Woh. Did you catch who led the army out front? The singers! Now, it has always made sense to me that God would use praise and prayer to defeat demons and Satan himself, but are you seeing that this story is about God defeating people with praise? And did those singers sing “Hey you, we’re gonna kick your butt!”? or, “God, come wipe them out!”? Nope. They sang (it should sound familiar), “Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever.” Wow.

God doesn’t do anything like we think should happen, like how we would do it, or even what makes good common sense!! Could you imagine if the United States had sent singers and musicians ahead of the Coalition Forces in Iraq? And they wouldn’t have had any weapons in the way we think of weapons – no guns, no bombs, no grenades. What do you think would have happened? Bloodshed. Slaughter. Total wipeout.

The Israelites, specifically King Jehoshaphat, were so scared of the coming invasion that they had no choice but to trust in the Lord. So, instead of going out with confidence in their own strength and might, they did the first thing that we should be doing – they prayed and asked the Lord what to do. Then (of all the crazy things) they actually obeyed Him. God understands one amazing thing – the power of praise. That is, praise directed toward Him, because it releases Him to do all that He is able to do in that situation. This is how Bob Sorge in his book Exploring Worship puts it, “But these singers were not recommending battle strategy to God, nor did they bother to curse the enemy. In its essence, their song of praise said, ‘Lord, we recognize that you are the omnipotent God and that you have promised to fight for us today. So we thank you and praise you for the victory, rejoicing in what we know you have already determined to do on our behalf.’ Words like that release God to act in the way he knows is best” (pg 48).

What do you think might happen if we have the faith and courage to do that, too? For every day battles at home or at work. For the battles of the church? For the battles of our country? I know I have been looking at this economic downturn all wrong – I need to praise God now that He is already in control, that He will put into place the person He wants in leadership, and that He will do all that is needed to turn people towards Him. Our best effort means nothing without Him.

Challenge: Take time to pray each day for our world leaders. Forget your personal opinion, and open your heart to listen to God. Pray for God to lead you, to lead the population, and to lead the government leaders. Praise Him. For who He is, for what He has done, for what He does now, for what He is going to do. Put Him in control of the country and the world.

For further reading: Acts 16:12-40

This story has two kinds of worshipers. One worshiped by service, the other worshiped by basking in His presence. First we’ll start with the one that we are more familiar – Mary. She sat at his feet and listened. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Just to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His teaching. She knew that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Mary knew that He was worthy of worship, He and His message was worth sitting and paying attention. She cleared her mind from worries of the day, and concentrated on Him. She probably also had a feeling that there wouldn’t be much time to get to listen to Him and learn from Him. How can you do this kind of worship today? Can this be done in your daily life? Do you take the time to do it?

Now, usually Martha is given the bad rap when people teach about this story because Jesus does obviously reprimand her. I would say, though, while Martha did get off-track in her worship, she still was worshiping Jesus. She was serving him and his disciples – she had the gift of hospitality. How many times do we forget to worship by serving other people because “someone else will do that” or “I’m singing or playing and that is more important”? This one hits me square between the eyes. It is very easy to get lazy about not serving other people directly and being hospitable to them. How can you show more hospitality to others? How can you serve others as if they were Jesus in your house? (Remember back 2 weeks ago with the woman who cleaned and anointed Jesus’ feet.)

So, is it better to worship by spending time in His presence? Or is it better to worship by serving Him (and other people)? Jesus says here that Mary did choose the “better portion”. I think that He is saying that service without spending time in His presence doesn’t mean anything. Martha lost focus on who she was doing this for, what He was about, what she had already learned from Him. Service and hospitality is important, but if you are doing it for someone you’ve never really spent any time with (Jesus) than you will loose focus on what is really important. I think that Jesus would’ve received Martha’s worship if she hadn’t let herself focus on Mary and what she was doing, and had stayed focus on the One she was serving.

Challenge: Find a daily time to spend at Jesus’ feet, and then also find ways each day to serve others.

Further Reading: Read “You’ve Got Mail!” by Paul Baloche.

This is all the music I played this morning:

Prelude: Classic Praise arrangement by Dino Kartsonakis

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee by Henry van Dyke and Ludwig van Beethoven – this is the one I played on the organ

Amazing Grace by John Newton

Offertory: It Is Well by Horatio Spafford/Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven arrangement by Cindy Berry

Communion: The Lord’s My Shepherd/Largo from Xerxes by Handel arrangement by Cindy Berry
Be Still My Soul arrangement by Chris Rice

Great Is Thy Faithfulness by John Chisholm & William Runyan

I could spend all my posts for the next year on this one man, because second only to Jesus he gives us the best example of what it is to be a worshiper.  Think about it, one of the most important points of Jesus’ lineage is that he is descended from David.  If you are looking for something to study in the Bible, I would suggest studying David in 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Chronicles. Also, A Heart Like His by Beth Moore studies David, and I highly recommend it.  For now, though, we will look at just one story that is very telling about how this guy worships his God.

Read 2 Sam 6:12-22.  Wouldn’t you think that this would have been a solemn occasion?  Why all the shouting?  Why would David, the King of Israel be dancing?  Did David care about what people thought of him while he worshiped?

Let us not think, though, that we should not treat God with reverence.  Before this, in 2 Sam 6:1-12, a man died because he touched the Ark of the Covenant, and it was actually David’s fault.  See, the Kings of Israel were required to hand copy the Law of God, so that they would know every line.  David knew that the Ark was supposed to be carried by priests using poles through the rings on the Ark on their shoulders, but somehow he missed on just how holy God is because he defied that law by having a new cart made for carrying the Ark that was going to be pulled by two cows.  The Philistines employed this method for returning the Ark to the Israelites, and David stupidly followed the lead of pagans instead of obeying God’s law.  So, while they were dancing and celebrating, the Ark shifted on the cart, and one of the priests, Uzzah, reached out his hand to steady it – and died.  We cannot forget in our enthusiasm of worship that God is holy and needs to be treated with utmost reverence.

How do we perhaps not show enough reverence for God’s holiness?  How do we treat His temple – not just this church building, but also our own bodies and each other (1 Cor. 6:19)?  Worship is not just about what we do on Sunday morning before the Lord, it is also about how we treat other people each and every day.  Matt 25:40 says, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

My challenge for you this coming week is to ask the Lord to show you how you might not only worship without worrying about what other people think, but also how you might better show reverence for Him by treating others as if they are Jesus right there in front of you – strangers, friends, family, church family.

For further reading:  Find all of the Psalms that David wrote, and read them, noting that he held nothing back from God, nor did he ever turn away from God.

So, we just sang two songs for the service:

O Worship The King

Made to Worship by Chris Tomlin

We did learn Made to Worship by Chris Tomlin, partially because it was one of the song the kids sang for VBS and because it is a good worship song to remind us who and why we are worshipping.  We sang Lord I Lift Your Name On High to close out the service.

I seriously want to sing Everlasting God by Brenton Brown sometime soon, because it has really meant a lot to me lately and I really think the church would resonate with the lyrics of waiting on the Lord and being renewed by His strength.

This story tells us several things about the heart of a worshiper.  First, that she was a giver – and not just a little to say that she did it, but she gave lavishly.  This jar of ointment was worth a year’s wages, plus because of the kind of container it was in she could not just pour a little out – it was all, or nothing.  What do you think about that?  Should we, who are worshipers of God, give more whole-heartedly?  I don’t mean only in monetary giving, but also in time and the many other ways that we could give.  What is truly your most treasured possession, and if God asked would you be willing to give it to him?

Second, the story shows that as a worshiper she was a servant.  It was a servant’s job to wash and oil the guest’s feet when they came in, especially the guest of honor, and this was not done for Jesus by the host.  She came in, washed his feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and then broke the jar of perfume on his feet.  She did what the host should have had one of his servant’s do, and in all reality should have done himself.  How could we be more of a servant to this church, to our families, and to each other?  When do we leave stuff go or not help someone because “surely someone else will do it”?

Third, the story shows that before her Lord, she didn’t care what people thought or said, she focused in her worship only on him and did so extravagantly.  She held nothing of herself and her devotion back in the face of sure criticism and condemnation.  She wasn’t out to please them, she was out to please HIM.  Have you ever offered up worship to God without any thought to what people would think?  How much energy do you spend pleasing other people, instead of trying to please God?  You know, He is pretty easy to please…just love Him with all your heart, mind, and strength.

Fourth, and most importantly because it sums up all of the other points, the woman shows us the amazing amount of thankfulness and love that she had for her Lord and Savior.  The Scripture says that she was a “sinful woman”, but doesn’t specify what her sin is.  Most people assume that she is a prostitute, but whatever it is she almost certainly thought that she had no place being before Jesus but also had nothing to lose.  She had no reason to believe that Jesus would accept her offering of worship, no reason to believe that he would not look on her with disdain, and certainly had no thought that he would forgive her many sins.  All she knew was that she loved him simply for who he was, and that she wanted to express it.  I bet that her life was totally changed, that she walked with pride and grace the rest of her life, and that she was a blessing to many people.  How often do we walk around with self-pride about how “good” we are, about how “little” we sin?  How can you more adequately express your love for Jesus and for His gift of salvation?  How can you show the love that you have for Him in your daily life?

I challenge you this week to think about this story, and how you might model your life after this amazing woman.

For further reading:  Read the similar story in John 12:1-8, and “Fragrance of Love” by Anne Graham Lotz that was in the Discipleship Journal March/April 2004.

O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty with the chorus of How Great is Our God between the verses.  I was really excited that I heard the congregation singing both of these with a fairly equal volume!

As The Deer for the Offertory

Message: Generosity, Blessings & Missions

Freely, Freely by Carol Owens

Opening songs:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Reginald Heber & John B. Dykes
Blessed Assurance by Fanny Crosby
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) – new version with additional chorus by Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio

Closing song:
How Deep the Father’s Love For Us – Stuart Townend

What do you think of when someone says the word “liturgy” to you?

One of the most misunderstood ways of worshiping today, especially in the more “free” type of church – like non-denominational churches, is the purpose and meaning of liturgy.  At one United Methodist church where I served they did not use much liturgy, though that is actually fairly uncommon for a United Methodist church.  I myself did not understand it or appreciate it until college, when in my musical education I was exposed to sung Masses and other such liturgical choral works by singing them and studying about them in Music History.  In Seminary I also studied Church History and Spiritual Formation, and developed an even greater appreciation for liturgy as being another way in which I might pray and draw into God’s presence.  So, we’ll take a brief look at liturgy, and discuss how God has used it to give us a form by which we might worship Him.  Let me also say that I believe God gave liturgy as a way we can worship Him, but it is not the only way or a “better” way or even a “lesser” way than a more “free” type of worship.

LITURGY  (Greek leitourgia), a function, service, or duty of a public character. These public services or duties among the Greeks were frequently, if not always, connected with religious ideas or ceremonies of some kind, even when the duties themselves were of a secular character — those, for instance, which had reference to the supervision of theatrical exhibitions or the presiding in the public assemblies. The religious meaning of the word in such case was not necessarily involved. In Isa 7:30 (Sept.), the idea of religious service predominates; in Rom 13:6, that of the secular, as under God; and again, ins. Luke 1:23, and in Heb 10:11, it refers to the priestly function. At a later period we find it used by Eusebius (Life of Constantine, 4:47) in speaking of the work of the Christian ministry. By a very natural process, the word, which thus designated the public function or service performed by the ministry, became restricted in its meaning to the form itself — the form of words in which such service was rendered, and thus, certainly before the middle of the fifth century, we find in the Church, in the present sense of the word liturgies, forms for the conducting of public worship and the administration of sacraments.  (from McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia. Electronic Database. Copyright © 2000, 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Forms of liturgy with which we might be familiar:

The Lord’s Prayer – Matthew 6:9-13
Communion (Great Thanksgiving) – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Catholic Mass – specifically, the Apostolic or Nicene Creed
Daily Prayers (Morning and Evening, and The Canonical Hours)
The Holy Rosary or The Jesus Rosary for Protestants

Do you know of any others? Please feel free to share others that are meaningful to you in a comment below.

One thing that seems to be lacking in Christians today is that they do not feel that they know how to pray.  Liturgy was not originally intended to be strict and binding, but rather to give anyone and everyone a way to learn how to pray and/or to be able to pray when they are so distraught that they cannot think of what to pray.  In our human-ness centuries ago, Roman Catholicism did make it very binding and much of the liturgy lost its meaning and its power.  This still somewhat tends to be true, but even in “free” types of churches there are many other things which have become just as binding and meaning-less.  What is it that makes us want order, and yet become so bound to it that we forget what made it meaningful in the first place?

What would you think of your church using liturgy a little more often in your worship services, if you do not currently? Perhaps sometimes have your church do a congregational prayer of confession and forgiveness, or some other liturgical-type of prayer.

It wouldn’t have to do this all of the time, because that would quickly get in the same rut as any other thing that we do a little too regularly.

Challenge:  Think of either a Scripture or a prayer that you could say every day right when you get up in the morning (that is, when you have conscious thought…) and/or when you go to bed at night.  (Or whatever strange times of day you do those things).  You don’t have to do this, but I think that if you find something that is meaningful to you and you really get in the habit of doing this daily you’ll find that it makes a big impact on your day-to-day life.  This is as much of a challenge to myself as to you.

For further reading:  The Roman Catholic Ordinary of the Mass and Office Texts – if you read them, really look at the words and let them sink into your heart and mind.  Also the Service of Word And Table I from the United Methodist hymnal (pages 6-11), which I also suggest that you read and you will see some of the part of the Catholic Mass.

The chorus of the song “Creed” by Rich Mullins is I think a great way to view liturgy:
I believe that what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man