What is worship to you

There have been a lot of conversations in our house through the years about worship.  Lately, we've talked more about it than not since we are looking at a new service, lots of things have been written about worship and many of course like different "styles" whatever that means.  John says worship God in spirit and in truth period.  He doesn't really talk "style".  I grew up in a very large but traditional church and loved it.  I felt like I was offered everything possible in terms of church.  I grew up listening to my grandmother sing hymns as she cooked dinner and find myself doing the same thing so often.  I love a choir.  I love a band.  I love contemporary music that I can dance and praise to but it's not all about music.    I know many people mean different things when they say I'm going to worship.  Here's what I mean...

Worship to me isn't just music.  When I invite someone to our church to worship, I'm not asking them to come hear the music or sing the music.  I'm asking them to come and hear Jesus proclaimed.  That comes through music.  It comes through hugs of fellowship.  It comes through the preaching of God's Word.  I don't feel like I'm worshiping any more during the music than I am when my husband is preaching and I'm engaging in what God's Word says.  So, when I say "great worship" or "going to worship", I mean the whole piece of pie.  When I tell my husband that I heard a message online or went to another church and the pastor rocked the message, he doesn't take that as a slap against him.  It's not necessarily "yay" for that person, it's "yay" God did a work there through them.  I'm thrilled to the bone to see God work through others.  I'm not a "fan" of Beth Moore, I praise God for the ministry she has without seeing it as a knock against Priscilla Shirer's ministry.  I'm not a "fan"   of Mark Batterson, but I love his writing and it speaks to me like none other.  That's not a knock against Steve Groeschell whom I love as well.    Are we not supposed to cheer one another on?  Are we not to be thankful and praise God for doing great things in other places?  How is that a knock against us?  We are all on the same team!  My daughter mentioned this morning being aggravated that churches compete with one another.  I share that frustration.  How can you compete against your own team?  Satan's greatest weapon is lying and dividing.  I honestly think he has more fun and success within the church doing this than on the outside of the church.  The message I heard Father's Day by Brad Cooper was on the glory of God and how we are so busy giving glory to everything and everyone down here that is not worthy of it.  Let's keep our glory pointers pointed upward where they belong and stop pointing it other places and at ourselves because like Brad said most of us want the glory pointed right back at us.  A gentle reminder, God WILL NOT share His glory!!

This may not be what you think of worship at all.  I would LOVE to hear what you think of when you hear that word or what you mean when you invite someone to worship with you. 

A side note as a pastor's wife...I love going somewhere to worship every now and again where I'm not the pastor's wife there.  I'm just one of everybody else.  My kids aren't the pastor's kids there for one Sunday.  Maybe we are the only ones who feel that way but I don't think so...

Monday Morning Perspective

Well we wrapped up 1John yesterday and put a big bow on the top.  This entire series was definitely a gift at least to me.  I love digging deep into these books in God's Word, so many treasures to be found when we are willing to do the work.
I loved the entire message but the best for me was the last.  Idols.  How we try our best to rationalize our way through believing they don't exist in our lives and yet they surround us.  I loved the story Eddie shared from Mark Driscoll.  If you didn't hear the message, jump online and take a listen.  That story was an eye opener all by itself.  I'm thankful Eddie challenged us by pointing out how it's ANYTHING or ANYONE who takes our time, energy, or resources.  It's so difficult in our culture to keep things in a proper perspective.  We get so caught up in celebrities and sports and how many of us have even let another person become our idol not because we like them but maybe because we don't.  They sap our thoughts and we give them power over our emotions.  Yep, that's making them an idol.  Guilty.  One of the things I love about Michael Roth, USC pitcher, is that he says "baseball is what I do, it's not who I am".  What a great perspective and a great lesson for all of us.  I guess my take away is that the more I focus on Christ and the more time I spend in His Word, the less time I have to focus on the things that don't matter and the people that aren't worth my allegiance.  He is the only one worthy of our time, energy and resources.  He's the only one who will never disappoint us or make us feel like we have wasted our time going there.  He's the only one who has our very best in mind.  Happy Monday to all!!

Monday Morning Perspective

As I sat going over my notes this morning from yesterday's message, I gained a new and refreshed respect for how much study and time it takes for my husband to bring a message the way he did.  It was a "put on your thinking cap" one for sure.  All of the different thoughts from other theologians and scripture from the Old Testament and New Testament was mind blowing.  I love those messages best of all.  It reinforces how all of scripture works together and how God truly is the same yesterday, today and forever.  It's definitely worth your time to check it out online.
What I took away with most is the need to pray for myself and others.  The need for quick repentance when we sin and how we need to be focused on our own sin and not the sin of others.  I love how he pointed out in this passage in 1John 5:16-17 that it says if we SEE another sin then pray.  Not if we hear about it or go call someone or sit down over dinner and discuss it with someone, but we PRAY!!  So often we tend to overlook those commands in scripture and the little words like SEE!!  Thankful for God's grace in light of how often I blow it and my need for repentance every day.  May we all focus more on our own sins and failures than those of others and may we handle all situations the way God commands us to.

Colorado...Graduation...Summer Begins

Well to piggyback on a post a few posts back, God did some more showing up and showing out in our midst.  He answered some little prayers in big ways and gave us a smooth trip in every way to Colorado and back.  He gave us very little traffic and a perfect parking spot at the airport only to walk in and be right at our counter and very little waiting.  We had a super time in a perfect amount of time during our layovers in Atlanta and Dallas with a few treats to make us grin along the way.  The big prayer need came when we were flying into Grand Junction only to have the pilot come on and tell us we would have to reroute to Denver because of the terrible winds.  He didn't think he could land in the conditions and we knew a reroute to Denver also meant a 4 hour drive back to Grand Junction and it was already about 9pm.  I gripped Eddie's arm as we went through the turbulence (always nice to have flesh to grip when scared) and we both started praying to the God that we knew could calm that storm.  He did it in His Word and we knew if He chose to He could calm that wind storm as well.  Without saying a word to each other we knew exactly how the other was praying.  We could still see out of the window and all we could see was mountains.  Much to our surprise the pilot continued lowering that plane and before we knew it we were on the runway in Grand Junction.  The whole plane cheered and Eddie and I were praising!!  As soon as the man from the hotel picked us up at the airport he was telling us how bad it had been there all day but suddenly it had all calmed down.  We knew we were meant to be there, He had made it all happen and come together and He proved faith in Him was the perfect path!!!

We had a super fun week.  Wish we had won some games but the time with Stephen and his team was fabulous!  They were all treated like superstars and the people couldn't have been more hospitable.  We took a day and went touring with one of Stephen's teammate's parents.  We had no idea they were Christians too but it was an extra treat since we got to see some of God's most beautiful work with those who saw it all from that same perspective.  We talked about what a mighty, creative God He is and what a beautiful setting that would be for our alone time with Him every day. We all had tears as we talked about His goodness.  That was just an extra blessing God chose to give us along the way.
And yes (as was mentioned previously too) we got back in perfect time for John's baseball banquet.  All planes were on time, no traffic coming home, God is good!!  It was a special night for the boys especially seniors.  Graduation time was fun as family arrived to celebrate John's special time.  I only cried once...when they moved their tassels, something just seemed so final then.
Now bring on the summer!!  My favorite time of year. It's going to be different, 1st time in 10 years noone is playing summer baseball.  I'm praying for lots of  family fun and relaxation, lots of God time alone and with other believers, some ministry opportunities, and that every day will be an opportunity to experience God in a way that will heal some hurts, clear up some uncertainties, bring a huge smile to my face, and cause me to praise Him whether things are good or not so good.  I know He is in the midst of it all and I know that a little better than I did a year ago and I hope I will know it even more a year from now.

Monday Morning Perspective

We are looking at the end of 1John but before John let us go he dealt with the issue of prayer and I'm so glad that he did. Eddie's message yesterday was from chapter 5 verses 14 n 15.  He talked about the confidence of prayer, the conditions for answered prayer and the clear answers we receive from God when we pray.
I think the 2 main things I came away with most was that prayer is a privilege and we must believe as we pray according to His will!  We get to go before the God of the universe and know that He hears us (based on the conditions we talked about).  He loves us and wants a relationship with us and that is formed through our prayer life as we pray and read His Word and act in obedience on it.  We must believe when we approach Him that we can trust Him when we are praying according to His will that we will receive His best for us.  It may be a different answer than we want or expect but it will be His best for our best.
Prayer has been huge for me especially lately.  I knew it was the only way we would get through the previous months with all that was on our plate.  I even listed while we were in Colorado all the little and big things that I saw Him do as we prayed. Over just a few days time I had a list of about 12 things, some may seem small in the eyes of others, but they were little things that added up to some big things and I'm a big believer in the fact that God cares about even the "small" things in our life.  Little things like little traffic and a perfect parking place that kept us on schedule. Big things like flying into very strong winds that the pilot even thought would cause us to reroute.  I'm just saying that I believe we pray about everything and watch God do His thing.  No wonder the Christian life is anything but boring and mundane.  He is an active, involved, loving God.  Pray without ceasing is the way to go.