A Christmas Prayer

It seems strange…
What with all the gifts, music, food and family,
That there’s not as much joy as in years past.
In reality, there may be more than ever.  But it’s like I’m trying to
Get some joy out of the things, the “season.” 

I don’t think it’s working.
The new perspective You’ve given to me lately,
It’s in the back of my mind, lurking there.
Like this isn’t supposed to be… 

Where am I going?  I ask.
Should I blindly revel in the pleasure of today,
The mind-numbing fake happiness we create?
Am I that naive, to not care.

But beneath the surface, even the facade,
Is actually something amazing.
The truth about what you did for us:
It’s still there!  It never left!

There is faith growing bigger and bolder
Where once there was nothing to see.
Because what makes this Christmas special
is what You’re doing inside of me.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your indescribable gift.

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”–Luke 2:10-11

Worship, Seriously

I just finished reading a book called Stop Dating the Church: Fall in Love With the Family of God by Joshua Harris.  It’s a pretty great book (and a super easy read) about how we should all devote our lives to a church family.  Anyway, here is a great quote from it about messages we hear from the pulpit: “I will be held accountable for what I have heard regardless of whether it moved me emotionally.(p. 112)”  Great quote.

So, yeah, that’s sort of what this post is about, but I’m taking a different spin on it.  I want to talk about the words that come out of our mouths, specifically in the context of corporate worship.  First of all, I just want to say that I love worshipping God through song.  I am a worship leader, and it’s great.  I love leading people into His presence.  He is awesome and amazing, and He deserves every ounce of our praise.

That being said, I think people fake it a lot.  And that’s dangerous.  Here’s why: God doesn’t look at the outward appearance.  He looks at your heart(1 Sam. 16:7).  Also, God wants you to tell the truth(Matt. 5:33-37).  So if you’re singing dangerous words like “God, I give you everything” or “All I need is You, Lord,” you’d better mean it.  God will hold you to those words.  Make sure that you are being sincere.

The good news is, if you are sincere, but not quite there yet on accomplishing what you said, I firmly believe that God will take you there.  If you continue to sing “I surrender all” with a contrite spirit and humble heart, I believe your faith will grow to that level eventually.  That is the power of worship.  But if you’re not seeking God during worship?  You’re just wasting your time.  I don’t know, you may even get punished for that or something.

Here’s the point: When you worship Him, really, really worship Him.  I don’t care if your musicians and singers can’t carry a tune.  I don’t care if all you sing are “boring hymns”(that’s in quotes for a reason.  Hymns are awesome).  The God who gives you life is being praised!  He loves you!  He died for you!  He deserves your whole heart.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
   be acceptable in your sight,
   O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”–Psalm 19:14

The Hiding Place

I don’t want to be seen by men
Take me away
I love You too much to make You a show
Draw me away to be with You and only You

Oh my God, do I have the faith that You will answer me even when no one else can see?

Take me away to a secret place
Where we are alone and all I can see is Your face
Oh my God, who am I that You would listen to me?

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.  Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.  And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”–Matthew 6:5-6

Moderation

I love moderation.  It’s very Biblical, you know.  Call me boring, but I like not being too rich or too poor, too happy or too sad, too talkative or too quiet.  Here’s a great verse on it:

“Two things I ask of you;
   deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
   give me neither poverty nor riches;
   feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
   and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
   and profane the name of my God.”–Proverbs 30:7-9

But some people use ”moderation” as an excuse to be lame.  Jesus said to give all your life to Him.  So saying, “I’ll give a little money to God and do whatever I want with the rest,” is actually sin.  Saying, “I’ll give some time to God and the rest to watch nasty shows on TV that I know He wouldn’t approve of,” is sin too.  We have to be careful in what we do.  Even though we’re called to be peaceful, moderate people, in some things we must be radical.

“And he said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.’”–Luke 18:29-30

Open My Eyes To Hear Your Heartbeat

Look, a sound!
Can you see it?
Too intense to feel,
Too great to comprehend.

You can’t wrap your head around it, but
He’s wrapping His arms around you.

Chest throbbing; world, lives changing,
Action, Reaction, spinning; you’re getting dizzy,
But there’s something more true there once
Your perception has been stripped away.

The sound of something real,
Retuning your sight,
Equilibrium shot, come crashing to the floor.
The grain of the hardwood looks better down there.

The detail, the plan, the purpose, the Spirit,
It’s going somewhere, the direction of
Hope?  Faith?  Joy?  Peace?  Or
Tears?  Destruction?  Breaking?  Death?
And are they the same thing?

Love exists, so what does that make you?
Less of a man, or more?

“And Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.’”–1 Kings 18:41

Random Bible Verses

Do you ever just randomly flip open your Bible and stick your finger on a random verse, then try to apply it to your life?  I do it all the time, and I think it’s great.  You know, there really is no real randomness in the world anyway.  Everything that happens happens because of the forces acting upon it.  And the Word is the actual Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit.  So I think of it this way: all of God’s Word is true and good, so why not try to apply anything you find in there to your life?

Disclaimer: this method is only very effective when you know the context of each Bible verse.  Most verses taken out of context can be entirely false in that sense and entirely not applicable to your life in any useful and right way at all.

“and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.”–John 11:19