FROM: Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ABOUT ME: Living the highs and lows of life in the adventurous pursuit of God Himself and of who I'm meant to be as the Bride of Christ.
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"... Others [other church leaders] need confidence that the young generation are not a different species, they’re just a younger version of them, and actually love transcends cultures. Some of the best youth leaders I’ve known have been people with white hair who just love the young people. We also need a passion to go and find them where they are, get beside them, care for them and to be genuine. It’s more important to be authentic than it is to be relevant."
And I love this one.....
"...The heart of charismatic worship is rooted in the local church. We need to encourage all our worship leaders to be accountable to the authority of the local church. It can be so easy to end up becoming independent. That is the key thing, because in some places now there’s a fair bit of money in it, especially in America. We don’t just want to make worship albums because there’s a market. True worship becomes real in the context of a committed community adoring Jesus together. While I hate entertainment worship, we need to make a distinction between what I call ‘temple’ worship and worship for the streets. The old ‘Come Together’ musicals were a mixture of worship and evangelism! They were playing songs, but there was also an element of outreach and there was a bit of entertainment in it as well. Yet it was all pointing to Jesus. At the same time I passionately believe that anointed, Christ-centred, Spirit-filled, adoring, praising, thanksgiving worship is the best evangelistic tool we have, because people sense the presence of God."
Your thoughts?
Anyway, in my wanderings (which was really about re-reading the Great Airplane Pencil Incident of August 6, 2006 - it managed, by the way, to hit the all-time high for comments from readers), I found again this quote from Charlotte Bronte which I love. It remains a call to separate our society's conventions from the call and commands of God and to stand for truth in the face of hypocrisy. (Do keep in mind that in the 19th century the word "religion" was not as negative as it can be in some Christian circles today.)
To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee is not
to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns."
- Charlotte Bronte
(from the preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre
December 21, 1847)
Last night I decided to go to church (that's not the God moment part; I do that every week). What was different last night was that I chose to head to church via the south route - #10 Highway and Highway 91. Usually I head north and go through my city and then over a different bridge (every direction has a bridge - I live in Vancouver....). I haven't got a clue why I turned the other way - not one sweet idea. It's not a bad way to go to church, but I do wonder if it takes a little longer. Who knows. Once I had taken the turn and committed to the #10, I thought, "Why did I go this way?" And then thought, "Oh well, I'm on the way now, no point in trying to turn around."
Then, as I was happily driving along #10, I had a random thought pop into my head. I was heading to church where a friend of mine was scheduled to preach, and I remember thinking, "Huh, wouldn't it be weird if Darren couldn't get his car started and called - I'd have to go pick him up." And NO WORD OF A LIE, you might have been able to count to 5 before my cell phone rang. It was Darren - he'd run out of gas and was on the side of the highway, needing to be picked up so as to get to church for his preach.
Even weirder? He was on the side of the #91, not more than about 5 minutes from where I was driving at that moment. If I had gone my normal way to church, I would have been at least half an hour away. As it was, we were 5 minutes late for church, and he was still 45 minutes ahead of his getting up to preach.
Not likely a random set of coincidences.....
What I am curious about is whether we understand a deeper level of sacrifice. Abraham was asked by God to give up his one son - to put him on an altar and literally sacrifice him. His act of obedience was an act of worship. But I doubt very much whether that worship started and ended with the decision to take Isaac up Moriah. If Abraham had no depth in his relationship with - his previous worship of - God, how would he ever be able to calmly saddle his donkey and head up the mountain? Would he not have fought? We he not have doubted? Would he not have turned away?
I think Abraham really knew God. I think he had spent time with Him and learned to trust Him. He had failed God and He had believed God. I'm not sure that I believe that blind trust can come from a moment of decision; I think it must come from a lifetime of learning that the source is actually trustworthy.
I want to know God like that. At times I have felt that I am moving forward towards that deeper level of intimacy and faith that I desire. At times I have felt that I'm racing backwards, much to my dismay. Though perhaps even in the discouraging times, my simple desire to find God and to keep pursuing the turning of my head in the right direction is continuing to develop my understanding of His mercy, grace and unfathomable faithfulness. The truth and fruit of each of these seasons will be known in time. Whatever the truth of the season in which I find myself right at this moment, I hope beyond hope that it will be a part of the preparation that will lead me to commit an unhesitating act of worship the next time I face a mountain of my own called Moriah.
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
(Genesis 22:1-8)
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;
To search out a matter is the glory of kings.
(Proverbs 25:2)
WHEN I SEE YOU
There are times I cannot see
It's Your glory to hide
And when I search for You
My own glory I will find
But it's the not the glory of a king
That my heart desires to see
It is You, it is You
It's Your face, it's Your feet
It is You, it's Your beauty
It's the way that I'm complete
When I see You
My deepest longing is to be
At the feet of my King
Where I will pour out fragrant oil
As a costly offering
And though Your glory makes my face shine
It's not my glory that I look to find
It is You, it is You
It's Your face, it's Your feet
It is You, it's Your beauty
It's the way that I'm complete
It is You, it is You
It's the wisdom in Your eyes
It is You, it's Your presence
It's the rescue that I find
When I see You
With my eyes open wide
My heart will sing:
Hosanna to the King!
While Your glory surrounds
With my face to the ground:
Hosanna to the King!
Hosanna to the King!
Hosanna to the King!
It is You, it is You
It's Your face, it's Your feet
It is You, it's Your beauty
It's the way that I'm complete
When I see You
(Karyn Baker, 2008)