Real Worship

I was rereading a great book on the subject of WORSHIP this week by Warren W. Wiersbe and I was struck by this quote,

“One of the greatest dangers is that we ‘use’ worship in order to accomplish something else other than to glorify God in the edification of His church. We do not worship God in order to achieve peace of mind or to solve our personal problems, although these may be blessed by-products of worship. We worship God because He commands us to do so and because worship is the highest and holiest experience of the Christian believer. God is worthy of our worship, and that’s all we really need to know. If our motive is anything other than this, then we are ‘using’ God and practicing a refined form of idolatry.” (p.109, Real Worship)

Worship is more than a song or something we do. It is a lifestyle. It is an act of giving worth to God.

IN-diana

I love my new home too…Indiana. Here is a few random things I love about INdiana: fresh corn on the cob, BGBC, bruno’s pizza, flatness, being a Hoosier (what is a Hoosier anyways?), indiana beach, the dunes, camp shakamak, FUEL, fiddlers gathering, Lafayette…the stop-light capital of the world, Tippecannoe, Gen. Harrison, Wild Cat Creek, elephant ears, midwestern pride, Indiana farmers feed the world, a little warmer than Wisconsin, Rrrrrrrohrrrrrmans!, my home, the church, the youth group, my church family, new friends

WisCOWsin

Things I miss about WISCONSIN…cheese curds, frozen custard, frozen tundra, green bay packers, badgers, hunting in presque isle, swimming and fishing on lake alma, my mom and dad, the lil’ squirts (aka…the sibs), deep snow, sledding down military road hill, skiing down rib mountain, noah’s ark water park, mosinee–the armpit of WI, schmidts sporting goods, WBC, the homies, lee’s chicken, ol’ greendale, waaaaauuuusssaaaaaauuuuu, fleet farm (aka…the mens mall), orvil and wilbur, sven and jorge, bloody and broken noses!?, and so much more…I have been lots of places and everywhere I have been has been home, but nothin’ close to the Holy Land known as Wisconsin.

the stable, the cross, and your soul

WHAT THE STABLE AND THE CROSS HAVE IN COMMON?     

 

THE STABLE…IS WHERE JESUS LAID WHEN BORN. Jesus Christ was born in a humble manger to common parents. While the birth of a child would normally be cause for great rejoicing, the joy this birth would bring is to be short lived. For you see, this child was born to die!

 

I can see this little Baby, lying “Away in A Manger”. I can almost hear Him coo; I can almost see Him jerk His arms, and feel His soft baby skin. Here He lays, “Immanuel” – God with us. Here He lays — God’s great gift to mankind. Here He lays — the perfect Sacrificial Lamb.

 

“Why must was this baby born to die?” The answer — OUR SINS. (1 Cor.15:3 “Christ died for our sins…”)             

 

And in the midst of the sin of the world is plunged a perfect Baby called Jesus! A star shone brightly on the night of Christ’s birth, but if we look closely, we can see a Cross looming in the shadows!

 

THE CROSS…IS WHERE JESUS HUNG WHEN HE DIED. Jesus was born with the shadow of the cross upon Him. With the shadow of the Cross upon His heart He learned to walk, He learned to talk, He learned to work.The shadow of the Cross was upon: When laid in Bethlehem with swaddling clothes; When He was working at the Nazareth carpenter shop; When He was praying in Gethsemane’s garden before being arrested; When Judas betrayed Him with a kiss; When Caiaphas condemned Him; When Herod mocked Him; When Pilate sentenced Him; When the Roman scourger whipped Him; When the Roman soldier crucified Him

 

The Cross is where Jesus died.  The Cross is where He died for your sins. “There is an empty cradle, an empty cross and if you do not know Jesus you have an empty soul.”

 

WHAT THE STABLE AND YOUR HEART HAVE IN COMMON?BOTH ARE PLACES GOD HAS CHOSEN FOR HIS SON TO ENTER. God made the choice of where Jesus was to be born before the foundation of he world (Gal.4:4-5; Eph.1:4). The Prophet Micah (5:2) had foretold the place of his birth 700 years prior. God has chosen your heart to dwell in (Jn.15:16; Acts 9:15; Eph.3:17)

 

BOTH ARE PLACES THAT ARE UNWORTHY OF DIVINE ROYALTY. Stables and Hearts are Dirty, Dark and Defiled places,(Jer.17:9; Isa.64:6; I Tim.1:15). Remember, the Prophet, Priest and King (and God) chose you (I Cor.1:27-28) There is no place on earth worthy of His presence (Rm.3:23) 

 

The birth of Christ means little or nothing to us if he has not been born in our heart”

Q: Do you believe in the Jesus’ message of the Stable and the Cross?Q: Have you invited Jesus into your soul?

 

What does the stable, cross and your soul has in common? They are empty without God.

 

Psalm 27:14 in a Poem

Wait

by Russell Kelfer 

 Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried; 

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied. 

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . . 

And the Master so gently said, “Wait.” 

“Wait? you say wait?” my indignant reply. 

“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming your Word. 

“My future and all to which I relate 

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?  

I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign, 

Or even a ‘no’ to which I can resign. 

“You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe, 

We need but to ask, and we shall receive. 

And Lord I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:

I’m weary of asking! I need a reply.” 

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate, 

As my Master replied again, “Wait.” 

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut, 

And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting for what?” 

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . . 

and He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign. 

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun. 

I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

“I could give all you seek and pleased you would be. 

You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me. 

You’d not know the depth of my love for each saint. 

You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.

“You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair;

You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.

You’d not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence are all you can see.

“You’d never experience the fullness of love

When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

“The glow of my comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight.

The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

“You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,

But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I’m doing in you.

“So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.

And though oft My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait.”

 

Is God for me or for Himself?

I would like to try to persuade you that the chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy himself forever (also the historic first point of the Westminster Confession). Or to put it another way: the chief end of God is to enjoy glorifying himself.

The reason this may sound strange is that we tend to be more familiar with our duties than with God’s designs. We know why we exist – to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But why does God exist? What should he love with all his heart and soul and mind and strength? Whom should he worship? Or will we deny him that highest of pleasures? It matters a lot what God’s ultimate allegiance is to!His allegiance is utterly and only to Himself. Sound egotistical. Yes. But He has the right to be. We worship Him as He wants to be worshipped.

Remember K.E.I.T.H.

I remember working at a camp a few summers back. They had this slogan, “Remember KEITH”. I always thought it was silly until I heard the story behind it. Keith was your normal bouncing off the wall kid that you wanted to hang by his undies from the flag pole. Even though you never could have because of stupid CPS laws, you treated him different because of his attitude. All along Keith was looking for positive attention. I didnt know Keih and Keith didnt know me. Throughout the week I started to know Keith. His family was disfunctional, his faith was confused, he struggled in school, etc. He just wanted someone to listen…he wanted someone to believe in him…he wanted to really believe in God.

Keith might be like a lot of kids you know. He might even be you. “Remember KEITH” was a slogan to help remind us adults that their are a lot of Keiths out there so be…KindElasticIntegrityTimelyHospitable

AWEsome

AWEsome is such an overused word today that it has so lost its meaning. It comes from the word AWE, which means to marvel or bring wonder. The word AWEsome just cannot be used about anybody or anything. It can only be used of One. God. He is full of AWE. I am filled with AWE when I try to comprehend Him. How about you?