Monday, January 18, 2010

The Importance of Worship


What sets your life apart from that of your co-workers and friends? If you are a worshipper of God it is probably what you did first thing in the morning. Believers usually develop the habit of starting their day with worship early in their walk in the Spirit... my time of worship usually begins in the shower (a great place to sing praise to God). Soggy but sincere!

Adoration, thanksgiving, praise, worship- all are nuances of the same act. To praise God is to thank him for what he has done, to adore him is to express love, to give thanks is to demonstrate appreciation, to worship is to declare the high worth of the One who is over all. Each of these are empowering to us personally. We are unlikely to give a second gift to a person who does not seem appreciative of the first gift we have given them. In the same way, our praise and thanksgiving is an invitation to keep giving to us. Does that sound selfish? Well, it isn't! It is a recognition that we are completely dependant upon the God of the Universe for all that we are! 'Without Him, we can do nothing', the scripture assures us.

Christening our day with praise is defining for us the purpose of the day. We are to live to bring honor and glory to King Jesus by the way that we live our lives. Who else is worthy of being honored with our "unceasing" attention (1 Thess 5.17). Whatever we put our hands to, whatever direction our labors take us, they are to bring glory to Him (Col 3.17).

Yet often I know that Christians fail to begin their day properly. It stands to reason that no believer can give the whole day who does not give the first fruits of their day to the King! What could be more defining and shaping than lifting up the Name of the Savior. This habit of surrendering the rest of the day will reap the blessing of God. It will shape our decisions and our attitudes. It will correct our tendencies to lean on the flesh for decisions, and to adopt fleshly attitudes throughout the day, and it will set the enemy on his heels first thing in the morning.

Jesus taught that each day has enough trouble for itself. Trouble can find its way into any day, but the day that begins in praise and adoration consistently makes the declaration... Jesus is Lord and as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!

Monday, January 04, 2010

Scared...are You?

Are you scared? I am getting there. The recent terrorist attempt to blow up a plane with Americans flying in from Yemen has me a bit tweaked. Seems that we can't determine that a single Muslim man with no luggage and who is buying a one way ticket to the US should make some red flags go up. Further, it is bothersome that his name was actually known - he had been turned in by his father! This is now the second terrorist attack under the present administration. It seems to me that there simply isn't the war-time mentality that should be there in the security sector. Sympathy for the terrorist, but not for you and I. Concern about the rights of everyone except the honest and hardworking tax payers in our society.

The whole global warming thing seems to have been bolstered by bad science. At least that is what we are finding out as we read the emails from the creators of the famous "hockey stick" graph. Seems that this was all a sales job from the panic mongers.

I get a bit scared, too, when I see how our culture has fallen prey to the freakish and weird. A short look at the news or the news paper these days shows how our societal standards have fallen. Things once eschewed are now embraced publicly, and proudly and the next generation is growing up with the leftovers of relativism and nihilism. Basically, nothing has any intrinsic meaning, anything goes because nothing matters, and the worth of something or someone is based strictly in the utilitarian view of them. This undermines every institution in our land. Without a sense of right and wrong, without a clear understanding of human worth and honor, without a view of having to answer for our actions against another we stand at the brink of collapse.

This administration is seeking to set in place what seems to many (most) a foolish expenditure. This health care debacle is sending us down a horrible path. Already the Mayo Clinic is refusing to take Medicare payments because the payout is so low. Soon we will see the outworking of this failed policy that no one knows how to fund. So our taxes will skyrocket. Those who are not working will not be encouraged to work, those who live in reckless debt will not be rebuked, but the workers- those who work and pay taxes- will bear this burden too. Sunday's tribune had an article on the 2010 tax revolt that is brewing in the US. What will happen if people simply refuse to pay their taxes? What would happen if on April 15Th no envelopes came into the IRS? None. The Obama mantra of "Splurge. Borrow. Repeat" would stumble and sputter. Then what?

Anarchy? Chaos? Violence in the streets? like I said... it is getting scary.