Tag Archives: worship

October 2; The Jesus We Don’t Like To Talk About

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John 2:1-4:26

Today we read the account of Jesus clearing the temple of the flea market. Men were selling cattle, sheep, and doves right there in the temple court. I’m sure someone had thought what a great ministry it would be if they made bringing an animal for sacrifice convenient to the people. Why not sell what they need right there in the temple?

When Jesus saw this “ministry” he was mad. He made a whip and used it on the merchants, overturned their money tables, and ran them out of the temple. He didn’t even consider their noble intentions.

We really don’t like talking about that Jesus. We like talking about the Jesus who tells us to love everybody, to turn the other cheek, to do good to those who harm us. I love talking about that Jesus, too.

But we shouldn’t forget the Jesus who protected the holiness of the temple – with force.

Now, I’ve been accused of having pet-peeves when it comes to modern-day worship. So if you don’t want to hear it, I would suggest you stop reading right here. No hard feelings. I honestly don’t know if it’s pet-peeves, or if God nudges my heart on these matters. But if it’s from God, I don’t want to ignore it.

I know we haven’t turned our churches into flea markets. But many of us have turned them into coffee shops. We tweak our worship services so as not to offend people, or to make it more attractive to people, we change our schedules to make it convenient for people to attend, even if it’s Saturday night.

Sounds like a great idea for ministry. I can see why many people have jumped on that bandwagon. But is there Scripture to back it up? Does God ever in His Word tell us to worship only when it’s convenient, or entertaining, or comfortable? I’m not so sure we have done a good job of protecting God’s House, the place of prayer.

Here’s the other thing: Our bodies are God’s temple as well, the place where God lives on this earth in 2019. Do we protect His holiness in us with as much fervor as Jesus protected that temple in Jerusalem?

Yes, Jesus’ message was love, forgiveness, grace. I love that about Him. I’ll continue to talk about Him in those terms. But I am reminded today that there is another side to Jesus, a side that isn’t so fun to talk about. He never compromised on the holiness of the Temple. He never suggested we take worship of God for anything other than worship of God. He took it very seriously. So I want to, too.

September 10; Marvelous

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Zechariah 7-8; Ezra 5-6

Many times in Scripture God challenges our motivation. Why is it we do what we do for Him? Why do we worship?

“Is it really for me,” God asks, “or for you?”

Zechariah shares that God is going to return to Jerusalem, His people will enjoy prosperity once again. Then He says, “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” (Zechariah 6:6)

We can’t deny that God has blessed His Church in America for centuries. We sit comfortably in our cushioned chairs with air-conditioning and state of the art technology, coffee in hand. We feel pretty blessed to be living in a land where we can go to church without fear. Many Christians in other parts of the world don’t share that reality. We are truly blessed.

It seems marvelous to us. But what is God’s take on it?

God makes it clear He’s not interested in the show. He is only interested in our hearts. Do we get out of bed every Sunday to worship God in Truth? Or do we go to church because it makes us feel good? Is our motivation for giving, or volunteering, or visiting shut-ins, our own self-esteem, or have we emptied ourselves and allowed God to use us for His glory?

I’m reminded there are some who are doing things in Jesus’ name, who don’t really know Him. In the end, those people will join the unrepentant sinners in an ugly eternity separated from God.

Let’s not take our blessings for granted. But let’s also not forget why and Who we worship. I pray that our motivation for life, and worship will be to please God out of grateful hearts for what Jesus did for us. Period. I pray that what seems marvelous to us, will be truly and gloriously marvelous to God.

September 4: To Obey, or Disobey

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Ezekiel 1:1-2:20; Daniel 6:1-28; Nehemiah 7:4-25

The island where I live is under a mandatory evacuation order from the governor in preparation for Hurricane Dorian. Most of us left immediately, others have stayed. Our pastor sent an email to the church members and gently reminded us God told us in His Word that we are to obey our God-ordained leaders in authority. He encouraged us to leave the island we love, in obedience to those leaders.

But is there a time when we are to disobey our leaders?

Daniel got the word that no one was to worship any one or anything other than King Darius for thirty days. Might not be such a big deal, a month isn’t that long. What would be the hurt? After all, the government made the order.

Daniel did not obey. And he wasn’t very secretive about his disobedience. He continued to pray in front of his open window three times a day. And he wasn’t praying to any Darius.

I hope all of us reading these chapters in God’s Word today are good citizens of the countries in which we live. I hope we all pay our taxes, and follow speed limits. I hope we are law-abiding citizens.

But I also hope we are prepared to defy laws that would force us to compromise what God has ordained. I hope we know what the Truth is according to Scripture, and are ready to stand firm.

There may come a day when we, too, will have to decide if we are going to bow to ungodliness, or continue to stand in front of open windows and worship God.

September 2; True To His Word

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Daniel 4:1-37, 7:1-28; 2 Kings 25:27-30; Jeremiah 52:31-34

It wasn’t like he hadn’t been warned. God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream, and the interpretation to Daniel. In essence, God told the king to repent. And if he refused to repent, he would lose everything.

Nebuchadnezzar didn’t repent. He was prideful and self-satisfied, and he liked it that way.

Now here’s what spoke to me this morning. God gave the king a whole year to repent. I’m thinking the man must have thought about what Daniel had told him during those twelve months. He’d already seen proof of God’s power before, so it wasn’t like he could just blow it off.

But a year after his dream, Nebuchadnezzar lost everything because he didn’t heed God’s warning. He lost his kingdom, his wealth, and his sanity. God was true to His Word.

The truth is, God is always throwing out warnings to people. We hear the urgency in His voice as we read His Word. We see His fury in a storm. We witness his tenderness and mercy in the face of a new born baby, and in the face of a new born Christian.

And God is patient. He will continue to work to get our attention, to demonstrate that He alone is worthy of worship. Do not take Him lightly.

Daniel had told Nebuchadnezzar that eventually the king would bow down to God. And after seven years of living like a wild animal, Nebuchadnezzar did just that.

God will be worshiped by you, too. Philippians 2:10-11 tells us ,”that one day, at the name of Jesus, EVERY knee will bow, in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

One day you will know God is True, that Jesus is the Christ, and that He was trying to get you to love Him all your life. I pray you will come to that belief during this lifetime, before you look into His eyes for the first time. I pray that when you do bend your knee on that day in acknowledgment of the truth and glory of God, you will do it out of a heart that has been redeemed by Jesus’ blood, and not out of a heart that refused to accept him while you had a chance.

Please heed God’s warnings. He is true to His Word.

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Another hurricane, another evacuation from this island. Please continue to pray for all who are in the path of Dorian. We thank you.

August 30; The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

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Ezekiel 40:28-43:27

There is so much symbolism in the description of the temple in Ezekiel’s vision. This temple that represents worship, the church, you and me, and reveals God’s grace is intricate and beautiful. But today the thing that stood out to me is Ezekiel’s description of God.

Ezekiel heard the voice like the roar of rushing water, saw a radiance that lit up the whole land. I love that our Savior Jesus, during His earthly ministry, described Himself as the Living Water, and the Light of the World. Coincidence? I think not!

God’s glory filled the temple and He told Ezekiel, “This is where I will live among the Israelites forever.” Doesn’t that thrill your soul? We, as God’s children here in 2019, are God’s address on this earth. I am overwhelmed!

The Triune God is in these verses. God, who speaks from within the temple, the Spirit who lifted up Ezekiel, and Jesus who stood beside Ezekiel tell me that God lives in me, directs me, and stands with me as I am obedient to Him. I praise Him.

Today I want to just meditate on the fact that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are here right now in this room where I sit. I want to enjoy His Presence, to be in this moment, to worship Him like He deserves to be worshiped . I want to love Him, and tell Him so.

August 11; Are We Them?

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Ezekiel 5-9

You know what struck me as I read Ezekiel’s vision and heard God talk about the detestable things that were happening, and the way He was going to punish them? God is talking about His people! He’s not pointing out the sins of unbelievers. He’s pointing out the sins of His chosen Israel. And they are doing these detestable things right there in the temple.

It makes me sad when I read a bunch of them in the inner court of the house of the Lord, turned their backs on the temple, and bowed down to the sun in the east. They’d turned their backs on God right in the middle of God’s House.

Dear Church, please take the warning. God sees what goes on behind closed doors. He hears the conversations we’re having about compromising, tolerating, accepting all manner of sin in order to get people inside the walls of His house. He is very aware of the sin in my life – and in yours.

I’m afraid we’ve begun to turn our backs on God right in the middle of His house in 2019. Every time we back off a little on our message, every time we embrace a casual worship, or a feel-good theology, or ignore sin in our own lives, we make a shift toward worshiping the sun in the east.

I hope you’ll read Ezekiel’s vision. I think you’ll hear God’s anger, His rage. “Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah (or the Church) to do the detestable things they are doing here?… Therefore, I will deal with them in anger, I will not look on them with pity or spare them…” (8:17-18)

I can’t help but believe these chapters are not just about an ancient people. What was true for them is true for us today. God may be talking to and about them, but, dear one, we are them.

July 3; God and gods

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2 Kings 17:3-41, 16:19-26, 18:1-2; Isaiah 5:1-30; 2 Chronicles 28:26-27, 29:1; I Chronicles 4:34-43

The Assyrians had captured the Jews and hauled them off as slaves. Now the king wanted to repopulate the land with people from neighboring nations. These people, of course, came with their portable little gods in tow.

But the king also made sure the new inhabitants were taught about the “god of the land,” and assigned a priest to tell the people how to worship God.

I think the people probably tried to understand about the God of the Jews. But 2 Kings 17 tells us each national group made its own gods. Later in chapter 17 it says this:

They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

Let’s not let that describe us. Oh, I’d be surprised if many of you bow down every day to a shiny little statue sitting on your bedside table. I doubt you sacrifice a child in the fire Sunday morning before you head off to church. But God is asking, what or who is it you and I truly worship?

A relationship? A career? A bank account or fame? Do we spend more time manicuring our lawns than we do serving God? Does our time in God’s Word compare with our screen-time? Are we trying to worship God and something else at the same time?

We need to consider our worship. It is an eternal question each of us must answer. But here’s the other thing that stood out to me this morning.

Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

I think we need to consider that. We love our children. We adore our grandchildren. And they are taking their cues from us. Ask yourself this: Is my idol of self, or money, or health, or anything else worth my eternal soul, and the eternal souls of those precious people in my life?

Are we going to serve God or gods? Do we want our children worshiping gods… or God?

 

May 23; Stop and Worship

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I Kings 7:13-8:21; 2 Chronicles 4:1-5:14

The Temple was built. The Ark of God was in place in the Holy of Holies. The priests were ready and anxious to begin doing what priests were supposed to do. But something happened that brought everything to a screeching halt.

God showed up.

For forty plus years, God had revealed His Presence in a cloud while their forefathers wandered in the wilderness. They’d no doubt heard the stories. But now, right in front of them, that same cloud filled the Temple to such an extent it prohibited the priests from getting in there to make the sacrifices. All anybody could do at that point was to keep their eyes on the cloud, and praise God.

Let’s not get so caught up in living the Christian life, in serving, sacrificing, in spreading the Gospel, that we forget to stop and worship God.

Stop.

And worship.

There will be time to do things for God. But sometimes – often – we need to just stop what we are doing and revel in His Presence, praise Him, adore Him, drink Him in. Sometimes I think we’re guilty of pushing the cloud aside, fanning the air so we can see what we’re “doing,” and we don’t appreciate the Presence of the One we’re “doing” things for.

God’s Presence is here. Do you see Him? Take some time to just stop. And worship Him!

April 29; Go Home And Bless Your Family

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2 Samuel 6:12-23; I Chronicles 15-16; Psalm 15

What is worship? That’s been a hot topic for the last 30+ years since the “contemporary” movement burst on the scene. If you’ve been with me very long, you know my take on that, and honestly, I’ve sat here for quite a while trying to look for something else to talk about today. But God isn’t letting this one go.

The example of worship here in 2 Samuel and I Chronicles is that of a rocking worship service. However, remember, so is I Chronicles 13 and 2 Samuel 6, and God was not pleased with that one. It’s an example of disobedient worship that looks an awfully lot like worship that God accepts. So what’s the difference?

First, I don’t believe it has anything to do with what songs were being sung. I say that because both accounts tell us they were celebrating with song, singing joyful songs. The truth is, as I see it, hymns can be as worshipful as praise songs.

Second, I don’t think it has anything to do with the musical instruments being played. Both examples tell us the worshipers played lyres and harps. I believe an organ can be as worshipful as a bass guitar.

The worship looked very much alike in these two accounts. So, again, what was the difference?

I think a huge difference between these worship services is obedience. It wasn’t the worship production. It was the heart of the people. It wasn’t how they looked while worshiping, it was their obedience to God that made the difference.

The other thing I see as a difference between the two examples of worship here in the Old Testament, and maybe the most important difference, is found in I Chronicles 16:43. After his time of worship, David went home to bless his family. He didn’t bask in the euphoria of a worship experience, then walk away unaffected. He took his experience and put it to work.

Dear one, if you are going to church on Sunday mornings for a worship experience, stay home. Go to a movie to be entertained. Worship does not end at the last “Amen.”

If you aren’t involved every day in some kind of ministry, in some kind of witnessing, and in living a Christ-like life on Monday, why are you worshiping? Do you think God needs your words, or is edified by your soaring emotions once a week?

The purpose of our church services is not to make us feel good, but to edify us, strengthen us, and equip us to go home and bless our families, our neighbors, our co-workers, the uttermost parts of the world.

I hope you worshiped God yesterday with a fellowship of believers. I hope your emotions were touched. But I pray that you learned something about God, that you were encouraged in your faith, that you were challenged and changed.

Now, get out there and bless someone.

March 31; Choose Today

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Joshua 22-24

Most of us would probably say we are Christians. People who are not Christians will very often agree there is a God, or at least a higher power out there somewhere. Even those who say there is no God have something in common with the rest of us:

We all worship.

It might be self, or a job, or a philosophy, education, reputation, relationships, or something else. We all worship, serve, give honor to, adore, bow to someone or something. Worship is in our DNA.

Joshua challenges us to define our worship here in these chapters today. Choose today who you will serve. I am reminded of Matthew’s statement that a man can’t serve two masters. (Matthew 6) He’ll end up loving one and hating the other, or at least obeying one over the other, I know he was talking about money. But can’t we exchange “mammon” for anything else that would have the potential of taking the place of God?

I am also reminded that God will often describe himself as a jealous God. He will not accept second place, ever. He will not share the honor that is due him.

So after giving this some thought, here is what I choose:

I choose the Holy, all-powerful, eternal God of the Bible. I choose His Son Jesus Christ. I reject the politically correct god of our modern day. I reject the tolerant, love-god that many have fashioned for themselves. I choose the One True God over myself, my family, over the approval of the world.

Joshua said, even if you reject God you need to define what it is you worship. You might be surprised.

As for me, I will serve the Lord.