How was church today?
That’s a pretty common question in my family. With four households all involved in some sort of ministry, all living and attending four different worship venues, it’s not unusual for me to ask.
But it’s also important for me to remember that I’m asking a consumer question.
I’m basically asking somebody in my family to evaluate their experience. To interpret an event. Yes, to tell me what they got out of it or whether they liked the goings-on down at the church house.
Is that wrong? Not necessarily. But it’s a pitifully limited – and limiting – question. [click to continue…]
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3).
Lots of comfortable, well-worn words here. Sometimes familiarity can hide the truest meaning of the language.
For example, God is “great.”
(God is good, let us thank Him for our…)
Hang on a minute. [click to continue…]
In the stillness of the night or the glory of the morning that is Christmas, my prayer for you is that beyond the traditions and trappings, through the gifts and the connections, you approach it all with a heart that is fully awake and aware of the Larger Story and the part you still must play.
I pray that you would fall in love again this Christmas with a first-love kind of desire for Jesus, whose birth we celebrate. I pray that your soul would find in Him and in those whose lives you touch the sweetest of love that gives graciously, forgives completely, and waits patiently when you or I fail miserably.
I pray that you have those God-breathed encounters in which your heart is so full you are lost in the moment. I pray that your heart is so captured with the wonder and joy of the presence of God, even in the simplest of experiences, you could stay in that moment and hold Him tightly. [click to continue…]
Raise your hand if you’ve ever stood in church and sung, “I surrender all.”
Raise your other hand if you were invited to “come to the altar and surrender all to Jesus.”
Both my hands are up. I’m typing with my toes.
Just two problems with that idea. First, surrender isn’t something you do in church. Second, surrender isn’t something you do at the end or the close of anything.
A few years ago I learned a new language – the language of surrender and freedom. Inspired by someone’s idea of absolute commitment to Jesus expressed as, “I don’t have to survive,” I began a mental and spiritual journey of surrender. What else can I let go of? How else can I be free? And I began to make the list…
I don’t have to be successful…
I don’t have to get angry…
I don’t have to feel rejected…
I don’t have to be right…
You get the point.
Lately I’ve been revisiting that idea, for an important reason. [click to continue…]
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name (Hebrews 13:15 NET).
I.
So much you’ve wanted to write or to say,
To sing from the heart
Or create magic with words
And rhythm and feeling…
Art from the heart
To show the supreme worth
Of your Dearest Friend,
Your Immortal Beloved,
Or your Infinite Redeemer.
Yet the words don’t say it all,
Do it all,
Or show it all.
The Dearest, Immortal and Infinite
Are worthy of so much more.
So there you are…
Yearning to capture the perfect refrain
For the One who has taught you to dance in the rain. [click to continue…]
Hey. Come on in. Shut the door behind you.
Ha! No, you aren’t in trouble. I just wanted to show you something important, without a lot of distractions. You doing OK?
So, just curious… how’s your praise life?
Yeah, that’s probably what I would have said, too.
Yes, actually, that is what I wanted to talk about.
I wanted to share an experience that actually happened several years ago, but it totally changed how I approach my relationship with God – particularly praise and worship.
Well, yeah, praise and worship at church with the music and all that. But more importantly, praising God in my prayer time. You know that old hymn that says, “Tune my heart to sing Thy praise?” Yeah, well, the Lord showed me how to do that, and it was pretty life-changing. [click to continue…]
You were made to wear a crown. And you were made to give crowns away. But this is no token symbol or forgotten relic from a bygone era. It’s a choice you have every day. Either wear your crown or someone else will. And choose well who you give your crowns to.
Crowns. They’re a rare commodity in our culture, unless somebody is playing checkers, crying at the end of the beauty pageant, or eating at Burger King with the kids. Presidents, judges and governors take oaths. Congress takes your money. Modern Olympians bring home the gold, but nobody gets a head full of garland any more.
That said, we give and receive crowns all the time. Check out the dictionary for the verb form of “crown” and you’ll find language like:
- To invest with regal power; enthrone.
- To confer honor, dignity, or reward upon.
- To surmount or be the highest part of.
- To bring to completion or successful conclusion; to consummate.
Have you done any crowning lately? I daresay you have. The only question is, who is wearing the crowns you are offering? [click to continue…]
Okay, let’s stretch a little and use some imagination. Suppose you received that message on your smart phone or email. Looking beyond the earthly trappings – a church house, your bedroom or office or favorite nature connection – what does the “usual time” and “usual place” for a meeting with God look like?
I daresay for most of us, me included, we become Saints in the Presence of a Busy God. We pray, we worship, and we listen to a God who’s gettin’ it done. And on our best days, we come in faith that He will actually use us to help execute His plan and that He will get some things done for us.
Anything wrong with that? Absolutely not. After all, our God has unlimited power, knowledge and presence. And He invites us to trust Him to use it and to join Him in effecting His plan – His work. See if you can relate to some of these “meeting places” with God. [click to continue…]
Remember, You said with broken bread and common cup held high.
Believe… not just once sometime years ago, but today, in this day’s sound and fury
That the gift that You gave for lost hearts of stone (like mine)
Hasn’t gone anywhere – it’s still as alive today as You are.
So never let me forget the supreme price, the steadfast love, the faithful offering
That forever changed my heart of stone to gold… to joy… to peace.
And oh… [click to continue…]
His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5)
A simple statement of faith mixed with obedience at the wedding in Cana: “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
It’s the “whatever” that gets us in trouble, because we like to have answers and reasons for our doing.
And just like in this story, Jesus isn’t always inclined to provide those.
He told them to fill up the water pots, dip out, and take it to the head waiter.
To their credit, apparently they did all they were told without question.
How about you?
How about today?
Try this on as an affirmation: [click to continue…]
