Praying Funny Things

Do you ever find yourself talking with God and end up saying something that causes you to chuckle?  I hope I'm not the only one.  Anyways, so I was praying the other morning and something random pops into my head.  I think it went something like this.

"God I'm excited about your redemptive work in creation, help me to be a part of it.  I look forward to the time when the lion will lay down with the lamb, and there will be no more war or tears or pain...  So, I can imagine a new earth where lions are nice and cuddly, but what about the great white shark?  First of all, in the time before man killed animals to eat, did that mean that no other animals killed to eat?  What exactly would a shark eat if it didn't kill other fish, or seals, or even people (though they don't eat us on purpose most of the time)?   Secondly, John said in Revelation 21 that he no longer saw the sea in the new heavens and earth.  So is it safe to say that there won't be any sharks?  What about whales?  I just think they're awesome works of your creation God and at the moment its kind of sad to think they won't exist... "

That was the child-like faith moment in my prayer time I guess :)  Of course God reminded me later that regardless of what creatures are around or not, that we will all be much more fixated on His glory revealed in the new world.  Anybody else have any silly conversations with God lately?

  

A note from Open Doors on behalf of Iraqi Christians

Email a Note of Encouragement to a Christian in Iraq!

January 19, 2009 by spiritualcourage

I want to ask for your help to bring hope to our suffering brothers and sisters across Iraq.

Our contacts in this region tell us that Christians are feeling isolated, alone, and without hope. And they need our encouragement!

That’s why I would like to ask you to send an online “Note of Encouragement” to our brothers and sisters in Iraq.

What a blessing it would be for them to know that you-along with thousands of other Christians-are praying for them and standing with them!

As we begin this new year, your support is absolutely vital if we are to respond to the needs of suffering believers who are paying the highest price for their faith.

Thank you for your quick and generous response to help: “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.” Rev. 3:2 (NIV)

Click HERE to send your own Note of Encouragement to a discouraged Christian in Iraq.

Taylor

PS. PLEASE do your part and forward this blog or REPOST this post on your own blog! Thank you!

Maker of Heaven and Earth

Most mornings I grab my book of common prayer and head down to the family room to pray before starting my work for the day.  The part of the prayer book that I use most is the psalter, which is basically the book of psalms broken down into morning and evening prayers over 30 days.  Between the psalms, the Lord's prayer, and whatever else is on my heart that morning, I find this to be a consistent way to visit with the Lord via His Word, as well as get a chance to bring my personal requests to Him in the morning (see psalm 5).

While praying through the psalter today, there seemed to be a common expression in a couple of the psalms. In Psalm 121 it was "My help cometh from the Lord, who has made heaven and earth."  In Psalm 124:7, "Our help cometh in the Name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth."  God as the One who made the heavens and the earth was really standing out to me.  Then, as I was listening through Berlioz's Requiem, I noticed in the translation to english (they sing in Latin) that the Sanctus section there's a line that says "Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory."  And of course, we know they are full of His glory because they were made by Him to reveal His glory.  

So I guess God really wanted to remind me that He made heaven and earth, not some random "natural" accident or chance.  Maybe He wants you to remember that too.  When we worship Him, remembering and being in awe of the fact that He is the maker of heaven and earth helps us to have something more tangible to look to and know that God isn't just some made up being that we foolishly devote ourselves to.  Instead, He is the one that made everything around us, and you and me too, and we have the greatest of opportunities to know this Maker and reflect His glory, today, tomorrow and forevermore.  And like those psalms said, He is the one that can help.   If He can speak everything in the universe into being and sustain it, surely He can sustain you and help you according to His perfect wisdom, so put your trust in Him.  

Let whatever part of creation your eyes see today remind you of the One who made it, and if you get the chance, tell someone else about the One who made it all.

Be blessed.

Worship and the Forces of Evil Part 5

Is it possible for Christian to come under the influence of the demonic?  I believe it is.  How could this be possible?  How could Christians come under the influence of satan?  I think the first reason is because many Christians take victory in Christ for granted without actually exercising the authority we have or using the tools we've been given that are necessary to live in victory over the devil.  This seems especially likely in America where we tend to think in terms of things being automatic without having to do anything, a set it and forget it kind of mentality.  The book of Hebrews, chapter 12 teaches quite the opposite of that though.  There we find our faith described as a race that we must run with perseverance.  Verse 4 specifically talks about our struggle against sin and our need to resist it.  Jesus did the work to set us free from the power of satan and sin, but the bible makes it pretty clear that there is responsibility on our part to continue living in that freedom.   

In The Bondage Breaker, Neil Anderson devotes a chapter to how Christians can lose control to demons.  He draws from James 4:7 which says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." God's protection has been guaranteed in Christ.  The armor of God described in Ephesians 6 elaborates on the tools we've been given to defeat the devil's attacks.  But what if you don't resist him?  I think it's fair to conclude that if we don't resist, he doesn't have to flee.  If he doesn't flee, then he probably starts to reside.  Why else would James have given that exhortation to resist him if there was no danger of powers of darkness influencing your life?  

A critic of Neil Anderson says that his books try to blame sin on demons instead of people, but Neil says that he doesn't tolerate Christians blaming their sin on a demon.  That is important when we talk about losing control to the demonic, because a lot of people would love to use that excuse.  It is not the devil who made us do something, but he certainly encouraged it.  We bear the responsibility because somewhere along the way we gave him a foothold or opened a door somewhere in our lives to give him access. We didn't resist him, but instead made provision for the flesh.  It might seem strange to think of it like this, but its a choice to give an area of your life to the devil, even though it might not feel like a choice in the moment.  As we've said before, he's the deceiver. But once you open that door, the deception can start to run your life, hence the need for bondage breaking.  

In talking about confronting the enemy in our lives, Neil makes a great analogy in Setting Your Church Free.  Lets say that sin is like garbage and the demons are a swarm of flies.  Submitting to God means getting rid of the garbage, not just wishing the flies away.  Get rid of the garbage (sin) and the flies (demons) will have no reason or right to stay. 

Thanks be to God that even if a believer is in a situation where they have given the devil access, there is always freedom available and their salvation has not been compromised.  Worship that remembers and declares Christ's authority in heaven and earth can help keep us clear on who is in control.  I love the line in the song In Christ Alone that says, "No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand."  What a great declaration!  But then we also need things like prayers for sanctification (like Psalm 51) to give us the opportunity to confess, begin the repentance process, and ask the Holy Sprit to help us resist sin and walk in righteousness.   Otherwise we recognize Christ's authority and life-transforming power with our lips, but basically continue living under the power of darkness instead of running the race and engaging in the process of being made into a new creation that is a child of light.

Fun at Snow Camp

This past weekend I was up at Monadnock Bible Conference with our church's youth group for a winter retreat.  I think we had a pretty good balance of fun and seeking God.  I love the enthusiasm and energy that young people bring to these events, not just with games but also in singing to the Lord and in letting God break their hearts when we hear about things like children in Haiti that need God's tangible love and healing.  Although, its funny how that enthusiasm dwindles when we get into small groups and try to get everyone to share what they've been learning where their walk with God is concerned :) 

There's all sorts of things I could share about specifically this weekend, but I wanted to share about where God showed up after the retreat ended and we were on our way back home.  We were packing up our bags and heading out to load our vehicles, and I went into my coat pocket to get my keys only to find them missing.  I was quite confident that my jacket was the only place I had put my keys, but I checked all my other bags and the pockets in my clothes.  I thought about the last time I had taken them out, which was in the morning the day before when I went tubing with some kids.  But I knew that I had zipped the pocket then to make sure the keys didn't fall out on the hill.  As I thought a little more, I realized that there was still a good chance that those keys were on the hill... That previous evening the kids asked me to come tubing once more since it would be more slippery than during the day.  We impulsively went out without boots or snow pants, and it was the run of the day actually.  However, as I was recalling all of this, I realized that I probably hadn't zipped the pocket my keys were in that night.  And it had snowed several inches during the night after we tubed, so the keys would be buried!  It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.  

So I went out to the hill along with another leader friend and starting kicking through the snow that had covered the tubing trail.  I prayed, "Lord, I'm pretty sure my keys are buried on this hill, and I know that I should have been more careful with my keys, but if they are here, would you please help us find them?"  After several minutes and still plenty of ground to cover, we were about to give up and just squeeze everyone into the other vehicles.  Just then, my friend Amanda stepped on something that wasn't snow, and sure enough it was my keys.  I was very thankful for God's generosity in helping us find that needle in a haystack.

Our last group discussion before the key incident was about how we can bring God's love to others.  We closed with praying that God would help us to intentionally bless and help others and share his love, and also that we would have safe travels home.  After finding my keys we headed home.  Just before getting back, a car in front of us slid (roads were still slick form the snow storm) and got stuck in a snow bank on the side of the highway.  There was a group of about 18 of us traveling together, so we pulled over, sent a couple of people down the road to get traffic to stop, then a bunch more of us got into the snow bank and pushed the car out. It turned out to be people we had met at the retreat who were in that car. Everybody was okay, and were thankful to not have to wait for a tow truck.  Another car farther back had slid into a snow bank too, and a few people had pulled over to help them, but it wasn't enough.  So our crew of leaders and kids went and helped get that person out too.  By the time a police car showed up there was nothing for them to do, everyone was already pulling back onto the highway safe and sound, and we had gotten an opportunity to work together to help people in a very practical, but unexpected way.

This song goes out to all my youth retreat buddies, may God continue the good work He has begun in you.

The Second Commandment

The Second Commandment states, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the father upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments."

Whenever I've read this commandment I've taken it very simply to mean we're not supposed to make statues to bow down to and that God will punish those who disobey. However, His mercy and blessing on those who do obey is far greater and continues long after the punishment He gives to those who hate Him.  The assembly who wrote the Catechism document had a more insightful conclusion than that though.  In answering the questions "What is required in the second commandment?" and "What is forbidden in the second commandment?" they infer that we are to keep worship pure.  They conclude like me, that this command forbids the worshipping images, but are quick to clarify that this command also forbids trying to worship the true living God through any images as well.  

So here's some questions in light of those conclusions. How do we justify pictures of Jesus hanging in our homes or in the children's nursery at our church buildings?  Why do people have statues of Mary on their lawns?  Why do many churches around the world have carved, sculpted or stain glass images of saints, Jesus, and other things in heaven and earth throughout their sanctuaries or worship?       

The reformed view of worship uses the second commandment to teach that worship should only be done in a way that has been commanded in God's word.  The typical non-reformed view of worship says that worship can be what God commanded, plus anything that is not specifically forbidden.  Reformed view would argue that if something wasn't specifically commanded to be done in worship, than essentially it is forbidden.  The reasoning is that God's word is sufficient as it was given.  Man always comes up with creative new ways to commit the same basic sin.  There wouldn't be a book big enough to write out example of worship that man would scheme that would be considered forbidden, therefore the we need only to measure any ideas we have for worship against the basic instructions He has already given. 

A few more questions.  Is drama or video appointed in God's word as a manner of worship?  If so, to what extent?  Is speaking in tongues, and if so to what extent?  What about special garments for church leaders to wear during a worship gathering (notice I said church leaders, not temple priests of the Old Testament)?  What is the more "biblical" instrument to use in worship music, organ or guitar?   

In age where many churches are trying to be on the cutting edge of programming and presentation, churches that stick to the prescribed manners of worship found in the Bible might have an inferiority complex.  G.I. Williamson addresses that by saying, " what could be more wonderful than to receive from the Lord Himself a sure knowledge of the way that He would be worshipped?"  But he also warns, "we must not assume that God is pleased with us just because we have a "pure" form of worship?"  The condition of the heart is what God has constantly had to remind His people about.  He may be more pleased with the "wrong" form of worship from someone who is broken and in awe before Him, than from someone who has the "right" form but a proud heart.  

May we strive to worship in a manner that externally matches what God's Word prescribes, and internally comes to God with sincere and contrite hearts.  All by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the interceding work of Jesus Christ.

What Do We Mean By Worship?

I know the question of what it means to worship gets repeated over and over again, but I thought this article I read this morning had an interesting spin on it where lifestyle and social justice was concerned.  Click here to read it.  The rest of this post won't make much sense if you don't read the article first.

One of the other questions posed in this article is "Could we re-imagine worship as a prayer for justice? A prayer for peace? A prayer for hope?" Yes, of course, and in fact God has really been impressing this upon me personally, to not only bring self-focused prayer requests, but to lift the world up in prayer in our worship gatherings. Its not a new idea though, just look in the book of common prayer (used by Episcopalians and others) or some of the prayers from Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox writings.  But the challenge is that the prayers ought to result in action.  I believe that God will be faithful to respond to our prayers for peace and justice and deliverance in the world, according to His will.  I also think that those prayers are only a part of the role we have to play in bringing Christ's healing and hope to this broken world.  Action must follow.  

The writer says, "Our prayers, our worship, our praxis of living a simple spirituality and a grounded theology are all, in a sense, attempts to tend to Christ’s open wounds. Unless we have the courage to put our hands into the hurting places of Christ’s body—the hurting places of the world—the world will have no reason to trust that God is truly alive." I really get the issue he's addressing throughout the article about a need to show those with no hope that God is real and that He is good, and that actually touching their wounds will help reveal that Jesus is alive today and worthy of adoration.  I'm not sure I would try to group that kind of action in with being "worship" though.  

I think that worship for us in a specific sense really is more of an "event" right now in our life on earth.  But it is that event of worship, which is not a one time occurrence, like a rock concert, but a repeated experience that is a regular part of our lives that leads us in adoration, remembrance and a conscious surrendering to the work of sanctification that the Holy spirit wants to do in us.  Worship is where we give of ourselves and participate in corporate song, prayer, Word reading, communion, etc., but it is also where God can work Christ into us, or plant seeds that He can continue to water after we leave from the worship gathering.  The fruit of that work that God does is that we find ourselves as part of His mission, in His story, and our lives become Christ living His life through us.  

So instead of looking at bringing hope and healing to child soldiers or desperate prostitutes as part of our act of "worship," I think that it will be more powerful if we view it as Christ doing His work in that person's life, through us, and revealing Himself to them as the One worthy of worship, instead of us trying to help these people by our own act of worship and then hopefully convince them that God is present and good.  Its not just how you think about it that I'm getting at here, but the way we approach it.  To treat it as our act of worship could cause us to try and do it in our own strength, where as recognizing it as letting Christ live through us will tend to lead us to rely upon the Holy spirit to be in the lead.  

Don't know if my commentary makes any sense or not, it is still Monday morning after all and my brain may not be on yet.  Either way, I think the article makes some great points about the need for our worship to be accompanied by the kind of actions that will reveal that God really is the One who sets the captives free and binds up the broken hearted, and really is worthy of worship regardless of how bad our circumstances are.  

The First Commandment

In the First Commandment God says, "You shall have no other gods before me." G.I. Williamson points out that this commandment demands that before we try to understand the proper manner, attitude or time of worship (which the subsequent commands address), we need to be certain that the object of our worship is in fact the one, true, living God. That's why God gave this as the first commandment. All the other commandments can't be properly followed if this one isn't kept. One might think that if they're worshiping God by the right name then they've got the first commandment taken care of.  However, someone might say that they believe in the God of Abraham and that Jesus is their "personal Lord and Savior", meanwhile their careers, material possessions or even the idol of self might really be on the throne of their lives instead of God.  That is a less blatant way that we can have other gods before the Lord.  Yet, there is still another way we can end up worship another god.  A way that is even less detectable on our sin radars.

The first commandment requires that we know the true and living God, as He really is.  It is not just about getting His name right and it is not just about making sure that the other things in our life don't get first place.  We have to accept and worship God based on how He has revealed Himself, not according to how we think He should be.  Otherwise, we set ourselves up to worship a god that we've created.  Here's an example.  Someone says they are a Christian,  and they embrace a Jesus that loves and forgives, but don't accept that He is the same God who deems sin punishable by death and who unleashed His wrath in terrifying ways like with Sodom and Gomorrah.   In this scenario not only is the person rejecting that God is a God of justice (which is clearly revealed in His Word), they are also diminishing the extent of His grace and mercy displayed in sending Christ by sparing His believers of the punishment their sin deserved and taking it on Himself.  

Another example.  A person identifies themselves religiously as a Christian, but they think that all religions worship the same God in different ways and that all paths lead to eternal life.  This completely contradicts what Jesus said about being the only Way, Truth and Life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him and on His terms.  Freemasonry supports an idea similar to this where their idea of a god is concerned.  They try to get away from God's distinct identity and instead exalt their own conception of a less distinct and more unitarian concept of a "supreme being," all in the name of brotherhood between people of various religions.  Thus, they are worshiping a god that they have created, breaking the first commandment. Regardless of whether a freemason names Jesus, they are not truly worshipping the one, true, living God.    Furthermore, the idea of a secret society does not jive with the great commission which calls us to openly and clearly proclaim the free gift of grace that is salvation through Christ's completed work on the cross.  

In my mind there's a difference between rejecting certain truths about God and being ignorant of something about Him.  The thief on the cross who placed His faith in Christ as the Saviour probably didn't know that Jesus was born of a virgin.  That's fine, he didn't have to know that to be saved.  But if someone rejects this truth about Christ's incarnation, then they are rejecting part of God's Word and worshiping an invented savior who was only a man and wouldn't have been capable of truly redeeming creation.

May we worship God as He has revealed Himself in His Word and resist any temptation to try and customize and package Him into someone He isn't.  One of the hardest times to resist this temptation is when you are in a position of sharing your faith with another person.  A person might be interested in a spiritual life, and may really like what they hear about Jesus in some ways, but there are certain things about God that you know they will not like and you think it might keep them from accepting Jesus in that moment.  Instead of sticking with the truth, you leave certain things out or adjust things to fit the god that those people want to accept.  People can't be saved by a false god, no matter how similar he may be to the true, living God.  So don't be ashamed of God and His Word when you have a chance to testify on His behalf (remember Luke 9:26).  

Finally, if you are a part of planning and leading worship, remember that we need to remember and proclaim God in all the ways He has revealed Himself through His Word, don't leave things vague, help people to know Him as He really is, leaving no room for the enemy to lead people into worshiping a god that is not the Lord.  To Him alone be the glory and honor and praise.