as one of my teachers at school recently put in his syllabus for one of my classes, "Gaining knowledge for mere pleasure or for knowledge sake is not enough; knowledge is meant to be applied."
when we were going over the syllabus and he said that, i had to stop and evaluate what i had been doing in college. have i been merely gaining knowledge for the sake of knowing more, or to actually apply what i learn in school to my life and ministry? as i thought about it, i quickly came to the conclusion that i have been doing both, for the last couple of years. there is knowledge that i simply do not care about, like in a concepts of math class, where i learned about different methods of counting votes, and there have been classes such as a history course (that i find very interesting), where i had to learn things and retain the knowledge to simply do well on a test. on the flip side, there are a great many of my classes that i find superb to generic math courses (courses for mathematically challenged people such as myself), where i have longed for more and more knowledge and wisdom from my professors, so that i could learn to excel more in my life and in my ministry.
to go along with that, i wonder how many people (the people that i am directing this to being professing christians), actually read their Bibles merely for knowledge sake, to score a good work with God, or to search for knowledge, wisdom, revelation, and truth, in order to apply it to their lives. many people i have overheard in conversations, and even people that i personally know, have said, "oh, you know, i usually turn to Bible when i am going through something difficult in my life..."
what i have to say to that is that the Bible IS the best place to turn in times of strife, mourning, grief, and depression, but it is not only time when we should be searching for knowledge. again i will say, it is either consciously or sub-consciously an effort for a person, in times of trouble, to turn to the Bible for knowledge, because they either want knowledge to apply to the situation they are in, or they want to read words that will make them "feel good." however, i believe that that MUST NOT be one's only motive for reading God's Word, or for worshipping Him.
God deserves our ALL, and we must strive to give that to Him. we must apply everything that procedes from the mouth of God to our lives. our every moment and movement needs to be directed towards worshipping and glorifying God. practicing of Christian disciplines is a must. meditation, prayer, fasting, serving, worship....these disciplines are all practices that as Christians, must be in our lives. to use James 2 as a guideline: one must fervently be striving for sanctification and righteousness. i don't, for a moment, think that it is my place to say that one is or is not saved, but as James puts it "what use is it, my brethren, if someone says that he has faith, but no works? Can that faith save him?" (james 2: 14) He continues on to say that faith without action is dead, being by itself.
to summarize, one must search for God's Wisdom, through mentors, studying His Word, Christian disciplines, and by actions. bread and butter, peanut butter and jelly, faith and actions, knowledge and application... these things go hand in hand with one another, and it is our calling to listen to God's Word and instruction and then to obey and carry out His Will...His good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12 and James 1: 17-18, 2: 8-26 were scriptures that i reflected upon before writing this blog.)
9.06.2006
7.19.2006
RENOVATION of the Soul
RENOVATION.
it's a word that until recent pondering, i almost always associate with the rebuilding of a house or other structure. however, while recently driving to the church i was trying to think of a name by which to associate the worship ministry with. (let me add this disclaimer: worship ministries do not NEED a name for themselves. one could simply refer to the worship ministry as "the worship ministry" and it would suffice; this is not an attempt to be "relevant" or "postmodern," 'cause the town in which i work is very far away from being a cultural "postmodern" center.)
i started thinking of something to call the worship ministry, because in recent conversations with some of the members of the worship team, i realized that some, if not most of them, don't really think of the worship team as a ministry. the word ministry itself means to aid someone, or to serve in some way. but the feeling that i get is that some people (in the collective body of the church) act as though worship is, in some regards, a self-serving act. nothing could be further from the truth!!
worshipping God is not something that we do on sunday mornings, but something that we should do with every breath we take. playing an instrument on sunday mornings, and being up on stage, is not something to do for self-glorification or for self-satisfying reasons, but an act of service and worship to our God. (sometimes i wonder what is going through the minds of worship leaders at megachurches during a service)
my job as a worship leader is to help lead others to the throne of God through song and other art, but my job as a christian is to be willing to let God take my thoughts, words, and actions wherever He choses, and to give Him glory when He works through me to implement a RENOVATION in someone's life. so anyway, the name that God laid on my heart was the name Renovate, by which my church has started calling our worship ministry, because we wish to (by God's gracious movement) implement change in other's lives, so that the unbeliever might see, and the believer will continue to move along in his/her sanctification.
it's a word that until recent pondering, i almost always associate with the rebuilding of a house or other structure. however, while recently driving to the church i was trying to think of a name by which to associate the worship ministry with. (let me add this disclaimer: worship ministries do not NEED a name for themselves. one could simply refer to the worship ministry as "the worship ministry" and it would suffice; this is not an attempt to be "relevant" or "postmodern," 'cause the town in which i work is very far away from being a cultural "postmodern" center.)
i started thinking of something to call the worship ministry, because in recent conversations with some of the members of the worship team, i realized that some, if not most of them, don't really think of the worship team as a ministry. the word ministry itself means to aid someone, or to serve in some way. but the feeling that i get is that some people (in the collective body of the church) act as though worship is, in some regards, a self-serving act. nothing could be further from the truth!!
worshipping God is not something that we do on sunday mornings, but something that we should do with every breath we take. playing an instrument on sunday mornings, and being up on stage, is not something to do for self-glorification or for self-satisfying reasons, but an act of service and worship to our God. (sometimes i wonder what is going through the minds of worship leaders at megachurches during a service)
my job as a worship leader is to help lead others to the throne of God through song and other art, but my job as a christian is to be willing to let God take my thoughts, words, and actions wherever He choses, and to give Him glory when He works through me to implement a RENOVATION in someone's life. so anyway, the name that God laid on my heart was the name Renovate, by which my church has started calling our worship ministry, because we wish to (by God's gracious movement) implement change in other's lives, so that the unbeliever might see, and the believer will continue to move along in his/her sanctification.
7.06.2006
when we worship what goes through our minds? maybe a better rhetorical question to ask would be, what is worship? do we worship?
when i was younger, i remember hearing a few sermons about worship. i can also remember being in school and learning about the Israelites and how they often turned from God to worship other idols; gods that they created for themselves. i remember those sermons that i heard on the topic of worship, where the pastors often led one down the road of "what is it that YOU worship?" it's a good question, but i remember asking myself, "do i worship?"
the answer is a resounding 'yes.' every one of us worships and when we realize that we then come back to the first question, "what is it that we worship." we hear in sermons, "every person is created with a God-shaped void in our souls, that only God can fill." i think another way of looking at it is that while people fill that black hole in their soul with other things than God, in the same way we worship everything else but God. Christians are just as good at this as non-believers. often times we do not live a life of worship that we are supposed to. we definitely worship, but the question and the answer is "What do we worship?"
this post is not to describe what IT is that we worship, but to point out that we were made to worship and glorify God in all that we do. so we worship all the time, no one escapes the act of worshipping something, but most of us simply do not worship God. even as a worship pastor, i find the Spirit reminding me that my mind is often not where it should be and that place where it should be is being aware of my actions and making sure that God is being glorified in all that i do.
when i was younger, i remember hearing a few sermons about worship. i can also remember being in school and learning about the Israelites and how they often turned from God to worship other idols; gods that they created for themselves. i remember those sermons that i heard on the topic of worship, where the pastors often led one down the road of "what is it that YOU worship?" it's a good question, but i remember asking myself, "do i worship?"
the answer is a resounding 'yes.' every one of us worships and when we realize that we then come back to the first question, "what is it that we worship." we hear in sermons, "every person is created with a God-shaped void in our souls, that only God can fill." i think another way of looking at it is that while people fill that black hole in their soul with other things than God, in the same way we worship everything else but God. Christians are just as good at this as non-believers. often times we do not live a life of worship that we are supposed to. we definitely worship, but the question and the answer is "What do we worship?"
this post is not to describe what IT is that we worship, but to point out that we were made to worship and glorify God in all that we do. so we worship all the time, no one escapes the act of worshipping something, but most of us simply do not worship God. even as a worship pastor, i find the Spirit reminding me that my mind is often not where it should be and that place where it should be is being aware of my actions and making sure that God is being glorified in all that i do.
7.05.2006
Be Still
be still and know that I am God.
i drive too fast. i recently (two months ago) just got an 06 mazda 6 ...it's beautiful, but that is besides the point. i drive a lot, and with recently starting at a new job in Union, MO (i live in the Saint Louis area), i drive a whole lot. i often find myself rushing a lot. the other day i was driving to Union, 53 miles away from my house, and i started thinking about how much we rush through our lives. this can be taken in many different ways, but the point that i am getting at is that we never seem to relax. as a matter of fact, we have to fit it into our schedule to go on vacation...the rest of the time we rush through everything.
as a Christian, i know that i don't often take the time to be still and spend time in study and prayer, or simply just listening for God to speak to me...in any way. it has become our habit to go through life as fast as we can, perhaps to do as many things as possible in the duration of our lives, because if we think about it (and i am convinced that we all do), we all know that we will die someday. no one denies that, so many people consciously or subconsciously try to cram as many things as possible into their everyday.
i encourage everyone (including myself) to try to be quiet, be still, and take in what's around you. enjoy the life God gave you and seek Him in all that you do, because He IS the hope we have, and He comforts those who seek Him.
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