Motivation

I want to be able to motivate people to do something useful and be less self-interested. How does one do that?

To Do List

There's a couple of things that I want to do:

1. Write a book - I'm about ready to start this one . . . I think.
2. Make T-Shirts
3. (At least learn how to) start a business
4. Find out what it's like to sleep on the streets
5. Be content with what I have, knowing full-well that I have a lot, even if it doesn't seem like I have a lot.
   

In a Strange Sea

I recently heard, for the first time, Out of my League, by Stephen Speaks. Good tune. WITH a fantastic line . . .

"It's frightening to be
Swimming in this strange sea
But I'd rather be here than on land."

The song is a love song. But that one line captures, I think, the essence of my life at the moment. As long as I've been here in the US, it's still a strange sea to me. I've been married for 7 months or something now, it's fantastic, but it's different than the other 24 years of my life.

Beats not being swimming though.

Grace.

Husbands submit . . . .

Chris Retz, whom has been in contact after he stumbled across my blog, recently sent me some CDs. One is of himself presenting a message, the others are of Brent Avery, founder of MEM Ministries.

I've just started to listen to these CDs - starting with the first of Brent Avery's. It's real interesting stuff - basically showing how Christ (and baptism specifically in this first part of his message) runs through all of scripture, from the first verse to the end. He even delves into the old hebrew and shows where the inspired word of God makes reference to Christ . . . very interesting stuff, which, once I finish listening to the whole thing I'll comment more on.

But he made some VERY interesting points, right at the end of his first sermon. He was talking about Adam, and how an old Jewish tradition says that Adam's sin was different than Eve's. Eve, it says, was deceived. But, in what is one of the very first foreshadowings of Christ in Scripture, Adam CHOSE to eat, knowing that the only way that he could be connected to his wife was to lay down his life in this way. Holy smokes . . . talk about humble pie.

And later, in Ephesians, it says to love your wife just as Christ loved the Church. I know the bible is the only inspired word of God. It'd be nice if he did more, but, man, when God inspires, he REALLY inspires. It's very interesting to hear about some of these connections.

I'm sure there will be more to come. Thanks Chris for the material.

Grace.

SNICKERDOODLE COFFEE

Oh wonder of wonders!

I got my hair cut today. You may have guessed that's NOT the excited news. On the way back, I decided to stop into a little coffee shop that I've passed many, many times but never visited. Hold this thought . . . .

A little background: Tilden - you'll know him from the recent wedding photo that was posted here - would always bring back Snickerdoodle flavored coffee from Philadelphia - he'd bring it to the office and we would all rejoice. However, that's a long commute when you run OUT of snickerdoodle coffee.

BUT, Dilworth Coffee House, of Charlotte, NC - much CLOSER than Philadelphia - ALSO SELLS SNICKERDOODLE COFFEE!!!!

I'm a little excited. I can't wait to tell Tilden!

AND, it's a WI-FI hotspot.

Grace.

Corporate Worship

Can anyone tell me where it is that we are commanded to participate in corporate worship?

Make EVERY Effort

Unity is a command. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Right there, loud and clear, it reads, "Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace." It even gives rationale: "We are all one body."

Division is about disunity at it's core. It can be rationalized using styles or preferences or tastes, but it boils down to disunity. Perhaps what continues to be an arguemnt is based on our misgivings about worship - if we TRULY understood what it is, this may in fact not be a debate whatsoever.

Praise & Worship - are not the same thing. When we have a "time of praise & worship" we're actually trying to accomplish two things at once - but one thing RARELY gets done. We do a truckload of praising and very little worshipping. Worshipping is our actions, our expressions, of God's unequaled character. Nothing about US enters into the equation. In Teaching Kids Authentic Worship, the author says that we only worship when there are no personal pronouns present. I like that. It's ALL about God. I think she's completely correct in what she says, and may ADULTS can learn a lot from reading that book.

She says that Praise & Thanksgiving are by-products, VALUABLE by-products, of worship. Lets just not confuse those things. Praise and Thanksgiving ARE NOT worship. They depend on what God has done for us personally - Worship is ALL ABOUT HIM. Praise and Worship, then, may be affected a little more by personal flavor. But, maybe not Worship.

I'm quickly realizing that a lack of unity is not the problem in Churches wrestling with splitting. The glue that CAN hold us together is a common worship of God. Since a clear definition of worship has gotten away from us, the glue doesn't stick that well.

In the protestant church that's a hallmark of who we have come to be though, hasn't it? We don't like something, so we split. We talk about how there's absolute truth - apparently there's just 1000 different versions of it. Martin Luther was probably right in protesting some of the Catholic practises of his day, but I think we may have taken his lead just a little two far.

My prayer is that we can all be united - somehow. In a setting where, not only will traditional vs. contemporary not matter, it will be irrelevant. The western thought that our church "service" can meet EVERYBODIES needs, is pretty messed up. First of all, we don't have any needs as Christians (see 2 Peter 1:3). Secondly, no one is getting saved in church. "Evangelism" also happens outside of 'Worship'.

We're a body - yup, we have parts. I wonder, though, if we really need to divide all the way down to the cellular level. How far is too far? (<- Didn't think I'd ask THAT question about church division!). My concern is that we aren't making EVERY effort keep the body together. EVERY EFFORT!!!

Perhaps there's a better way.

Grace.

TWOnity - Unity Continued

I will eventually get to how I think all this ties back to unity in the body - and eventually what unity in the body looks like. But I'm still stuck on my understanding of worship. As promised, here's a bit more, involving Abraham, Isaac, and David.

OK - lets start with Abraham - I should say that a lot this was directly inspired by an article on Experiencing Worship, written by Rob Parsley. The first time that the Hebrew word, 'shachah', is translated as 'worship' in the Bible comes from the story of Abraham and Isaac. This is the OBVIOUS biblical introduction to worship - though many people worshipped before - if you're looking up worship, the is the first place at which you arrive.

After finally fathering a child with his wife Sarah, God says to sacrifice him. Wow. This is a guy who has been promised to be the FATHER of a great nation of people Talk about a legacy. It is relatively more difficult to do that if you have to kill your only son. But there's no rebuttal - Abraham knows what he must do.

Once Mount Moriah is in front of them, Abraham and Isaac continue alone - no servants. Here it is: Abraham says to them, "We will worship and then we will come back to you." (Gen 22:4) Of course you know that Isaac lives - sorry to give away the ending to those of you unfamiliar - and God provides a ram for sacrifice.

Worship, then, is about, at least in part, SACRIFICE. Abraham was willing to give up EXACTLY that which God had given Him - the blessing that God poured out on Him, he was willing to give back. Abraham must not have had ANY pleasure in this - this was his son whom he loved as only a father can love his son.

I wonder, then, how much I'm willing to sacrifice. If I go to church and they don't sing my song, does that mean that I don't worship, or does it mean that I'm making some regal sacrifice: "Well I went to church and they didn't sing any of my songs - God must be well-pleased with my worship!"

This is from the author of that article I mentioned: "When we make the choice to worship God, we are emptying ourselves of our own rights and will and surrendering ourselves to Him. Worship is the foremost act of sacrifice. It proclaims death to our self."

Perhaps corporate worship is different. I don't think so, but maybe someone has that arguement. Corporate worship, as we understand it (i.e. going to church and singing songs and reading scripture . . . you all know what they do at church), seems like such a contradiction of terms to me, if you're arguing that people 'all worship differently'. Here's what I mean - people worship differently - they come to a place where they can worship differently together. They only 'corporate' part is that they're all in the same building. The corporate part implies together - the worship part (if everyone worships in their own way) implies apart.

Worship at its core is not different from person to person. There are endless expressions of it. But there should only be one motivation - the Lordship of God. Granted we may be aware of that Lordship whether we're being blessed or being tested, through times of comfort, or of loss, but the base motivation is always present when someone chooses to worship.

David also said something very cool - and I'm not entirely sure how I've missed it for all of these years. BUT, here goes. After realizing a grave sin, David wanted to make a sacrifice (<- key word) but had no animal. An owner of a nearby 'threshing floor' was willing to give David whatever he wanted, but DAVID said this: "No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing."

HOW did I miss that? I will not sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing. That in itself is a fantastic blog post - we're SO used to getting a lot for nothing: on Uncle Bill's tab.

In any case, King David realized that a sacrifice, by definition, has cost. The question is what does my worship cost me? I'm not rich, I'm not poor, I've got enough that's for sure (<- Old Mother's Day recitation - reliving my childhood, sorry). I've certainly got enough to sacrifice. I'm in the top 1% of incomes in the world (Global Rich List)!

Alright . . . I think I've set it up well enough. Next time, I deal with unity in the body of Christ.

Grace.

Congratulations

Some of the coolest people - and some of our best friends - in the world!

YAY - Tilden and Stephanie are MARRIED! We love you guys!

Grace.

Unity - Like you didn't know it was coming

As some of you may have already suspected, I've been thinking a lot about unity in the body of Christ over the past few days, and specifically how it relates to our worship.

First I should say that I don't like any of the terms that we've chosen to use to describe typical church worship services (e.g. blended, contemporary, traditional, etc). I think they're all wrong. I think they promote an interpretation of worship that has nothing to do with what worship is. Let me say also, that I don't know what worship is - and so that I'm actively trying to figure it out.

I have been quoted as saying (Marty) that "We have done to the word Worship, what we have done to the word CHURCH." That is, church is not the building - or never was intended to be, but if you say CHURCH to just about anyone, the first thing they think about is a nice building with a nice steeple, announcing that, if you're a Christian, come join us. We have similarly perverted the word worship. Worship can include, but is not limited to singing praises and lifting hands - I'm sick of hearing that definition. I'm also quite tired of hearing about how we worship differently. I think we do worship differently from each other - just not in the way that most people describe. I believe that worship, at it's heart, cannot be described as an event, in the temporal sense. Not even as a lifestyle.

Worship is the ACTIONS (yes, worship is a VERB - an ACTION word) resulting from our conceptualization of what/who we value. That is, if we believe that money is the most important thing, the most deserving thing, than our actions will reflect that concept. Our attempts to acquire more money will reflect that concept. Our attempts to guard the money we already have will reflect that concept. The words that we choose to use, the decisions that we make, the way that we live our life will reflect it.

This same idea also reveals where many other concepts are on our scale of worth - for example, if you love money and but hate peanut butter (hypothetically speaking) your actions will reflect that dislike. I . . . I mean, one who hates peanut butter will say that thy don't like it, they won't buy it, they'll avoid it at all costs, etc.

It's important to note that the ACTIONS are both ACTIVE & PASSIVE. We we actively choose to do and what we PASSIVELY do without much thought at all will both indicate where our love is, and to what degree that love is.

Now, if we love God, our actions (both passive & active) will reflect that love. It seems too trivial though to 'love' God. We also need to have a concept of Him as Lord. We also need a concept of Him as master, as saviour of the world, as healer, as friend, as EVERYTHING that he is. Inherent in having these concepts, is that we will attribute value to each of them. If we had been healed of some terrible disease we may place more value on God's healing aspects than something else. If we never have heard God talk to us, God as FRIEND, may be of little value.

Our worship (actions) reflect those feelings, whether we like it or not.

God really is more than someone who makes us feel good once a week when we sing a song that we like. God is more than someone who sits back and waits for us to worship Him. God is NO LESS than LORD. We don't have an accurate concept of lordship - that may contribute to some of the confusion - I know it does to mine.

Now, I know what you're thinking . . . what does ANY of this have to do with Unity? Well, I'm getting there, but I fear that I'll have to put it in a different post - just to break it up a little.

But I will say that worship is NOT about getting what you want, or deserve, or have been promised, or what you like. Worship is not even about you and God.

Worship is about God. We're only involved because thats what we were created to do. I hate when I'm at work, or anywhere and I have to 'bribe' people to do their job. It's their job - they shouldn't need more convincing that's what they're supposed to do. But we require blessings and healings and loving and having our preferences met before we 'agree' to do the job that we were created to do.

Sorry, I'm ranting now - but I have to go on, that example sparked me up - as much as I'm still learinign about worship, I'm CONVINCED that God didn't want to create a choir or a drama troupe or a band that spend their time practicing to sing or act or play. He wanted to create people that would do unto others that which they would want done unto themselves. He created people that he intended to do whatever for the least of humanity. He created people who would honor Him by keeping his commands (*** Remember that bit for later).

So, I probably sound like I had a turd sandwich for lunch. I didn't. I had soup - very good soup.

Up next time - the examples of David and Abraham/Isaac as worshippers.

I've got to rest my fingers.

Grace.

A Collision is Coming

I meant to post this a while ago - David Crowder Band is in the middle of recording a new CD. They have a really cool website/blog set up - go to http://www.acollisioniscoming.com. You can watch them on webcams in the studio and everything - it's VERY cool.

Grace.

EASY

Easy Hidden Mickey
I know they've been difficult - so here's a good and easy one - hopefully you can find it. It's the floor tile from the hotel.

Grace.

What to Say

During some recent worship I was participating in, the statement was made, "Lord, what else is there to say except 'thank You' for all that you've done for us." This got me thinking. If we stop thinking about ourselves and what God has done for US, there's a LOT more that we can say.

Here are a few helpful suggestions:

• You are good
• You're love endures forever
• You are a perfect judge (or You judge perfectly)
• The world declares your majesty
• Nations will bow to you
• You are love
• You are perfect
• Your anger is righteous
• Glory to you, God
• The earth is Yours, and everything in it.

No one should ever be stuck for things to say about the master of the universe, especially us, over whom He is soverign. Add more please - but don't use any personal pronouns, just to make it about God alone.

I'll add more later.

Grace.

Where's Mickey Now?

Difficult Hidden Mickey!!!

I don't know if anyone has spotted Mickey in the first installment of "Hidden Mickeys". THIS one is TOUGH. You'll probably want to find a way to zoom it - and stay to the right side.

Let me know if you find it.

Grace.

Pictures!

Greetings.

I'm going to start posting a bunch of pictures on ANOTHER blog - just to keep this one clean and clutter free. You can find it at http://desmerizingpics.blogspot.com. It'll mostly be like vacation pics and random things from our lives - nothing really interesting. Unless you find that stuff interesting. I know our family probaby will.

Anywho - it's there.

Grace.

Hidden Mickeys

Find the hidden Mickey!

You may or may not know that there are AT LEAST 400 hidden Mickey Mouse references, scattered all throughout Disney World - designers hide them in their work to make reference to their founding mouse.

Anyway, the last time I was at Disney, I spent the WHOLE day looking for them. This is the tree of life from the Animal Kingdom. See if you can find Mickey here.

Venting

We don't need anything else from God. We may want it. But, I believe it is wrong to say that, "I need to be fed." No. 2 Pete 1:3 says that, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." We have been blessed to bless God and to bless others.

Worship IS NOT about us. In any way. It's not about what I like. It's about God. The only that I'm even involved is that I have to be the one to do it.

Perhaps we're in a situation where we don't understand what worship is. That may be the bigger issue. I'm arguing with someone about worship . . . but it doesn't work if we have different understandings of what worship is.

But I don't want to be a group of self-interested people gathering together for mutual self-interest.

Sorry, I'm venting. I'm in Orlando still following a 'heated' session.

Grace.

Orlando

My wife and I head to Orlando, this week. We're at the Sally Ann Territorial Youth Workers Confernce. I'm getting tired of conferences. I could literally spend all of my life at conferences and NEVER get a chance to do anything with it.

I am excited about seeing old friends though.

In any case, I may not be posting for a while. Hopefully, they'll have a wireless internet signal (maybe I'll buy a small wireless router) so I can post from the meetings.

Grace.

If we only understood . . .

Let me first say that I write this FULLY INCLUDING MYSELF in the thoughts . . . .

I wish we understood who Jesus is; who God is. I look around and I see Christians who will 'gossip' about how bad another Christian person is because they swear. I see young people who care only about themselves. I see adults that are content in their complacency. I see porn, and murder, and violence and "worship" and, for some reason, it's not required that those things be mutually exclusive.

All the while, I can't find anyone who will do anything about it; who will take a stand and confront and correct.

Maybe it's time I did. I wish someone would've (or would) do that for me.

Grace.