The Worship Muse

The Secret of the Psalter

2011-09-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

“The New Testament laid emphasis upon ‘speaking to yourselves in Psalms” (Eph. 5:19) and “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms” (Col. 3:16). From ancient times in the Church a special significance has been attached to the common use of psalms. In many churches to this day constitutes the beginning of every service of common worship. The custom has been largely lost and we must find our way back to its prayers.”

"The Psalter is God’s Word and, with a few exceptions, the prayer of men as well.”

"A Psalm that we cannot utter as a prayer, that makes us falter and horrifies us, is a hint to us that here Someone else is praying, not we; that the One who is here protesting his innocence, who is invoking God’s judgment, who has come to such infinite depths of suffering is none other than Jesus Christ himself.”

“Jesus Christ prays through the Psalter in his congregation.”

Lessons from this school of prayer:

1. We should pray according to the Word of God, on the basis of promises.

2. We learn what we should pray.
Imprecatory Psalms (Wishing defeat upon our enemies). “In so far as Christ is in us, the Christ who took all the vengeance of God upon himself, who met God’s vengeance in our stead, who thus-stricken by the wrath of God-and in no other way, could forgive his enemies, who himself suffered the wrath that his enemies might go free-we, too, as members of this Jesus Christ, can prayer these psalms, through Jesus Christ, from the heart of Jesus Christ.”

Innocence Psalms “We declare our innocence not as our own, but as a ‘prayer out of the heart of Jesus Christ that was sinless and clean, out of the innocence of Christ in which he has given us a share by faith."

Lament Psalms “Not to make our own laments, but because all this suffering was real and actual in Jesus Christ because the Man Jesus Christ suffered sickness, pain, shame, and death.
3. The Psalms teach us to pray as a fellowship.

For those who are concerned the The Lord’s Prayer in the New Testament is primary, “Oetinger, in his exposition of the Psalms, brought our a profound truth when he arranged the whole Psalter according to the seven petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. What he had discerned was that the whole sweep of the Book of Psalms was concerned with nothing more nor less than the brief petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. . . The more deeply we grow into the psalms and the more often we pray them as our own, the simple and rich will our prayer become.

(From Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, p. 44-50)

The Possum Re-Cap

2011-08-31T13:08:00.001-07:00

The Possum Re-Cap

24 men from First Free and beyond
Came together four days to conquer The Pond
We were the possum, not the wolf nor the loon.
Our valiant flotilla launched out before noon...

Panama Doug dressed in white and a hat
Was barista and cook, on a trail mat he sat
With comments of color he caressed all our ears
sounds of the majestic will ring through the years

Greg came from the Airforce, a manly man's man
If you're green he'll help you the best that he can
In taking a break from guarding our nation
He made H20 at the hydration station

Bob (Or Hong Gu) was my paddling buddy
When I stopped to fish he did photography
For the sake of the group he did all our dishes
From sticky ole' oatmeal to ick from the fishes

Jordan the outdoorsman from very good stock
One night he decided to sleep on a rock
Thanks to his lures we snacked every night
On bass or on northern fried crispy and light.

Pete was a techy with gadgets a few
A camera attached to the bow of his canoe
With iphone he shot the stars late at night
With kindle he read to his heart's delight

Ted Jimmy Carter gave 'leader' new meaning
Cast a vision for bait that is clanking and spinning.
Bald as an eagle he fished like one, too
Catching a northern under bright skies of blue

Brother Ben kept it light with entertaining banter
'bout chemistry n biology, yes, he sure is a teacher
With stogie in mouth and rod in his hand
The fish should have feared him, for 3 he did land.

And I with my pen and my notebook in hand
Will recount this trip as best as I can
From seagull to Zephyr we strain'd 'gainst the wind
Poor Jordan lost his lunch on several islands

A full day at Zephyr, truly scenic delight
The lake to ourselves was a welcoming sight
A brief trip to Monument became something to see
Possums hailed Canucks with two cheeks and some wee.

Through Saganaga's waves we paddled to Camper's
There I swam like a fool to an island in sandals
The next day we finished our trip with a paddle
Herded into vans like wet smelly cattle

A Pathway to Wonder

2011-07-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

When Albert Einstein was a boy or a young man, he remembers imagining traveling on a beam of light or something of the sort. This thought was far fetched, of course, but it revealed the beginning of his rumination on spatial concepts. Fast forward ten years, he is developing those concepts into the general theory of relativity. Ten and twenty more, and those concepts are being applied to change the world.

Einstein's commitment to challenge the status quo is both an inspiration and a warning. Without his re-imagining physics in light (slight pun intended) of new data, modern science would never have understood the power of the atom or how light actually reacts to gravitational fields. Scientists would have remained mired in justifying the existence of 'ether' (an immaterial substance supposed to exist in the transmission of light). Challenging the status quo allowed Einstein to explore the dynamics that actually existed in electromagnetic waves and at the subatomic level.

The warning from Einstein's life comes in the form of personal shortcomings. All the while busy with science, it seems he paid little attention to his family or faith. Having held only nominally to his Jewish religion, it remains questionable that he maintained a relationship with Yahweh by loving the Lord his God with all his heart (Deut. 6). Remarkably, Einstein does maintain the Creator's role in the universe, unlike many scientists of his day and ours.

I am indebted to my reading of Isaacson's Einstein: His Life and Universe for stretching my mind to walk a renewed pathway of wonder at the physical universe. I am amazed at the existence of light and the physical realities that occur to create what we take for granted as 'vision.' A light/energy source produces powerful waves of photons, traveling at enormous speeds, passing through vacuum and atmosphere to reflect off other simple collections of atoms, all to eventually be interpreted as color and shape by our retinas. In other words sun light bounces off a leaf to be seen my be as a wilting maple on 100 degree day.

What a day earlier was a mere convenience to my sweaty self became the wonder of reality. The wonder is not so much how it happens, though that is interesting, too. The wonder is that it happens. My son, who is six months old, looks at leaves with wonder. He has never seen them before. He is intrigued by a tree, especially one moved by the wind. There is no need for thought about the intricacies of the tree to appreciate it. He sees it and is captured. "What is that?" might be his thought, or "Look at that!" or more likely, just plain staring. Rendered numb by years of viewing, I don't even pay attention. Seen it all, I think.

Fortunately, the eyes of Micah and Einstein both rouse me from wonder slumber to appreciate not only that light happens, but why light happens. Light was the third invention by the Greatest mind ever-

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness (Gen. 1:3-4)

Why do we have light? God made it. It is an entity separate from darkness. He evaluated light and judged it good. Since then, it's existence has made the rest of creation observable. The volume of light will one day increase, as darkness vanishes and as God himself becomes observable. Somehow He will eventually reveal himself as the source of all light.

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Rev. 22:4-5)

Have you paused to appreciate vision and the realities of the physical universe today? I am grateful to Einstein's grappling with these realities and new appreciation I have for things seen. I give credit to a glorious God who made these realities and has hidden them from us, that we might, by searching, studying, postulating, testing and discovering, live in the wonder of the world around us.

Answered Prayer

2011-05-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

A year and a half ago, I was thinking about what God wanted me to do with my life. A mentor/friend of mine instructed me to write down my prayer requests on a sheet of paper. Doing so, he said, would help me clarify what I was thinking in my heart. It would also help me to wait and trust God with those things, rather than worrying about them.

So I thought and prayer and wrote down 10 things, each of them driven by my passion of who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. Months later, I met with my mentor/friend at a Mexican restaurant. After we munched on chips and salsa a while, I showed him my sheet of requests. He took my Bible and said this is where you put it. He opened my Bible to Psalms 91. "You put it there because you trust God with it. He hears you and protects you and your family." It was a moving moment for me. Here are some words from both Psalm 90 and Psalm 91.

"May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands." - Ps. 90:17

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty." - Ps. 91:1

It is powerful for me--to think of God's promise and protection.

Some of those requests were: "Help me to lead an inspiring worship ministry. Help me finish ordination as unto the Lord. Help Erica have a healthy pregnancy." And God has been faithful to work these things out. Good Friday and Easter services this year were about as inspiring as any I've led. The ordination process has sharpened my mind and reminded me of the clarity of God's Word. Micah was born as healthy as a baby boy could be--and continues to be healthy. What great answers to prayer. Thank you, Lord.

One of the requests was "To make it abundantly clear when and how and if I should leave First Free Church." That was a hard one, because it would mean change. It, too, has been answered as after a conversation with the church leadership, I have decided to resign from First Free last week. It was abundantly clear.

There are several prayer requests left on that sheet that I am trusting God with. I trust that He knows what He is doing as we will be seeking His guidance for our next steps this Summer. Erica and I do so, knowing that He is the one who will establish the work of our hands. We seek God knowing that He is our protection. God does answer prayer. To God be the glory!

A journey through the Qur’an, pt. 1

2009-10-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, my day off, I went wandering through Minneapolis on my mountain bike. Snow was predicted for the next day, so I assumed this might be the last nice fall ride. I rode over the stone arch bridge. I passed a bridal party getting their pictures taken, tempted to ride up right behind them as they all smiled and make myself part of the family. There’s a Dunn Brothers coffee shop just up the hill where I rested for a few moments. I didn’t buy anything, so they asked me to leave—fair enough.

I rode over to the University campus and entered Kaufmann Union. I explored the three levels, the restaurants, the movie theater, the large meeting hall, the student book store, the large collection of couches and cushy chairs. I noticed some representatives from a local Mosque camped out by the escalators. At first I was disturbed that there was no Christian representation in the place, only Muslim. By the time I was ready to go, I walked past their table again and saw they were giving away paperback copies of their holy book, the Qu’ran. I asked if I could have one and they were more than eager, of course.

They started to discuss with me how good the book was and how it’s a continuation of what the other prophets said. One of their comments regarded how the gospels were not as reliable in fact as the Qu’ran because they were written by man, not words given by God. Having studied both Testaments that Christians believe in their original languages to some degree, and having a strong belief in the historical reliability of these texts, I pursued them further regarding the issue of the harmonizing the Mohammed with previously revealed Scripture.

It was an interesting discussion. The white guy with the long red—haired beard told me he had converted from Agnosticism to Islam and he dressed as he did to try and be like the prophets of old as much as possible. He gave me a book that defended the authority of Mohammed, and said they are there every Thursday and Friday. With that in mind, I thought, what if I were to actually read through the book that over 1 billion people on earth claim to be the last word on faith?

So, as best I can I seek to work through this holy book, ask questions and see what I can learn from original sources. Of course, this little paperback being in English is not the original source, as my Muslim friends are quick to point out. I will only get the truest meaning from the Arabic text. Granted, I understand this from the perspective that Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek that our English Bibles are the most rich and meaningful resource any Bible scholar could tap. Here my questions start:

Is it possible to be a true Muslim without understanding the Qur’an in Arabic? Did Allah only intend Arabic speakers to understand its meaning? Are there cross-cultural principles and beliefs that this text teaches that are adequately translatable into other languages?

Certainly as a student of the Torah and the Christian Canon, we would never abandon the original languages or cultures or their study, but would say that modern English translations are effective at communicating a high percentage of the story and doctrines and principles of the faith.

I only feel qualified to speak about the validity and interpretation of Genesis and Revelation, so I will write to the issues raised by these devoted Islamic missionaries with respect to my understanding of Christian doctrine.

The Authority of Mohammed

Was Jesus speaking of the coming of Mohammed, not the Holy Spirit in John 16:7?

The Muslim argument goes that since Jesus was present and filled with the Holy Spirit that Jesus could not have been speaking about the Holy Spirit, since the Holy Spirit was already there. It doesn’t make sense that Jesus and Holy Spirit would have to go away for the Holy Spirit to come again. It refers instead to a different Counselor/Comforter that would come. These missionaries seemed to call the Holy Spirit “the Praised One’ also, which introduces a new idea to the text.

The word means "one who comes alongside." The Greek word used in the text is parakletos, meaning helper, encourager, one mediates on behalf of, I think the Muslim I talked with called it “the Praised One” which seems like a far wandering from the Greek word. I am curious to know if Mohammed acts and serves as a helper like one who comes alongside and helps his people. Does he acts as one who mediates on behalf of his people? If he does, how can we know if Allah will hear his advocacy? Does Mohammed even come close to doing what the Holy Spirit does in reminding people of the truth? Convicting men of sin and judgment? I will have to read the Qu’ran to find these things out. I have a sense that Mohammed is very good at accusing people of sin, however, does Mohammed function as an advocate?

The text argues that parakletos = the Holy Spirit. A look at the context of John 14-17, all passages in which Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit as he prepares his disciples for his upcoming departure, show three obvious uses of the word parakletos in extremely close association with the one titled Holy Spirit. In John 14:6, it says “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” The grammatical construction is what’s called an appositive, a renaming of one thing by another. Take for example, “Jim, the smelly guy by the door, regularly turned away customers from the restaurant.” Jim = the smelly guy. Two nouns next to each other meaning they refer to each other. John 15:26, John 14:16-17 also use parakletos in a similar appositive.

Why would Jesus or the gospel writers use the same term to refer mystically to a man who would appear 6oo+ years later? The context argues for agreement with a previously mentioned usages of parakletos where The Counselor=the Holy Spirit.

That’s all I have time for today.

Loving God Wholeheartedly

2009-10-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

As Tim Olson spoke this morning at our men’s meeting, I was reminded again of the priority that Jesus gave to what church people call the Great Commandment. In fact, it isn’t just church people who would call it that, it was Jesus who called it the greatest commandment.

Look it up if you’d like: Deuteronomy 6, verse 5 is the Old Testament quote, from the law given to Israel through Moses: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Jesus quotes it this way, almost identically in Matthew 22:37 and Mark 12:30 respectively:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment."

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

I can’t help but notice Mark recites the Old Testament concept for concept better than Matthew. Matthew adds “mind” and deletes “strength.” Nevertheless, the parallel witness of Mark gives us hope that the Jesus, the son of God knew his Old Testament.

After doing a brief word study of the terms used in both the Old testament and the New testament, as well as a look at the context surrounding Deuteronomy 6, I came to these conclusions regarding the Great Commandment:

1) The command to love God is based in God’s desire to see His people flourish and endure for generations. The context of Deuteronomy 6 gives the reasons for this and all the rest of the commands God would give:

These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, (vs. 1)
so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and (vs. 2)

so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey (vs. 2)

so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. (vs. 3)

Moses, the messenger of this command lays out this directive in light of God’s initiative of a love relationship with his people. He laid out this distinct relationship when he revealed himself to Moses in the ten commandments:

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:5-6)

The Great Commandment is not a random, obligation God demands of his people, but rather an order rooted in God’s love for His people. It is rooted in his desire to see his people flourish and endure for generations.

2) To obey the command to love God does not necessarily depend on an initial feeling of warmth towards God. This observation may be contestable if we only look at the Hebrew text where there are no distinctions made regarding types of love. However, in Greek, the word (agapao) calls us to love God out of deep appreciation and high regard, not out of the warmth of interpersonal associations that the word phileo might have conveyed. In this sense, one’s emotional state could be anywhere and still love (agapao) God. Of course, as the rest of the verse carries on, our emotions must play their part to the full in our loving God.

Taken in this sense, this command to love God might let us “love” him, even when we don’t “like” him. I say this as one who enjoys being in that place where I sense I have “heard from God” and “feel close to God.” It is isn’t authentic emotions if I say that all the time. Regardless, the truth of who God is stands strong and my obedience to the command to love God needn’t begin from some kind of warmth I feel towards God.

3) Our loving response to God incorporates the whole person. The terms heart, soul, mind have significant semantic overlap. Taken as a whole, any one of these terms could mean thinking, feeling or willing. Even as the lexicon scholars Louw & Nida suggest, these terms would need to be translated differently in different cultures to effectively communicate meaning. Regardless of whatever psychology theory about the relationship between mind, emotion, will, inner man, outer man, affections, appetites that you hold to, the semantics and term definitions are not the end goal. The command to love God demands all of us, asking all that is going on inside and all that happens through our physical body to work together as a team effort.

4) There is a choice we make in loving God whole-heartedly that requires us to point ourselves towards God. It takes place inside of us. It results in outward expressions of love, towards God and neighbors.

5) There are physical activities that help us love God. The Deuteronomy passage suggests:

- Be active in passing on your faith to the next generation. Impress them on your children. (7)

- Talk about your faith. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (7)

- Use physical reminders on the body and at home: Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. (8) Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (9)

- Find Remembering exercises. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (12)

- Ask yourself the question: “Do I seek God’s approval or someone else’s?” Do what is right and good in the LORD’S sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, (18)

Who Needs Our Worship?

2009-09-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

“The multitude of your sacrifices, what are they to me?” says the LORD. Isaiah 1:11

St. Augustine was a scholar who converted to Christianity in the 4th century. His story is intriguing and his writings are quoted by almost every Christian tradition, including our own. In the Free Church you may have heard "In essentials, unity, in non-essentials diversity, in all things charity." That’s vintage Augustine. He doesn’t have the same authority as scripture when he writes, but he writes humbly, thoughtfully and powerfully. Confessions is Augustine’s life story, written as one long prayer to God. I have been encouraged to continue journal my own life in prayers by his work. I commend the book to you and leave you with some of Augustine’s thoughts on worship.

I call upon you, my God, my mercy, who made me and did not forget me when I had forgotten you. I call you into my soul which you are making ready to receive you by the longing which you yourself inspire. Do not forsake me now that I call upon you; for before I could call upon you at all, you were ahead of me; by all sorts of voices and in all kinds of ways over and over again you pressed yourself on my attention, so that I might hear you from far away and be converted and might call upon you who were calling me.
For you, Lord, have wiped away all those acts of mine which deserved punishment; from my hands which sinned against you you did not exact the price due, and in everything I did that deserved well, you were ahead of me, so that you might give the due reward to the work of your own hands, the hands that made me. Because before I could be, you were; nor was I such as to deserve the gift of being. Yet, see, I am and I am because of your goodness which went before--before all that you have made me and before all out of which you made it. For you had no need of me, nor am I anything so good as to be of help to you, my Lord and my God. It is not that I should serve you in case you grew tired in your work, not that without my service your power would be less. You are not like land which requires cultivation if it is not to be barren; it is not in that way that you need my worship. No, I worship you and I serve you so that it may be well with me in relation to you, from whom it comes that I exist as someone capable of well-being. (The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Rex Carroll, translator, Book XIII).

Eight Big Boys

2009-08-21T06:58:00.000-07:00

I wrote this during and after our trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area a couple of weeks ago.

Eight Big Boys
- To be sung to “Yankee Doodle”

Eight big boys from First Free Church
C’noed the boundary waters
Left couch and remote behind
With wives and sons and daughters
Packed a pair of underwear
Was that all I needed?
The doctor said that I could go
So with care I proceeded

To Grand Marais we left with haste
And stayed at Pastor Harvey’s
Slept in comfort, ate real well
It’s Northern hospitality
Up the gunflint trail we drove
In at Seagull Lake
Little did we know that eight mere
Hours it would take

Captain Ole was our man
He headed our adventure
Navigated like a champ
With calculated measure
Ole, Ole, lead us on
Into great blue waters
When this trip has come and gone
We’ll hold you up in honor

Browner was a fisherman
With Mountain Dew and paddle
“Trolled” the lakes with his own hand
Caught nothing now I tattle
Cast it out, cast it again
Never from it weary
If you ever catch a thing
I might believe your theory

Scotty is a carpenter,
A jack of every trade
Cabinets and paddles are just
Some of what he’s made
Once for dinner he prepared
Dehydrated spaghetti
Adding water was such fun
Your talents sure are many

Jon was vet’ran guide and cook
His meals were a sensation
After feeding us would
Encourage contemplation
Engineered our feasts so well
Loved the steak and chicken
Cared for us e’en at the end
By lending us tenactin

Stopped at Knife to set up camp
It could not come too soon
Not much happened here, we slept;
While Scotty shot at loons
Jeremy snored, kept us up
Jon cooked eggs and bacon
Packed it up and then we left
Eight boys on their vacation

Knife, Amoeber, and Topaz,
Day: two; lakes down: just three
God had mercy on our backs,
A sweet site at lake cherry
Portage nearly killed us all
Muscles were so tender
Lunch was good as I recall
Cheese, sausage, bread, p-butter

Mark & I swam ‘cross the lake
As fish we were in water
Browner, Koby caught bass so we
Cooked some up for dinner
Love the taste of small mouth bass
Heated over fire
Fresh from where he swam his last
And only inches higher.

Football player Jeremy
was quite the entertainer
Showed me how to fish
With hook, leech, bobber and a sinker
Did a little dance one time
A joyful celebration
At the catch of a walleye
He showed his delectation

Mark is our man from the south,
No, wait he’s from Ohio.
Kicked out of his church because
He read from NIV -- O
Pastor Mark, you rebel, you
Paddle strong and steady
When I needed some ear plugs
I ask you ‘cuz you’re ready.

Playing bard has been my role,
I do not take it lightly
Would have wrote much less but thanks
To Jeremy I write nightly
I won’t think about my legs
They’re not really throbbing
Aches and pains, I’m going to bed
My sleep you have been robbing

After pancakes we moved on
Portages to go: four
Roots and rocks and up and down
Until we see the lake shore
We all peed on Canada
North of monument
Paddled up the Sag Lakes as
Relieved Americans

Camped by Munker Island for a
Final night of rest
Only to be greeted by
Green Man of the Forest
Mask on face he was a friend
With us he would fish
“Litter Not” was his command
“Come back again” his wish

Chip was oldest and best dressed:
Red jacket and brown pants
Navy man & teacher, now
Consults for insurance.
When the rain began to fall
And our spirits tired
He’s the one to cheer us on
Keeping the weary fired

Morning rain was our goodbye
Our trip is at its end
Food was gone and so we lunched
With Ole and with Sven
Eight big boys from First Free Church
C’noed the boundary waters
Left the wild to return to wives and sons
and daughters!

Getting to the Heart of Worship, pt. 1

2009-05-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

"He has put eternity into man's heart" (Eccl. 3:11)

Everyone worships something, because we are created to worship. When I went to India a few years ago, I was struck by many the temples and idols. Poor folks would offer food sacrifices to the god of their choice, often an elephant-like creature with many arms. "Sacred Cows" walked the streets like princes while humans were treated with far less dignity in the nearby barrios. The irony in this culture's value system is striking, but it is so only because we are blind to our own culture. Americans by and large tend to worship self.

For this week's muse, I want to direct you to Mark Driscoll's talk on worship (about 20 minutes) as he introduces several concepts that clarify what worship is. Enjoy the video and take some time to process the questions at the end of the video with someone.

Who worships?

How does the Trinity worship?

What kinds of things can be in the place of glory? (He later calls these "functional saviors)

How does what you worship create your identity?

What did Martin Luther say about worship?

Quotables:

"Taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing." (This sounds like Tim Keller)

"The opposite of Christianity isn't atheism, it is idolatry." (Peter Kreeft)

1 John 5:21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

"The human heart is an idol factory" (This sounds like Martin Luther)

Personally:
1. What am I offer my heart to as the answer to my heart's greatest longings?

2. Who or what do you love the most?

3. What are you afraid of? (being alone, being unhealthy)

4. What do you make sacrifices for?

5. What do you consider the mediator between you and God? (songs?)

6. What is your actual functional view of heaven? Are you satisfied with Jesus?

For those of you who want more:

Here's a take on our School of Worship's Key verse: Romans 12:1

If you really want more:

Here's the full message on Worship

Honoring God in Curious Times

2009-05-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

I Samuel 6:19-20 - “But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them, and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?"

Years ago, the disobedient Israel suffered the loss of her most famous symbol of God’s presence- the ark was captured by foreigners. God uses this moment to speak to these foreigners about His own superiority. God himself afflicts several Philistine cities through the presence of His ark—destroying their idol ‘Dagon’ and causing an epidemic of tumors amongst its people. In a desperate move to rid themselves of the ark, they sent the ark back to Israel, via a cattle cart. The foreigners were humbled and keenly aware that the God of Israel was no ordinary ‘god,’ but one deserving respect and honor.

They watched the cart, as God directed the cattle back to Beth Shemesh (from here noted as BS), where the Israelites rejoiced at the return of “God’s presence.” Amidst the celebration, however, tragedy strikes. Several of the men pry open the ark to peer inside. Rumor had it that inside the ark were the two tablets with the covenant written on them, the covenant the Lord gave to Moses (Ex. 40:20). Perhaps these men wondered: “Were the tablets still there?” or “Did the Philistines place something else in the ark?” So they did and they died.

It could have been a scene right out of Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, sans the Nazis.

Before we think of God as being harsh with His presence, think about how where the ark was before this: In the Holy of Holies—a place visited only once a year by a priest. The ark was also carried only by Levites, and then, only with poles.

The men of BS were thoroughly unschooled in the things of God. They had to be taught just as the foreigners were taught that God’s ‘presence’ is nothing to joke about.

Are we any different than the people of BS? In the new covenant, we don’t carry an ark around as a token of God’s presence. The Holy Spirit living in us is the presence of God in us. Yet, when it comes to rightly relating to God, we are as unschooled as the people of BS.

For us to be in the presence of God requires us to be absolutely perfect. None of us have lived this way since our great-to-the-hundred degree ancestors in the garden disobeyed. None of us are worthy of God’s holy presence. The only reason we are able to enter into God’s presence freely is through the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus. We may enter that holy place many times each day and know the presence of God hears us—unlike the once a year priest. We have tremendous access to God.

Yet, we are curious. We are creative types and our eyes hunger for more. Instead of resting in the simplicity of the presence of God in our lives through the Spirit and the Word, some of us want signs and symbols. Instead of trusting his promises, some of us want to know how He will fulfill them. Some of us take our entertainment more seriously than our God, or worse yet, see the things of God purely as entertainment.

That’s not to say that God doesn’t do fascinating things. This story is evidence of God making a mockery of any ‘idol’ that man might construct. Let’s be faithful in God’s school of worship by radically honoring Him. Let’s rid ourselves of idols. Take time to review how you and I are able to enter the presence of God through his blood. (Heb. 10:19-22). Let’s thank him for that. Let’s honor and respect the Lamb who was slain to bring us to God.

The Mondays, Transposition, and Dads

2006-09-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Psalm for this weeks worship is Psalm 100. If I'm honest, as I first read the passage, I made absolutely no connection to it. Shout to the Lord? Worship Him? Give Him thanks? I really was not excited about Him. Yes, I had just returned from the North Shore of Minnesota and saw great crashing waves dash igneous rocks with superior power. Id seen sunsets, taken naps, eaten plenty, hung out with my brother, biked cross-country ski trails and hiked through Cascade River State Park. Id even returned to the welcome sight of my fiancée. Its not to deny the goodness of those things. In fact, Id say that God spoke to me through the goodness of those things.

The problem was, I had to go back to work. There are all sorts of reasons to work. God created man to work, even before the fall, I know, yet I was and am tired of concocting presentations that may or may not lead people to Shout to the Lord. Its all a very personal business, anyway. What if someone doesn't want to sing or think about God? Its sort of humiliating to raise your hands in a worship service anyway. Who just sings songs to God out of the blue anyway? (birds, yes, I know)

Well, besides a bad case of the Mondays, I was overwhelmed by my upcoming wedding and marriage. It didn't have anything especially to do with my fiancée. Old doubts flood me. Do I have what it takes to love a woman for a lifetime? How will you keep your job from overrunning your personal life? You don't have a personal life anyway, my self would answer. You're no good unless you produce, boy, so get back on the wheel.

My best self-assessment was that there was something wrong, so I did what I often do, which is call my mom. Supportive as she was, it wasn't what I needed. I was miserable and in need of a dad. I lost my dad when I was four, so I when I'm left with tough questions, Ive learned that God is my dad and I pray. And somehow, something good often happens. Well, this time, I was just upset that I had to go through that whole process again.

By Tuesday, I had such a bad attitude, that I was going nuts. I decided to call on a couple of older guys and let them in on what was happening, my roommate being one of them. Dave is a tremendous listener and I really think he understands the irreparable gap in my life. Rick was also key in letting me vent about some job stuff. And I know I have others that I can go to, too. Even my neighbor Tom this morning offering me a poached egg was a helpful.

The kicker seemed to be reading a sermon by C.S. Lewis about Transposition. He argues for the correlation of things natural to be rooted in things spiritual. For example, music from an orchestra is often reduced into piano arrangements. It is sad for the one who knows the glory of the former over the latter, but it is representative and communicative of the former. The reduction could easily become all anyone ever knows of the piece, if it stays un-orchestrated. However, the existence of the reduction doesn't mean the orchestration doesn't exist, it serves as a reminder of the glory of the original. The same is said of things spiritual, the reduction of whatever is spiritual into our natural terms doesn't mean the full orchestra of a spiritual symphony doesn't exist. It just means that what is seen currently is a shadow of reality.

In terms of my life, for example, my mind can easily doubt God when he is talked about as Father. I have no human father to draw from. I could easily doubt who He is. I can play the victim card. No doubt, that loss does make me a victim in some ways. Nonetheless, the life I lead on the physical level is only a reduction of something else. The lack of the presence of a dad in my life doesn't mean dads, don't exist. Of course they do. Ive seen hundreds of dads, and envy the objects of their love, if I'm honest. Still, the point is that those dads don't come from no where to become loving dads. The goodness that resides in this world from father to son is not a mere happenstance of biology or psychology that generates ones who are fitter than others. Human dad-like love is only a piano reduction at best. It gets the melody across, has tremendous melodic and emotional power and certainly can move the soul.

It is the existence (or absence) of that dad-like love that leads to either extreme pessimism (my case, at times) or a curiosity, and perhaps faith in where that love comes from. Lewis case points to a strong Father with symphonic tendencies who will show off his fatherliness in natural ways. It happened to me this week. Through Rick, Dave, Tom. Natural questions about life and support I would have needed through a dad came through men who know how to be a dad. I am thankful that they took notice.

Back to the psalm. Not only do I have to lead folks in joyful songs on Sunday as part of a job, I want to. Thanks to a great Dad and a few men and women, this week I will be able to honestly do that. It will happen not because of some emotional trick I can pull, for I am really not that sly. Rather, I agree with what I see at the end of the Psalm, The Lord is good and His love endures forever. I needed the experience of this week to testify to the goodness of the Lord. I needed the supernatural symphony to explode into my morose pianistic reduction of life. May his faithfulness continue through all generations, this fatherless one all the more.