they had to do it was a choice that they made. Time and time again they were caught in sin and God's grace was there. They realized that God had delivered them and they wanted to make a covenant with God. This passage is leading up to the signing of this document or covenant. Today in our "soft generation" we cannot conceive a 6 hour worship service... But here is the question... Why do we think that worship should be comfortable? Jesus said, "if any man should follow me he must pick up his cross." The cross in the most horrifying and gruesome death ever recorded in history... far from comfortable. If God can allow His only Son to die, if Jesus can accept that death for us why can't we be uncomfortable in worship for an hour and a half.
My little nephew gets bored with a toy very easily. He will play with one for a few minutes then move on to another toy, but he will sit down for hours to draw one picture. He will discipline himself to complete the picture because he enjoys drawing. OK, lets bring it to an adult level. The ball game is still not over and they are in their second overtime... do you leave??? I sure wouldn't. Then when it comes to the pastor going over ten minutes, well that is the entire conversation over lunch. If it is something that we enjoy, man the time flies, but when it come to church we watch the clock. God has done so much for us and I hope that I will grow out of this "soft generation" and become a "Hard Core Christian" ready to read scriptures for three hours then begin to worship for three more hours regardless of the air conditioning. Let us be true worshipers this week and if the worship leader say lets sing it one more time... let us say praise God and if the preacher apologizes for going over... let us say preach on!!!
God give us a hunger for your word and a desire to worship in a manner worthy of your glory.
One of the statements I remember made by
my Old Testament professor in college was made on the first day
of class. He said,“You young people think you are going to come here and learn the
Bible so you can defend the Bible… well let me tell you that God’s word was
here long before you and will remain long after you and God does not need you
to defend him."
Now please don’t take this out of his context. He went on to
instruct us on how to argue the case for Christ and defend our beliefs, but his
point was not to have an attitude that God needs me to defend him. Today's passage supports that very claim.
Then Saul, still breathing
threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priestand
asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any
who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to
Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near
Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.Then
he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him,“Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Then the Lord said,“I am Jesus, whom you
are persecuting.Itishard for you to kick
against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do
You want me to do?” Then the Lordsaidto him,“Arise and go into
the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who
journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.Then
Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But
they led him by the hand and broughthiminto Damascus.And
he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Acts 8:1-9 (NKJV)
Saul was notorious for his persecution
of Christ followers . He consented to the stoning of Stephen, and as this passage points out, he was threatening and murdering those who would
follow Christ. Rather than sending a man to deal with this God-sized problem, God revealed
himself to Saul. The rest of Saul’s story has him changing his name to Paul and
becoming one of the greatest church leaders in history. God defended himself
and the Christians of the day by having a personal encounter with Saul. I think
that when we face opposition we focus WAY TOO MUCH on how “WE” can fix or fight
the issues. The truth is that if we step aside and allow God to move rather
than trying to figure it out ourselves we may find that today’s strongest
adversary will become tomorrow’s mightiest ally. There is just one thing we have to do... it's a simple
concept with a hard follow through… pray for our enemies. God used David to
fight Goliath, but he dealt with Saul personally. So we see that there are seasons where we
are called to fight, but we are to jump in with our holy battle gear. I want to
encourage you to pray about each situation and allow God to direct you in your
actions. God is smarter, stronger, and better equipped for the victory, so step
aside and allow him to defend his people. I will close with a quote from JAG a
TV series from the 90’s, “Why should I fight a battle that a two star Admiral
is willing to fight for me.” This Hollywood concept is better illustrated in 2
Chronicles 20:17 (NKJV):
“You will notneed to fight in thisbattle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation
of theLord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not
fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for theLordis with you.”
In this account God set one
enemy of Israel against two other enemies of Israel. They fought each other and there were no survivors nor anyone left to fight. God delivered His people and can
deliver you. “If God be for us who can be against us.” Romans 8:31 (NKJV)
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?” Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.”
The part of this story that grabs my attention the most isn’t the miracle itself, but rather the assumption that the disciples made. “Who sinned?” they asked. The assumption was that sin was the cause of affliction. Now, I will acknowledge that if we operate out of the will of God he will correct us, and just as the actions of discipline our parents took when we were children, it will not always feel good. But as we lay this truth of God’s wrath, judgment, and correction aside let us look as the other side of the coin, according to Job 1:1 speaking of Job, “and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.” If he was blameless why did he suffer? What about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego? They were faithful yet still had to walk in the flames. Just because we are facing a difficult time does not mean the God is mad at us. Job was tested and received a multitude of blessings in return. After the fire, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego witnessed a decree issued by Nebuchadnezzar.
“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.”
Look back at verse John 9:3 “Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” If you asked the blind man a week before he met Jesus if he felt being blind was a blessing he might have said, “I can hardly feed myself or get my clothes out each day, and I can’t work. No, this is not a blessing!!!" If you asked him a week after meeting Jesus he might say, "Being blind was a blessing for I was allowed to see the power of God through His Son." In the book of James, we find that we are to count it a joy when trials come… I believe part of this joy is simply realizing that God can be revealed to others through our lives. I pray that we as Christian would have the spiritual discipline to accept being blind, hungry, hurt, or in pain for a season so that God can reveal himself not only to us and for our benefit, but also to the Nebuchadnezzars in our lives. Be encouraged with this thought… The trial I am facing may be so God can do a miracle in or through my life. OH, TO BE USED BY GOD FOR HIS GLORY WHAT A TESTIMONY THAT WOULD BE!!!
On Friday, I talked about how powerful my personal prayers have been in deepening my relationship with God and opening the door for Him to do a healing work in me, both physically and spiritually. Today, I want to talk about the power of worship in my life.
Worship is something we give to God in response to who He is and all He has done for us, but sometimes we have to offer our worship to Him sacrificially. Sometimes, there may seem to be no evidence of His goodness, faithfulness, and love towards us. Sometimes we can not see His hand at work in our lives. Sometimes we must simply worship Him not for what He has done for us, but because we believe that He is who He says He is. This sacrificial worship moves us closer to God and opens our eyes to His character and His work in our lives.
For two and half years, I was in a really dark place. Depression and anxiety were my constant companions, and I couldn't see any point to this life. It all felt so futile. I was working so hard towards nothing. My life felt so empty and I could not see any of the blessings around me. Satan had trapped my mind in a very ugly place. I did not want to be the way I was. I wanted to break out of it and feel the joy of salvation again. I had tried therapy and different medications, but I just could not break out of the depression... But one day, I decided to start reading through the Psalms, and that turned everything around for me!
Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes. My body and soul are withering away. 10 I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness. Sin has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within. 11 I am scorned by all my enemies and despised by my neighbors— even my friends are afraid to come near me. When they see me on the street, they run the other way. 12 I am ignored as if I were dead, as if I were a broken pot. 13 I have heard the many rumors about me, and I am surrounded by terror. My enemies conspire against me, plotting to take my life. 14 But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!” 15 My future is in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly. 16 Let your favor shine on your servant. In your unfailing love, rescue me. 17 Don’t let me be disgraced, O Lord, for I call out to you for help. Let the wicked be disgraced; let them lie silent in the grave. 18 Silence their lying lips— those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the godly. 19 How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. 20 You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues. 21 Praise the Lord, for he has shown me the wonders of his unfailing love. He kept me safe when my city was under attack. 22 In panic I cried out, “I am cut off from the Lord!” But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help. 23 Love the Lord, all you godly ones! For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him, but he harshly punishes the arrogant. 24 So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!
Psalm 31:9-24 NLT
I identified with David and his distress. I understood his desperation, and I learned from him that the best remedy for a broken spirit is praise!! You will see it all throughout the Psalms: David cries out in distress and he asks the Lord why He is far away, but He always comes back to God's goodness and faithfulness. He always believes in God's unchanging character, and that is what pulls him through.
Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! 8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” 9 Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation! 10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. 11 Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. 12 Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence. 13 Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.
Psalm 27: 9-13 NLT
Worship is not only music to God's ears, it soothes our hearts...it is a balm for our souls. It convinces us of God's character, His goodness, His faithfulness, His love! When I began to declare that God was good and faithful, I began to see His goodness and faithfulness in my life, and my depression and anxiety began to disappear.
The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? 2 When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.
Psalm 27: 1-3 NLT
His light replaced the darkness that had overtaken my spirit, and I became confident in Him and my identity in Him! When I began to worship, Satan could no longer have a stronghold in my mind.
So, you see, personal worship is very powerful! Even if your time of corporate worship at church is stale and contrived, you can worship the Lord in your private moments with Him. You can worship Him where you work. You can praise Him when you rise up in the morning and when you lay in your bed at night! It is powerful to praise Him! Praising Him is about more than just music and songs, it's about having an attitude of gratitude and declaring the goodness of the Lord everyday. Read the Psalms, read the rest of His Word, lift your hands and sing, and get on your knees before Him! When you become determined to worship Him, you will never be the same!
Here is a song based on Psalm 34 that I just can't stop singing. May we bless the Lord at all times! May His praise continually be on our lips!
In the past, I have talked about feeling ministry burn out. It is a terribly common condition in life and ministry. It leaves you feeling completely zapped of strength and steals your joy. I have been there and Mr. The King has been there as well. Today, I want to talk about how to avoid ministry burn out and how to keep the faith in the most dire situations.
Let's talk a little bit about a campfire. Camping is one of our favorite pastimes, and sitting around the campfire is the best part of a campout. As the fire burns, there develops in the very heart of the fire hot, glowing embers. Should the flames of the fire go out, these embers can easily reignite the fire. All you have to do is blow really hard directly on the embers and the flames will shot up once again. Most of the time, campers will gently cover up the last embers of their evening fire to protect those hot coals from going out completely. In the morning, they will stir up the embers and blow on them to help start the morning campfire. This process is much easier than starting a fire from scratch because there is still a spark ready to ignite into flame.
Embers can glow very hot, sometimes as hot as the fire which created them. They radiate a substantial amount of heat long after the fire has been extinguished, and if not taken care of properly can rekindle a fire that is thought to be completely extinguished and can pose a fire hazard...They are often used for cooking, such as in charcoal barbecues. This is because embers radiate a more constant form of heat, as opposed to an open fire which is constantly changing along with the heat it radiates.
Wow! What an image for us! Our passion for life and ministry may wane and circumstances may put our fire out, but if we stay rooted and grounded in Christ, relying on Him for our strength, then we can burn like the embers! We can radiate heat even when the flame of our passion is gone.
Here's another thing that wikipedia tells us about embers...
Embers play a large role in forest fires. Since embers are typically burnt leaves and thus small and light, they can be blown away by the wind. During a large fire, with the right wind conditions, embers can be blown far ahead of the fire front, starting spot fires hundreds of metres away.
Oh that our faith and our walk with the Lord would be like these embers...that we would spread the fire of God to others! Our ministry has the potential to reach far more people than we could ever imagine if we are ignited by the flame of the Holy Spirit and trusting Him to sustain us. He will send the embers of His flame ahead of us and prepare hearts and minds to receive the message that He has given us!
The greatest message here, is that we must keep the embers of our faith glowing with heat. If we keep in contact with the Holy Spirit, the source of our strength and the source of our flame, then despite our circumstance, we will not burn out. We must pray, we must read the Word, and we must worship. We must listen for the voice of the Father everyday in order to keep our fire from going out completely. If we are consistent with our relationship with Him, then we will always have those embers of faith and trust glowing brightly within our heart, even when we have no flame of passion left. When ministry drains you and the storms of life come, those embers will keep your faith alive and keep your ministry from becoming ineffective.
Jeremiah said:
But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!
Jeremiah 20:9 NLT
Despite all the rejection and ridicule that Jeremiah suffered, the Lord sustained him by His Word and kept the fire alive in him. It was a fire that he could not contain!
The men on the road to Emmaus said this after realizing that they had been walking and talking with Jesus:
“Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
Luke 24:32 NLT
The same will happen to us as we walk and talk with the Lord. As we continue to walk and talk with Him daily, that fire will be kept alive in our hearts. The Holy Spirit will open the scriptures to us and sustain us by the Word of God and WEWILL NOT BURN OUT!! Praise the Lord! We will burn like embers with constant heat and sparks that catch the hearts of others on fire for God.
Because I love Zion, I will not keep still. Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.
Isaiah 62:1 NLT
In our lives and in our ministries, may we be like Isaiah here...constantly praying that others will catch the fire and begin to spread the embers!!
I have come to realize over the past few months that nothing has influenced my spiritual and physical healing more than prayer. Not the prayers of others for me (although those can be powerful and have been very much appreciated), but my own personal prayers. God honors our crying out. He honors us when we fall before Him and believe that He is our only hope and our only help in times of trouble. He doesn't want to be just one of our options...He wants to be our only option. I have learned that God moves mightily in our lives when we make Him our only option...our first choice.
In my morning devotion, I read these statements by Joyce Meyer...
"We struggle with situations in our minds and in our emotions, while we often fail to take advantage of the simplest solution there is: prayer. But worse than that, we then make perhaps the most ridiculous statement known to man: "Well, I guess all I can do is pray." I am sure you have heard that before and maybe you have even said it. We all have. We are all guilty of treating prayer as a last-ditch effort and saying things like, "Well, nothing else is working, so maybe we should pray." Do you know what that tells me? It tells me that we really do not believe in the power of prayer as we should. We carry burdens we do not need to bear - and life is much harder than it has to be - because we do not realize how powerful prayer is."
Oh, how true that is! "All I can do is pray"...wow! I have learned that praying is the greatest and best thing that I can do in any situation! If I could only tell you all of the ways God has answered prayers for me over the last few months...both spoken and silent heart prayers! I am truly amazed at His faithfulness!
On this Feeling Fabulous Friday, I want to remind you that God's power is activated by prayer...so make prayer your first priority! You will not regret it!
"O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water."
Psalm 63:1 (NLT)
"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."
James 5:16 (NLT)
"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."
Last week on Ministry Monday, I shared a little bit about the changes coming in our ministry, Middle Man Ministries, and I shared about the huge step of faith we are taking, especially where finances are concerned. We have been praying and working hard since then to make sure that we are on the path that the Lord would have us go down with our ministry. We have almost finished making changes to our website that reflect our new vision and calling. Things have really been coming together and the Lord has confirmed our decision in so many ways...so, I should have seen the attack coming!
This weekend was rough. A couple of things happened that just really tried to knock the wind out of our sails, and I admit that I really let it get to me. However, in the midst of all the uncertainty and lack, God did speak and give a little glimmer of hope. After having a pretty bad morning and worrying a lot, as usual, I remembered this small glimpse of God this weekend...so here is the story:
Sunday was our 6th Wedding Anniversary, and although we have been struggling financially, Mr. The King wanted to take me to one of my favorite places to eat, Panera Bread. As we sat there eating lunch, I felt such despair in my spirit. The thought of the money that we had spent for lunch and all of our financial needs and uncertainty just began to weigh on me. Then as I lifted my gaze and stared out the window, I saw something amazing. Where there was once people gathered around the patio tables enjoying their Sunday afternoon meal, there was now a host of little birds pecking away at crumbs on the table tops and on the ground below. I watched thoughtfully as the birds patiently gathered all the little crumbs they could find, and then a few minutes later a little girl emerged with a baguette in her hand. She began to pinch off chunks of the bread and toss them to the birds. At that moment, I received the message loud and clear:
Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:26-27, 31-33 NLT
As, I was trying to calm my heart today, I remembered that experience and those scriptures. The Lord also brought to my mind today a discovery that we made about a month ago. In a watering can on our front porch a mother bird made a nest, and her little baby found comfort and rest there. That mother bird didn't worry! She took what God had put in front of her, and with His help, she used what she had to make a home for her little baby.
So, I have taken my lessons from the birds today, and I am ready to follow the Lord in life and ministry where ever He leads, and leave the worrying and fear behind. I'm not saying that I have left the worry wagon...worry is unfortunately still a big struggle for me, even at this very moment...but I am going to keep looking back at these little birds and looking straight ahead at the path that God has put before me. I am going to be brave! I am going to move forward and settle my heart on Him!
This song has been very comforting today as well...
A couple of weeks ago, I was given a wonderful opportunity. Praise 96.3 FM, the local radio station that Mr. The King works for, gave me the opportunity to host a Praise and Worship Program on Saturday evenings called, A Call to Worship. I get to lead a radio audience in worship for the duration of this hour long program. I play worship music and offer insights regarding worship. I tell the story behind a worship song in the segment called, Behind the Song, and I dive into the word to look at the scriptural basis for certain worship songs in the segment called, Worship and the Word. This is such an exciting opportunity for me and for the last two weeks, I have been enjoying every minute of it. It has become a great time of personal worship for me as well.
Today, I want to share a song, some scripture, and some thoughts that God has given me for the Worship and the Word segment of the program coming up this week.
There is a verse from the Psalms that I have remembered since childhood. This verse has always been easy for me to recall and has been one of my favorites...
O taste and see that the Lord is good...
That is the part of Psalm 34:8 that I always remembered and quoted. As a child, I am not sure why I was drawn to this verse. After all, I didn't really understand what it meant. Taste the Lord? What was that supposed to mean, I often thought. Yet still, I was drawn to the verse, and maybe that was because I truly wanted to believe in a good God.
When I was in college and interning in the children's music department at a church in my hometown, Psalm 34:8 came to the forefront of my mind once again. At that time, all of the staff at the church had been given bricks to decorate in some way. I don't remember the reason why we were given the bricks, or what they were supposed to symbolize, but I know that it was a project that I enjoyed and threw myself into. I decorated my brick with none other than Psalm 34:8, and to this day, that brick reminds me that the Lord is good!
I guess you could say that my brick symbolizes the foundational truth that the Lord is good. When I decorated the brick with that verse, I was just beginning to taste and see the goodness of the Lord. I was just beginning to come into that foundational knowledge. I had no idea at the time that years later, I would hunger to taste more and more of that goodness and that I would be changed so drastically just by living out Psalm 34:8 and the verses and chapters surrounding it.
Let's taste and see the goodness of the Lord right now by looking at more scripture from the Psalms:
Psalm 30:11-12
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!
Psalm 34:1-10
I will praise the Lord at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
I will boast only in the Lord;
let all who are helpless take heart.
Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
let us exalt his name together.
I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
he saved me from all my troubles.
For the angel of the Lord is a guard;
he surrounds and defends all who fear him.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Fear the Lord, you his godly people,
for those who fear him will have all they need.
Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.
Believing and living those verses has, at times, been a real struggle, but it has also been an act of sacrificial worship that has changed my heart and freed me...and given me joy. He truly is a good good God...all of the time! He hears us, He takes care of us, and He fills our deepest hunger with good things. We can expect to be satisfied in Him and only in Him!
It wasn't very long ago that I was made aware of this song by Brian and Jenn Johnson that is based on the verses that we have just looked at. I love to sing this song, it really aligns my heart into a place of joyful worship, and if you are anything like me, you will get it stuck in your head and find yourself singing it to the Lord all day.
As I have mentioned before, Mr. The King and I are going through a time of refining and redefining our ministries. God has prompted us clearly to make some changes and take some steps that are both scary and exciting. We have made a commitment to follow Him no matter what, and so we are beginning a new journey. This journey... this new path... has us stepping outside of the confines of a single church for the time being and sharing our hearts and God's message in a variety of different formats.
What once was our christian events planning company and the platform on which Mr. The King helped support and propel the ministries of local and regional Southern Gospel Artists, has been completely redefined and realigned with the revelation of God's calling on us at this time. Middle Man Ministries is changing and growing to become a resource for the continued spiritual growth and development of people from all generations and all backgrounds. Our heart and our passion is for people to be truly changed by God and to grow into a deeper relationship with Him. God has put it on our hearts to write several books and Bible study materials, which we are just beginning to work on. He has also given us a desire to see individuals and entire churches become true worshipers of Him, and thus we are accepting requests to minister and share in word and song at various churches and events. The Lord has already sent us several opportunities to share our hearts and His heart with people in our area. We will be continuing to work with Praise 96.3 and their annual Youth Conference, as well as ministering on the radio through various broadcasts (more in-depth about these later).
One of the big changes that we have made is the decision for me to make Middle Man Ministries my full-time occupation. I will not be working another job. We are trusting the Lord to provide for our financial needs. This is such a huge step for both of us, but especially for me, as I have been accustomed to going out and finding some sort of job to work when we are in need of more income. At this point, God has made it clear to me that I am to step out of the driver's seat in my life and stop trying to put my own plan into action whenever I see lack in our finances. He has shown me that I am to follow Him and be about His business in the way that Jesus did, leaving the provision up to Him. We know that this will not make sense to most people, and we have already been bombarded with some of the inevitable questions...
"What are you going to do?" and "How are you going to make it?"
Our answer is simply this...We are going to trust God and be faithful and obedient to His calling. That is why we have redefined Middle Man Ministries...He is calling us and we must be obedient. If He tells us tomorrow that we need to go another direction, we want to hear that and be obedient. If He tells us to sell everything and go somewhere crazy, we want to be willing and faithful to do His work in His way. That is certainly tough to live out, and honestly, we still struggle a lot with it. However, we know that He is worthy of our absolute devotion, and we know that He loves us and will take care of us!
Please pray for us as we continue to define our ministry and take the steps that the Lord has revealed to us. Pray that we will trust Him fully and that He will be able to use us to further His Kingdom and lead people into a deeper relationship with Him and a greater knowledge of who He is.
As we learn more and make the changes that He has guided us to make, we will be sharing more in-depth with you. You can keep in touch with us here or on Facebook and Twitter, as well as our website (which is just beginning to be updated).
I will leave you with these verses from Ephesians today, as they sum up the passion and goal of the newly defined Middle Man Ministries:
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
Today, I want to praise the Lord, my vision, for He brings sight to my eyes and brings His will into focus in my life.
Worship trains our hearts to see God, to see Him at work in the world around us and in our own lives. So often we are wearing the blinders of the world, and we can not see all the ways He protects us and cares for us. He loves us so much and wants us to see with His eyes, His vision.
My child, pay attention to what I say.
Listen carefully to my words.
Don’t lose sight of them.
Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
for they bring life to those who find them,
and healing to their whole body.
Look straight ahead,
and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
Proverbs 4:20-22,25 NLT
When we worship the Lord in song and proclaim His Word and His promises over our lives, our vision is retrained. We see less of this world and our problems and more of our loving Father! His Words penetrate our heart and we begin to see with His eyes.
Two of my most favorite hymns talk about making Christ our vision, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus & Be Thou My Vision.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
Today, I ask the Lord again to be my vision, to keep my focus on Him, and to penetrate my heart deeply with His love and purpose for me. Sing these familiar words with me and let's worship the Lord, our vision!
I am sure that for each and every one of us, there will be times in our lives when God calls us to head in a different direction. The closer we draw to God, the more sensitive we will be to that calling. It has long been my desire to be obedient to that calling when it comes.
As for me and my house, we have recently come upon one of those crossroads, and I am extremely thankful for the clear voice of God during this time. For many many weeks, I cried out to God for clear direction concerning the future of our lives and ministries. I began to wonder if He would ever answer, but in the past 6 weeks, He has shone Himself to be a faithful, loving and patient Shepherd to us. In His perfect timing, He sent us His answer. Through scriptures, songs and the words of friends and mentors, God confirmed to us that He has a new direction for our lives.
Yesterday, Sunday, July 29, 2012 was our last day serving at the inner city church where we have ministered for the past year and a half. We have grown and learned so much from the experiences we had during our time there. We have sown our seed, and we pray that in the future it will bring forth a bountiful harvest.
As for our new direction, it is exciting, and it is scary at the same time. God asks for our unwavering commitment to Him and His will, no matter what it may cost us. So, we are learning to trust Him more and more and give ourselves over completely to His plan, no matter how crazy it may seem and how unworthy we are to be a part of it. In the weeks to come, we will be sharing more details about God's unraveling plan in our lives right now. We will tell you about the big steps we are taking in our ministry, Middle Man Ministries, and we will share how God is blessing and proving His faithfulness to us.
Right now, I just want to encourage you to listen to God's voice and to be sensitive to His calling. What would our world look like today if we were all willing to take big risks for God?!!
Let us continue to pray these words and mean them with all our heart...
This may not the typical Fabulous Friday Happy Song, but I just had to share this brand new song by Brandon Heath today. Let me tell you why it makes me happy...
This song talks about the unexplained things that happen in our lives, the things that we don't understand. The song says that those things are Jesus in disguise. What a true and lovely concept! He pursues us subtly. He works in mysterious ways in our life. He draws us to Himself through the strangest things sometimes. We can not explain God, He is beyond our understanding and His works are beyond our understanding. He really wouldn't be God if He wasn't mysterious, inexplicable, and completely beyond us!! So, this song is certainly something to be happy about, plus it is quite a catchy tune!
Truly, O God of Israel, our Savior, you work in mysterious ways. Isaiah 45:15 NLT
I have to admit that all of the Worship Wednesday posts on this blog have dealt mostly with our private, personal worship of God. There is a reason for that...I struggle with corporate worship! I know; it's a strange confession for a worship leader to make, but I have to be absolutely honest here...sometimes corporate worship disgusts me! Sometimes corporate worship makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. I've just seen so much self-focused worship in the church, and even I have been guilty of it at times. If you have ever sat in a worship service and said, "I am getting nothing out of this," then you have been guilty too. I've realized that in order for us to have a right heart towards corporate worship, we must be lifting our hearts in worship privately and we must be in tune with the Holy Spirit...walking by the Spirit daily.
A.W. Tozer says some powerful things about worship and expresses my concern and my heart's desire concerning corporate worship. Consider these excerpts from the book Tozer on Worship and Entertainment:
" A local church exists to do - corporately what each should do individually - namely, worship God. It should show forth the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, reflect back the glory of Him who shines down on us, even God, even Christ, even the Holy Ghost."
" The stark, tragic fact is that the efforts of many people to worship are unacceptable to God. Without an infusion of the Holy Spirit there can be no true worship.This is serious. It is hard for me to rest peacefully at night knowing that millions of cultured, religious people are merely carrying on church tradition and religious customs and they are not actually reaching God at all."
" In my opinion, the great single need of the moment is that lighthearted superficial religionists be struck down with a vision of God high and lifted up, with His train filling the temple. The holy art of worship seems to have passed away like the Shekinah glory from the tabernacle. As a result, we are left to or own devices and forced to make up for the lack of spontaneous worship by bringing in countless cheap and tawdry activities to hold the attention of the church people."
" It is certainly true that hardly anything is missing from our churches these days - except the most important thing. We are missing the genuine and sacred offering of ourselves and our worship to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The main problem is that we can not worship what we do not know. We have to know God to truly worship Him. We must be wrestling personally with scriptures and in prayer. I'm not just talking about reading the Bible piously so that we can check it off the list of holy, religious things to do...you will never KNOW God that way. You may be acquainted with Him, but you won't really know who He is...and thus you will be worshiping your own idea of God (an idol...a cheap imitation) and not truly worshiping God. As a church, we should be teaching people to be worshipers not just teaching them to be workers for the Lord.
Tozer says that we must be worshipers before we can be workers...
"Yes, worship of the loving God is man's whole reason for existence. That is why we are born and that is why we are born again from above.That is why we were created and that is why we have been recreated. That is why there was a genesis at the beginning, and that is why there is a regenesis, called regeneration.That is also why there is a church. The Christian church exists to worship God first of all. Everything else must come second or third or fourth or fifth..."
" Unless we are worshipers, we are simply religious dancing mice, moving around in a circle getting nowhere...God wants worshipers first. Jesus did not redeem us to make us workers; He redeemed us to make us worshipers. And then, out of the blazing worship of our hearts springs our works."
In Acts 17: 22-30, Paul says this to the religious people of Athens:
“Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.
I don't know about you, but this passage certainly prompts me to search out my heart and see if I have been worshiping any idols or any false notions of God...or myself and my own works for that matter! I desire for our churches to truly worship God. I desire to leave behind my personal feeling and opinions on Sunday morning and enter into fellowship with God alongside other believers who desire to do the same. Ultimately, I long for the renewal and revival of corporate worship. We need to encourage and spur one another on towards true worship of God. We need to point each other to Him, instead of pointing fingers at one another! We need to encourage each other to worship...not to perform empty worthless acts of service!
Tozer says...
" I am looking for the fellowship of the burning heart - for men and women of all generations everywhere who love the Savior until adoration becomes the music of their soul until they don't have to be fooled with and entertained and amused."
Oh how I hunger for that!! God help me to do everything I do for you out of an overflow of love and adoration! Help me to be a good private worshiper and a good corporate worshiper!
