Since most of my posts tend to be more serious in nature, I figured it was time to write about something a little more mundane. If you're hoping for something more "thought-provoking", I would refer you to my previous two posts for March.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Downshift
This past week we did our third annual Good Friday Worship Walk. For those not familiar, it is made up of eight interactive stations that walk us through the last week of the life of Christ. Each station has a description followed by three sections: Read (various related scripture passages), Reflect (a thought to meditate on and pray through), and Relate (instructions to physically interact with an object in the room as a manifestation of that event). At the core of this event is one primary purpose, and that is a chance to be still before our God and Savior and take time in the quiet to seriously ponder the sacrifice of our Lord.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
It's alive! IT'S ALIVE!!
Yes, my blog lives! Of course, it has been so long since it breathed its previous breath I'm sure I have lost every faithful reader it ever had (I'll miss both of you dearly). But oh well. In honor of the upcoming Easter celebration, I have decided to resurrect "The Thirsty Life" until I have another bout with ADD or TDD (Time Deficit Disorder).
Since this is my first post back and it's getting a bit late I'll try to keep it brief. Recently I was sharing with our worship volunteers some thoughts from John Piper, and I thought it might trigger some self-evaluation in you as well. I read an article from him a few years back titled "Worshipping With a Handicapped Heart". He talked about how he has performed informal surveys in churches he's visited by asking two questions. The first: "How many of you grew up in homes where spontaneous times of worship were a common occurence?" Approximately 10% of people would usually raise their hands. The second question: "How many of you grew up in homes where spontaneous thanks and encouragement was common?" Even fewer would raise their hands.
This led Piper to this simple conclusion - most of us are emotionally crippled when we walk into our gatherings of worship on Sundays. When most of us grew up in homes where we were never taught how to show and give spontaneous praise and thanks, how in the world are we supposed to step into a room with hundreds of other people we may not know and do it? Our tendency is to hold our emotions inside, refusing to let anyone see or hear what is really taking place in our hearts and souls. As a result, our worship is in a sense "handicapped". We walk through our corporate times of worship with a nasty limp, always hampered.
Of course, the ironic part in all of this is that we are in our gatherings to worship a God and Savior who already knows the deep recesses or our hearts. There is nothing going on inside of us that could possibly be hidden from Him. And Piper's point in his article was that we do not need to settle. To live in Christ means to live in freedom, and that includes our personal and corporate worship. It is okay to laugh, to shout for joy, to clap, to cry as we worship our loving God who has lavished us in His mercy. We don't need to settle for that nasty limp.
Of course, as with most things in our spiritual lives, this is easier said than done. Getting rid of our handicap is not an overnight process. Personally, I believe the only way to overcome it is to get to know our Savior and our God on deeper and more intimate levels through constant interaction with Him. By praying to Him, reading His words, exploring His actions, listening in solitude for His voice, and opening our hearts to Him in the private times of our lives we will ultimately become more open with Him in the public times. It's all a part of the daily transforming work of the cross in our souls, not just what we experience on Sundays.
These ideas really convicted me the more I thought about them because they opened my eyes to how handicapped my worship is at times. As I think about them I am spurred on to change and not settle for a limp in my worship. Maybe they will do the same for you.
Since this is my first post back and it's getting a bit late I'll try to keep it brief. Recently I was sharing with our worship volunteers some thoughts from John Piper, and I thought it might trigger some self-evaluation in you as well. I read an article from him a few years back titled "Worshipping With a Handicapped Heart". He talked about how he has performed informal surveys in churches he's visited by asking two questions. The first: "How many of you grew up in homes where spontaneous times of worship were a common occurence?" Approximately 10% of people would usually raise their hands. The second question: "How many of you grew up in homes where spontaneous thanks and encouragement was common?" Even fewer would raise their hands.
This led Piper to this simple conclusion - most of us are emotionally crippled when we walk into our gatherings of worship on Sundays. When most of us grew up in homes where we were never taught how to show and give spontaneous praise and thanks, how in the world are we supposed to step into a room with hundreds of other people we may not know and do it? Our tendency is to hold our emotions inside, refusing to let anyone see or hear what is really taking place in our hearts and souls. As a result, our worship is in a sense "handicapped". We walk through our corporate times of worship with a nasty limp, always hampered.
Of course, the ironic part in all of this is that we are in our gatherings to worship a God and Savior who already knows the deep recesses or our hearts. There is nothing going on inside of us that could possibly be hidden from Him. And Piper's point in his article was that we do not need to settle. To live in Christ means to live in freedom, and that includes our personal and corporate worship. It is okay to laugh, to shout for joy, to clap, to cry as we worship our loving God who has lavished us in His mercy. We don't need to settle for that nasty limp.
Of course, as with most things in our spiritual lives, this is easier said than done. Getting rid of our handicap is not an overnight process. Personally, I believe the only way to overcome it is to get to know our Savior and our God on deeper and more intimate levels through constant interaction with Him. By praying to Him, reading His words, exploring His actions, listening in solitude for His voice, and opening our hearts to Him in the private times of our lives we will ultimately become more open with Him in the public times. It's all a part of the daily transforming work of the cross in our souls, not just what we experience on Sundays.
These ideas really convicted me the more I thought about them because they opened my eyes to how handicapped my worship is at times. As I think about them I am spurred on to change and not settle for a limp in my worship. Maybe they will do the same for you.
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