Ok, not so serious this time. How is everyone doing? Leave a comment!
SRay
Jul
7
Firstly, I want to thank Matt Hepp for helping to really think about this deeply. Last night Matt and I were talking on the phone about what true worship means and how such a thing is acheived. I took him to the scripture in John 4:23-24 where Jesus is speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well. He says, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be his worshippers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” These words come from Jesus as a response after the woman brought up a devisive and popular issue at the time concerning the place of worship. The Jews thought it should be in Jerusalem and the Samaritans thought it should be near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his sons. But, really the woman only brought up the issue to change Jesus’ attention from the earlier issue of her sinful life. His answer above must have totally blown her away. In our day, perhaps Jesus would have said it like this: “Who c where you worship? how you worship? what music? hands up or down? clapping or no clapping? pews or chairs? These things are nothing more than forms and traditions that help worship, but it’s me whom you’re worshipping. Put your focus there! Don’t get caught up in stupid arguments about how to do what. God is spirit, so no limitations! In other words, the spiritual realm isn’t even concerned with physical stuff. When it comes worshipping God, the really important issue concerns the stuff you can’t see. And so, the question is ‘what kind of worshippers does the Father want?’. The answer is: those who worship in spirit and truth. He wants the ones who worship through the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Truth of Jesus Christ. And notice, I didn’t say spirit OR truth. Because too many pick one or the other. But, they are made to edify each other. The Truth leads one to the Spirit. The Spirit illuminates the Truth. They work together and balance each other out so you can’t have one without the other. People or churches who choose one without the other will always be handicapped. Too many “charismatic” churches worry so much about spiritual doctrine that they neglect the very Truth that they are called to preach. People can run around like apes in a zoo, howling and screaming and ’speaking in tongues’, but don’t have the slightest clue about how to apply scripture to their lives. And on the other end of the spectrum, too many fundamental churches are only focused on Truth. Many in this group can quote entires books of the Bible and explain complex theological positions and doctrine, but will absolutely bore you to tears in their churches because there is no excitement, no illumination, no filling of the Holy Spirit. So again, spirit and truth are designed to reign together, not separately. And seriously, could you imagine what would happen if we lived this scripture out to its potential? I mean, could you imagine? No limitations. No doubts. No arguments. Just passionately worshipping God the way he intended. Indeed, an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be his worshippers.”
SRay
Jul
3
Last night, I experienced a depression that only comes a few times during the year for me. At the present time, I am dealing with an issue that has completely incapacitated my ability to see past my own personal desires. I have always seen myself as one of those people who deals with adversity well. But, last night, Satan kicked my butt. I wanted to die…literally. Not or something, but, like Job, I just wanted to die. That’s how bad this issue has gotten. And I know that some of your ears are burning, but trust my judgment in keeping this to myself. But anyway, in my self-pitiful reflection of how terribly this thing sucks, I was acting like one of my least favorite characters in the Bible: Job’s wife. After all of the tragedy that befell them, she said to Job, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”. And friends, that is EXACTLY what I wanted to do last night. I wanted to just straight curse God out. For this issue isn’t, for me, a result of sin. It is something even beyond my control, yet so hurtful that I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. It is a burden that God has allowed that seems waytoo heavy to carry. After all, I didn’t ask for this crap! So yeah, you’re dang right I wanted to “curse God and die”! But then, I look at Job’s response to the wife: “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?”. Job understood that fortune wanes and waxes like a lunar cycle. And all that happens, good or bad, will serve God’s purpose. And I cannot shrink to the shallow depths of self-pity. I have to rise above my circumstances and worship God in spite of them. And eventually, daily, my burden will get lighter until it is…gone. Please, Father, I beg you…speed that day. And please, dear friends, do pray for me during this time.
SRay
