the altar of worship

we had a visitor today who walked up after the service and proceed to say that what we do in worship is completely out of line and totally inappropriate for church.  this wasn’t just somebody who we didn’t connect with…this person was clearly chastising us and made it clear that what we do is wrong and should be stopped.  immediately.  wham. bam.

…oh well, i didn’t know there was a “right” way to worship.  i guess i should be grateful that we are now enlightened.

no matter how out-of-touch this person may be, whether culturally or generationally, it still hurts.  i read a one-liner by rick warren this week.  he said it this way:

“hurt people hurt people.”   boy is that true.

as for the sermon, i was thinking after i got home today that the story of abram in genesis 12 is an amazing picture of how we live our lives.  always on the road to canaan…always stopping to look at the arrow pointing to egypt.  always flirting with disaster.  always being tempted to think that we know better than god does. 

if you find yourself there, stop.  now.  go back.  retrace your steps.  remember the altar you put up.  remember what it was like to bow before the great god of the universe.  go now.  rock on.

The house on the rock

“the wise man built his house upon the rock (repeat 3x)…and the rains came tumbling down”

“the rains came down and the floods went up (repeat 3x)…and the house on the rock stood still”

5-18 text:  Matthew 7:24-27 and James 1:22-25

jesus spoke words of power near the end of the sermon on the mount.  after he had clearly stated that the gate is small and the road is narrow and few will find it…and after he had stated that not everyone who says “lord, lord” will enter the kingdom…he speaks of the wise man and the foolish man and the difference between to the two foundations that they built their houses on.  the foolish man is one who hears the words of god and does not act on them.  in one ear…out the other.  the wise man, on the other hand, is the one who hears those same words, but acts on them.  that’s the only foundation that will last.  that’s the only basis for a life that can withstand the unexpected storms that threaten to undermine everything we have built.

it seems like the great deception the church is caught in is this false assumption that all we need to do is show up and hear someone speak with conviction about the important things of god.  it’s almost as if we believe that hearing someone else’s passion with mystically “rub off” on us.  

don’t just listen…do something!

don’t just show up and watch…get busy!

what do you think?  why don’t we do this?  where’s the struggle?  what are we going to do about it?

 

the next “at bat”…

so what do you think? we all face these times in our lives where it’s time to make a decision. instead of going backwards and living in the past…paralyzed by fears and failures…or stuck in a time warp of the faded glory of better days gone by…we need to move forward. or maybe you’re living your life like the proverbial hamster on a wheel…going through the motions of meaningless routine, going nowhere and getting nowhere.

just like a baseball player is only as good as his next at bat, our lives can be…no, need to be defined by our next decision. we are always one good decision away from turning things around…from being right where god wants us to be.

so what’s it going to take for you? do you need some help? or are you going to continue to try and do this journey of a disciple by yourself? i think i know the first decision you probably ought to be making…