So many churches these days are under the mistaken idea that because they have switched to singing choruses and contemporary songs for their services, that they are now worshiping God more fully. But apart from our hearts being set upon seeking God and worshiping him "in spirit and in truth" they are no more truly worshiping God than they were when they were only singing hymns.
It's not the type of songs being used for the worship that matters. It's where your heart is focused during the worship time that makes it true worship. Just as we are to love the Lord "with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' we are to worship Him in the same way. Mindlessly "worshiping" Him with no heart in it, is not worship at all. Jesus said in Matthew 15:8, quoting Isaiah ""'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;" So it seems to me that our hearts directed toward God in our worship of Him is more important than the music being played.
John 4:24 - God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
A Good Story
I LOVE a good story! So much so, I get involved in a movie or TV series very deeply. I will talk to the screen, saying something in response to something that was said in the movie. In TV series that I have loved, I start to feel as if I'm a part of the show. I can readily identify with the characters and even come to care about them. And when a series comes to an end and I watch the final episode that will ever be made, I have often experienced a sense of loss, as if I have a good friend who left or passed away.
Oh sure, I know that they aren't real, but to me, that is a sign of a "good" story. One that pulls you into it; makes you readily identify with the characters and makes you feel that you are a part of the story. THAT is a good story!
The Gospel has been called "The Greatest Story Ever Told", but it is not just a story. It is not a fictional account of something. It is the actual telling of what Jesus came to the earth to do... to save mankind from our sins.
Unlike fictional characters in the books I've read or movies I've seen, Jesus readily identifies with you; the reader, hearer or viewer of His story. He came and was tempted by sin in every way that you and I are; yet He did not sin. He is well aware of the struggles we have with the sin in our lives and knows exactly how it feels to struggle with the temptation of sin.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God will not allow us to be tempted more than we are able to stand. The problem is, we often give in to the temptation long before we have reached that point of where our resistance prevails. We only seem to struggle with our sin after we have committed it, rather than struggle with the temptation of it.
As you go through these struggles, turn to Jesus and ask for His help. We do not have to give into temptations of sin. We can equally choose not to sin as much as we can choose to sin. It is a struggle, indeed, but God will always provide a way out. We need only to run to Him when we are tempted.
Oh sure, I know that they aren't real, but to me, that is a sign of a "good" story. One that pulls you into it; makes you readily identify with the characters and makes you feel that you are a part of the story. THAT is a good story!
The Gospel has been called "The Greatest Story Ever Told", but it is not just a story. It is not a fictional account of something. It is the actual telling of what Jesus came to the earth to do... to save mankind from our sins.
Unlike fictional characters in the books I've read or movies I've seen, Jesus readily identifies with you; the reader, hearer or viewer of His story. He came and was tempted by sin in every way that you and I are; yet He did not sin. He is well aware of the struggles we have with the sin in our lives and knows exactly how it feels to struggle with the temptation of sin.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God will not allow us to be tempted more than we are able to stand. The problem is, we often give in to the temptation long before we have reached that point of where our resistance prevails. We only seem to struggle with our sin after we have committed it, rather than struggle with the temptation of it.
As you go through these struggles, turn to Jesus and ask for His help. We do not have to give into temptations of sin. We can equally choose not to sin as much as we can choose to sin. It is a struggle, indeed, but God will always provide a way out. We need only to run to Him when we are tempted.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Name Calling ...
I know it's so tempting to call people, especially liberals, dumb, stupid, idiots and so on, when they are doing things that deserve such names, but it has been grieving me a lot lately to see so many brothers and sisters in the Lord launching out with such things, or sharing memes that say such things. Who is going to listen to the "truth in love" if we are calling them such names and showing how we don't really love them? Jesus died for them as much as us and the only real difference between them and us is that we know it and they don't (most likely). So as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:4 - "Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God." I think we can probably fit name calling into that list as well. Showing Jesus' love to them is very important. I also might add, loving them is not the same thing as condoning their actions. Loving them is just that, loving them.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
The Power
I wrote this the morning after the storm ripped through Quincy, causing much damage on July 11, 2015. I'm just now getting time to post it.
I sit here writing this the morning after a strong storm that caused a lot of damage all throughout Quincy. The electricity is out throughout the majority of the city. I haven't been out much to survey the damage, but from the few pictures I have seen online, it's fairly extensive.
Being without the electricity gives one a reminder of how dependent we as a society have become on modern conveniences; though I imagine that electrical power has been around so long that is probably isn't thought of as modern anymore, but it is a necessity none-the-less.
I'm drawn to wonder about the gifts that God has given us and how they depend on power too. Just as our appliances need the electrical power to function, so too do we need the power of the Holy Spirit to have the spiritual gifts that God has given to us to function as well. Are you plugged into God to receive that power? Jesus said that apart from him we could do nothing. Are you a part or apart from Him today? Pray and discover which it is and get plugged in again.
I sit here writing this the morning after a strong storm that caused a lot of damage all throughout Quincy. The electricity is out throughout the majority of the city. I haven't been out much to survey the damage, but from the few pictures I have seen online, it's fairly extensive.
Being without the electricity gives one a reminder of how dependent we as a society have become on modern conveniences; though I imagine that electrical power has been around so long that is probably isn't thought of as modern anymore, but it is a necessity none-the-less.
I'm drawn to wonder about the gifts that God has given us and how they depend on power too. Just as our appliances need the electrical power to function, so too do we need the power of the Holy Spirit to have the spiritual gifts that God has given to us to function as well. Are you plugged into God to receive that power? Jesus said that apart from him we could do nothing. Are you a part or apart from Him today? Pray and discover which it is and get plugged in again.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Texting and Relationships
I have come to love using texting... so much in fact, that I prefer to text to conversing over the phone. There's nothing quite like being able to zip off a text to someone and go about your next task for the day. Comparing that to having to dial a phone, hope the person you're calling answers and if they don't, then you have to hope that their voicemail is set up and if it is, then you have to hope that their voicemail box isn't full, because they haven't bothered to either check nor erase their messages, so there's no room for your message, then you have to call back again anyway. A text is so much easier.
The problem is, when you try to use texting as your main source of communication in a long distance relationship, it's sorely lacking. It creates misunderstandings that are never even close to what you intended and then you get taken for being the biggest jerk in the world, when all you really wanted to say was, I'm sorry and I love you.
Texting is handy when you both can't hear worth a hoot and thus phone conversations are difficult at best, however the text has to rely on a number of assumptions that your loved one may not actually have about you. Ideally, (s)he would have picked up on your heart at some point and come to realize you are not the kind of person who would do or say X, Y or Z, but the reality is, when you allow past hurts to infiltrate your thinking, you cannot begin to see what your significant other's heart truly is and it clouds your reactions to perceived slights. "Knee jerk" reactions are the norm when that cloudiness is winning over your heart and mind.
Thank God that the Holy Spirit can change all of that in us and through Jesus Christ, our hearts and minds can be made new, but you know ... we have to allow Him to work in us as well. Too many times, we don't or can't.
When my daughter Emily visited Israel this June, we used Face Time once to talk. What an amazing app that is. We could look at each other on our tablets and talk, though we were half the world apart. That is one of the most helpful apps I've ever used. As neat as that app is, in relationships, nothing serves better than face-to-face time. Time spent in conversation, in getting to know each other and learning each others heart is so essential. Nothing can take the place of that. Misunderstandings still take place, but there's so much more that comes from body language, tone of speech and all of the other things we use in communication, that texting, emailing and such cannot convey. It's unfortunate, but true. Once the damage is done from it, it's nearly impossible to fix.
Praise God for His mercies, though, for they are new every morning.
The problem is, when you try to use texting as your main source of communication in a long distance relationship, it's sorely lacking. It creates misunderstandings that are never even close to what you intended and then you get taken for being the biggest jerk in the world, when all you really wanted to say was, I'm sorry and I love you.
Texting is handy when you both can't hear worth a hoot and thus phone conversations are difficult at best, however the text has to rely on a number of assumptions that your loved one may not actually have about you. Ideally, (s)he would have picked up on your heart at some point and come to realize you are not the kind of person who would do or say X, Y or Z, but the reality is, when you allow past hurts to infiltrate your thinking, you cannot begin to see what your significant other's heart truly is and it clouds your reactions to perceived slights. "Knee jerk" reactions are the norm when that cloudiness is winning over your heart and mind.
Thank God that the Holy Spirit can change all of that in us and through Jesus Christ, our hearts and minds can be made new, but you know ... we have to allow Him to work in us as well. Too many times, we don't or can't.
When my daughter Emily visited Israel this June, we used Face Time once to talk. What an amazing app that is. We could look at each other on our tablets and talk, though we were half the world apart. That is one of the most helpful apps I've ever used. As neat as that app is, in relationships, nothing serves better than face-to-face time. Time spent in conversation, in getting to know each other and learning each others heart is so essential. Nothing can take the place of that. Misunderstandings still take place, but there's so much more that comes from body language, tone of speech and all of the other things we use in communication, that texting, emailing and such cannot convey. It's unfortunate, but true. Once the damage is done from it, it's nearly impossible to fix.
Praise God for His mercies, though, for they are new every morning.
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