The Simple Truth

Lessons from Irene

Last Saturday/Sunday New Jersey endured a major Hurricane - IRENE! It was quite an experience
filled with many observations and lessons (some practical, some spiritual).  Here are a few...

• People truly freak out when they hear bad weather is coming. Stores where stripped bare of food, water, and batteries.  Obviously, it's great to be prepared but generally people need to SETTLE DOWN. I guess its the fearfulness in mankind's heart that causes this panic.
• I enjoy modern conveniences (A/C, running hot water, lights, showers, etc.) but I wonder if I've become a bit spoiled when it comes to the creature comforts the Western world offers.
• I am in dire need of a sump pump. We had water in our basement (2nd time in the 2+ years we've lived here). Once things settle down from the storm I'll have someone out to give me a quote.
• Crisis draws people closer together. I've had a number of people comment to me about how they were able to connect with previously unknown neighbors as a result of this storm.  We tend to do all we can to avoid suffering or any type of inconvenience but in these trials we find a fellowship that had alluded us heretofore.  This is what the Bible calls the "fellowship of suffering".
• Many hands really do make light work.  Kerrie and I were up at 4:30am sucking up water with the dry-vac and carting buckets of water upstairs to pour down the kitchen sink.  It was exhausting. Once our kids woke up (I woke them up) and started to help, the whole process was a lot less daunting.
• We often pass by little blessings in life.  Here's one I just rec'd...Thousands of people in our area lost power during and after the storm. In our neighborhood (over 400 homes) one side of the neighborhood is still without power while the other half didn't have so much as a blip of the lights. My backyard neighbors (literally 50 feet from my house) are without power while we are not. I count myself very fortunate and am extremely thankful that we did not lose power.  No power = no wet/dry vac = flooded basement.  I don't know why my power stayed on and others didn't. I'm certainly not more worthy of power than they are but for whatever reason, God has given me this blessing...
• Because God has blessed me with electricity I see it as my responsibility to minister to those without. We've baked cookies for our powerless neighbors, offered the use of electricity, hot showers, and outlets for the charging of cell phones.  We are blessed so that we can be a blessing.
• Here is my number 1 take away from Irene - Early last week my family and I happened to be on the Outerbanks of NC on vacation. We watched the track of the storm with great intensity. On Thursday the area where we were vacationing issued a mandatory evacuation and so we packed up all our "stuff" and headed back to NJ at 3am on Friday morning.  Needless to say this was a real pain in the neck as our family vacation was cut short.  However, had we not been made to leave NC and return home we would not have been here to pump off the water as it rose in our basement.  We would have returned home to a flooded basement and many ruined possessions.  God used a truly minor inconvenience to move us to the point where he could help us avoid a much larger problem. Bottom line - our perspective on life is so limited. Trust that your heavenly Father has your best interest at heart.

Thanks Irene for all the little life lessons you've taught me over the past couple of days. I'm better for it!

Worship = Sacrifice

This Sunday we are wrapping up our mini-series on worship by talking about a key aspect of worship, sacrifice.  If we made up a top ten list of words that describe worship I'm not sure "sacrifice" would be on most people's list.  However, the Bible shows us that sacrifice is at the core of worship.  We'll unpack this on Sunday morning.

Just this morning, in my daily Bible reading, I read the story of David building an altar and offering a sacrifice at the threshing floor of Araunah (2 Samuel 24:18-25).  In verse 24 David makes a classic statement. In a nutshell he says, "worship has a cost."  It made me wonder, "what has my worship of God cost me?" What true sacrifices have I made in my life as a way of worshipping God?  Something to think about.

You Are What You Worship

Every person who has ever walked the earth is a worshipper. God built us to worship. The problem is that often times our worship becomes horizontal rather than vertical. We begin to worship things/people rather than worshipping the one and only God.  Even the most sophisticated of society engage in idol worship. We may not bow before a golden image of our own creation but we have idols nonetheless.  Here are a few of the more common idols in western culture...

• Almighty $$$$. We bow before the god of Benjamin (as in Franklin).
• Automobiles.  Our god is sometimes parked in our driveway or garage.
• god of the Flat screen. We spend hours each day staring blankly into our god.
• Our job - we sacrific so much on the altar of our career.
• Good time - we pursue happiness and a good time and eliminate anything that hampers our ability to have fun.
• Food - we love to eat our god in huge portions.
• Children - our life revolves around our kids and their schedules.
• Sports teams - every Sunday afternoon in the Fall hundreds of thousands of people meet for church in their local stadium.
• Self - this is our A #1 god. 

The above things are not necessarily evil things but none of them deserve the #1 place in our life. None of them are worthy of worship.

What's the big deal with misguided worship? The answer is found in Psalm 115:8.  This verse tells us that we become like the gods we worship. If we worship $ we become greedy. If we worship material things we become materialistic.  If we worship self we become ego-centric, and selfish. As followers of Jesus our priority is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  This transformation takes place over time as we continually give ourselves to worshipping Him. If we desire to be like Him then we have to make him the center of our worship and guard our heart against other things that would steal our worship.  

He alone is worthy of our worship.

More Random Friday Thoughts

Here are some more of my not so insightful random Friday afternoon thoughts. Read at your own risk...

• The weather in NJ has been beautiful the last few days. The key - low humidity.
• Went to the eye doctor yesterday. Time for progressive lenses in my glasses. I'm officially old - I wear bi-focals, drive a mini-van, make noises when I get up and sit down. What's next? Wearing white socks with dress shoes and dark socks with running shoes, and eating dinner at 4pm.
• I don't drink enough water. (I told you these were random)
• I'm excited to watch the first preseason game for the Chiefs tonight.
• Busy weekend ahead filled with birthday parties, baby showers, church, Plainsboro bulk waste day, and much more.
• Saw pictures from my 25th High School class reunion. How come everyone else looks so much older but I still look the same? :)
• What a week for the Dow! I'm sure glad I don't have any money.
• Played hackey sack with Abby yesterday - really sore today. More proof I'm old.
• Finding more and more that naps don't help. I'm still tired when I awake and really grouchy. Answer - more coffee!
• Still really fired up about what God is doing in people's hearts to help raise funds for Snehashrya Woman's Shelter in India.  
• Working on some ideas for a new writing project - excited! Lord give me the discipline to do this.
• Saw Soul Surfer this week - really liked this flick!

Speaking with Authority

I love this video from Taylor Mali. Hopefully it will make you laugh and challenge you to, like, speak with more authority, you know.

 

Created to Worship

From the most faithful follower of Jesus to the most militant atheist, we are all walking worship machines. God created us to worship and we do it 24/7.  The issue is not do I worship but what/whom I worship.  Mankind gets into trouble when our worship becomes horizontal rather than vertical. God alone is worthy of our worship and yet we continually direct our worship at things and people who are not worthy.  When we give ourselves to anything other than God we are in essence worship that object or person.  The devil can't keep us from worshipping and so he attempts to redirect toward things that aren't worthy (like himself). He tried this tactic with Jesus (Matthew 4:8-10) and Jesus quickly reminds him that God alone is to be worshipped.

To truly worship God is to do so with your whole life. In fact, we might define worship as a loving, whole-life response to God for who He is and what He has done.  Worship is not a small slice of life, or a portion of church service when we sing, it encompasses every aspect of our life. It shows God how much we value Him as we give ourselves to loving him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.  

 

Random Friday Thoughts

It's a Friday afternoon in August and I have number of random thoughts bouncing around in my head.  Read at your own risk...

• Why are we more tired when we return from vacation than before we go?
• I'm looking for a fresh supply of worship tunes. Who are you guys listening to?
• Do 13 year old boys PMS?
• I'm still totally jacked about what God is doing in the folks at PBC to raise money for Snehashrya.
• Blown away every time I pray the new PBC prayer of commitment - Where ever you want us to go, whatever you want us to do, however you want us to live; we give our lives to You to spend in making your gospel and your glory known to the ends of the earth.
• Had a blast at the GBC / DPBC high school camp this year. God did some really cool things! So awesome to reconnect with dear friends.
• Man it was hot in MO this year - surface of the sun hot.
• The financial state of the federal gov't is SCARY. I appreciate that there is no easy answer but come on fellas how about putting some sound economic practices in place before the house of cards comes tumbling down.
• Some people take themselves way too seriously!
• Every human being that has every graced this planet is a walking worship machine.
• My 25th high school reunion is this weekend. Wish I could be there to see everyone. I'm sure they'll have a wonderful time. Can't wait to see pictures of Facebook.
• I want to write more. What format would be the most useful to the most people? I don't want to add to the noise of written Christian materials.
• So glad the NFL resolved its labor issues. Excited to see what the Chiefs will do this year - continue to build upon last year or come back to reality. I say 9-7 with a really tough schedule.
• I count myself to be abundantly blessed. God is so good to me!

True Worship

I'm fired up about the new series we are beginning this Sunday at PBC. Join us! Here's the blurb and topics...

When most people think of worship they think of singing, or a particular kind of church service.  But worship is not an event to attend or watch, it is a lifestyle to be lived. Worship is not exclusive to those who can carry a tune or play an instrument, but something for all. During this series we will examine what the Bible says about true worship, we'll put into practice the things we learn, and we'll conclude with a worship celebration and significant offering to God.

8/7      Created to Worship

8/14     Idol Worship

8/21     Worship = Sacrifice

8/28     Worship in Action 

9/4     Worship in Celebration and Offerings