Growing up in a Pentecostal church, I was accustomed to very demonstrative expressions of worship. Pretty much everything was acceptable, from singing and clapping to dancing and shouting. We were labelled as weird or "holy rollers" by some (which I understand), but that's the frame of reference that I come from.
Though I don't remember this being taught from the pulpit, I grew up thinking that there were levels to worship...like an ascending staircase. The entry level was singing, where you joined the congregation during song service. Then the next step was clapping, followed by the raising of hands. The top of the staircase, the absolute pinnacle of bringing praise to God, was dancing. If you danced, you were like a professional worshiper!
Since I never danced (I was never brave enough, plus I'm a terrible dancer), I felt like I was lacking something...as if God was somewhat pleased with my singing and lifting of hands, but He was really hoping that I'd follow the example of those dancing nearby.
I've come up with my own levels, or stairs, of worship. They're not out of a book or anything, just the way I understand it. I now believe that the entry level of worship is an appreciation for God's creation...the vastness, beauty and complexity of the world we live in (I love stuff like "Planet Earth" on Discovery Channel). I think the next step is a sense of gratitude for the life that God has given us. To recognize that God entrusted this one life to each of us, knowing that we're imperfect and would mess some stuff up, but also knowing that we couldn't live a happy life unless we could choose for ourselves...that's a deep kind of love!
The next level of worship would be to take notice of God's gift of redemption to us in Jesus. He entrusted this life to us, and because we're imperfect, He made a way for us to make the wrongs right...by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross. Then comes the highest level of worship, which is not the top of the staircase, but rather a new set of stairs that we never finish climbing. To access this staircase, we must go beyond acknowledgment of God's gifts to us--the world, our lives, His own Son--and enter into a relationship with Him. Now we worship God for more than what He's done...we worship Him for who He is.
This highest level never ends, because we can never fully comprehend all of who God is. The more we get to know Him, the more reason we have to worship Him. I think that this is the truest form of worship...to worship God not just for what He's done for us, but for who He is!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
GOD/DOG
I read through Ephesians with a friend this week, and we talked it over together last night. It was cool! It's really insightful to hear other's perspectives on biblical truths--how they read it, process it, and what it means to their life. We all glean something different because we are so different!
Anyhow, I'm not sure if we were talking about the second chapter where it talks about "His great love with which He loved us" (vs. 4) or towards the end of the book where we're instructed to "walk in love" (5:2), but something about God's love prompted my friend to share this little tidbit with me.
He said that when he thinks about GOD, often he'll think about a DOG. After I jumped aside to make room for the imminent bolt of lightning that would snuff out his existence (ha!), I asked the only logical question: "Why?!" His answer was awesome.
No matter how you mistreat a dog, it always loves you. Even when you ignore it and act like it doesn't exist, it still meets you at the door with tail wagging and eyes begging for affection. It is thrilled to see you and be with you, regardless of how you feel towards it. When all your other friends are nowhere to be found, you can count on that one friend--your dog.
When he put it that way, I had to agree wholeheartedly! How true it is. I think the main difference is that God's already housebroken (hardy-har-har!)...but that's one analogy that'll stick with me. Sometimes I get so fed up with myself that I think God's fed up too, but when I just come to Him, I find that He always takes me just as I am.
Maybe there's a reason that GOD and DOG are made of the same letters?
Anyhow, I'm not sure if we were talking about the second chapter where it talks about "His great love with which He loved us" (vs. 4) or towards the end of the book where we're instructed to "walk in love" (5:2), but something about God's love prompted my friend to share this little tidbit with me.
He said that when he thinks about GOD, often he'll think about a DOG. After I jumped aside to make room for the imminent bolt of lightning that would snuff out his existence (ha!), I asked the only logical question: "Why?!" His answer was awesome.
No matter how you mistreat a dog, it always loves you. Even when you ignore it and act like it doesn't exist, it still meets you at the door with tail wagging and eyes begging for affection. It is thrilled to see you and be with you, regardless of how you feel towards it. When all your other friends are nowhere to be found, you can count on that one friend--your dog.
When he put it that way, I had to agree wholeheartedly! How true it is. I think the main difference is that God's already housebroken (hardy-har-har!)...but that's one analogy that'll stick with me. Sometimes I get so fed up with myself that I think God's fed up too, but when I just come to Him, I find that He always takes me just as I am.
Maybe there's a reason that GOD and DOG are made of the same letters?
Friday, January 11, 2008
Everyday Worship
I find great comfort in the fact that we can engage in worship anywhere at anytime. Growing up in church I had the notion that real worship only happened on Sundays and Wednesdays when we came together to sing songs and have a service. But if that was true, how could we live out a Christian life in worship of God without looking like an idiot? (singing & clapping as we go throughout our day, kneeling in the middle of the office by the water cooler...what?)
Worship is everything we do...done to the glory of God. When we give our best effort at work because we recognize that God provided us with that opportunity to provide for our family, that's worship. When we eat healthy and work up a sweat at the gym because we're thankful for the body that God entrusted to our care, that's worship. When we love our kids and give them the time of day even when we don't feel like it because we know that God's never too busy for us, that's worship.
I'm all for corporate worship...I mean, I love it! (good thing since I'm a music pastor--ha!) But if that's the only avenue of worship that we engage in on a weekly basis, we're missing it BIG TIME! Our everyday life is meant to be lived out in worship...from work to play to church to marriage to talking, eating, drinking and laughing.
Thank God that He doesn't live only in the church, nor does He only take notice of our lives when we're singing songs about Him. Truth is He's interested in every facet of our being; after all, He made us who we are anyhow! I think He's overjoyed when we reciprocate that interest by seeking to live out the life He gave to us in perpetual worship of Him. All it takes is a decision on our part to do so!
Worship is everything we do...done to the glory of God. When we give our best effort at work because we recognize that God provided us with that opportunity to provide for our family, that's worship. When we eat healthy and work up a sweat at the gym because we're thankful for the body that God entrusted to our care, that's worship. When we love our kids and give them the time of day even when we don't feel like it because we know that God's never too busy for us, that's worship.
I'm all for corporate worship...I mean, I love it! (good thing since I'm a music pastor--ha!) But if that's the only avenue of worship that we engage in on a weekly basis, we're missing it BIG TIME! Our everyday life is meant to be lived out in worship...from work to play to church to marriage to talking, eating, drinking and laughing.
Thank God that He doesn't live only in the church, nor does He only take notice of our lives when we're singing songs about Him. Truth is He's interested in every facet of our being; after all, He made us who we are anyhow! I think He's overjoyed when we reciprocate that interest by seeking to live out the life He gave to us in perpetual worship of Him. All it takes is a decision on our part to do so!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Holy Love
Driving home on the highway the other day, I suddenly found myself thinking about my wife...specifically about how I've been loving her lately. I started replaying recent scenarios in my head where she asked me to do something, and I did it, but if I'm honest, I had a pretty sorry attitude about it! If she could've heard the unspoken phrases inside my head, it woulda been on like Donkey Kong!!
Anyhow, for some reason that passage from Ephesians came trickling into my cranial cavity: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her." (Eph 5:25) I started thinking about what that meant--to love my wife "just as Christ also loved the church."
Christ loved the church SO much that He gave His life for it; He died for all people, in the hope that they would put their faith in Him as Lord and Savior. BUT here's the kicker: He did it without any promise or guarantee that ANYONE would ever put their faith in Him. He went to the cross willingly out of love for us knowing inside of Himself that it might not be accepted by any. That is a love that I do not possess or understand, but I want to.
The word "holy" has come to mean something more to me in the last few months. I used to think that it meant "exceptionally good, better than the rest," and that somehow I could achieve more holiness in my life by living well (following the rules, doing what I know I should, etc.). But I think there's a lot more to holiness than that. When we say God is holy, I think it means that He is altogether otherly; everything about Him is on a different plane, a higher dimension, a level of purity and goodness that we can never fully comprehend in this life.
So as I drove that day, I started to ask God to help me love with the holy love that He has already shown us. The kind of love that doesn't act out of any kind of selfish ambition, but simply seeks to love because I want to...because I love my wife, and I want her to know it everyday. And when I reach the end of my life and stand before God, if I can be proud of nothing else, I want to stand there in humble and reverent pride knowing that I loved my wife "just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her."
Have you taken a love inventory lately?
Anyhow, for some reason that passage from Ephesians came trickling into my cranial cavity: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her." (Eph 5:25) I started thinking about what that meant--to love my wife "just as Christ also loved the church."
Christ loved the church SO much that He gave His life for it; He died for all people, in the hope that they would put their faith in Him as Lord and Savior. BUT here's the kicker: He did it without any promise or guarantee that ANYONE would ever put their faith in Him. He went to the cross willingly out of love for us knowing inside of Himself that it might not be accepted by any. That is a love that I do not possess or understand, but I want to.
The word "holy" has come to mean something more to me in the last few months. I used to think that it meant "exceptionally good, better than the rest," and that somehow I could achieve more holiness in my life by living well (following the rules, doing what I know I should, etc.). But I think there's a lot more to holiness than that. When we say God is holy, I think it means that He is altogether otherly; everything about Him is on a different plane, a higher dimension, a level of purity and goodness that we can never fully comprehend in this life.
So as I drove that day, I started to ask God to help me love with the holy love that He has already shown us. The kind of love that doesn't act out of any kind of selfish ambition, but simply seeks to love because I want to...because I love my wife, and I want her to know it everyday. And when I reach the end of my life and stand before God, if I can be proud of nothing else, I want to stand there in humble and reverent pride knowing that I loved my wife "just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her."
Have you taken a love inventory lately?
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