Worth-ship

Nick said I should tend to this blog again. I told him I didn't think anybody was reading it, so I stopped. He said he would read it. Writing is an effort for me. To practice writing was one of the reasons I started this blog; look back to post number one. I grew weary, however, for Nick, I'll try it again, but I am going to begin easy by copying another blogger's post that I read recently and really appreciated. By posting it here, it will be handy for when I want to reference it again. So this is for Nick and for me. By the way, this copied post is actually his copy of another's post. By way of Michael Duduit, Rick Ezell writes about worship. Ezell says he got the idea from George Barna. A good thing gets around.

What is worship?

In a recent issue of his One Minute Uplift newsletter, pastor Rick Ezell writes: "George Barna surveyed thousands of churchgoing Christians. The question was asked: 'Have you ever experienced God in a worship service?' Only one-third said they regularly experience God in church worship.

"It is safe to say that true, life-changing encounters with the living God are missing from many of our churches. We desperately need a life-changing glimpse of the greatness, the awesomeness, the wonder, the power,the mercy, the goodness and the lovingkindness of the God we serve.

"The word worship conjures up all kinds of images in people's minds. Simply said: Worship is declaring the worth of God. The word worship comes from the Old English word that means "worthship." So with that definition in mind, we don't worship God for what we get out of it, but to give God the honor that is due Him, recognizing His worth, His value, His place in our church and His claim on our lives.

"Worship, therefore, is not a weekly pep talk to rally the troops and win the contest. Worship is not a motivational seminar to make us feel good about ourselves. Worship is not the Christian alternative to a Saturday night rock concert or a Beethoven symphony. Worship occurs when people encounter the God who loves them and desires a relationship with them. Worship is a meeting between God and His people. Worship does not lead to an encounter with God. It is an encounter with God."

May you have the opportunity for authentic worship in the days ahead.

Did anybody gain anything from this?

P.S.: Help me. It has been a while. I can't get this post to separate paragraphs except for the block quote, which is too separated. Tabs and returns don't work. Any suggestions? The first paragraph is actually supposed to be three paragraphs.

Dismembering an Idol

This post is a copy of a marketing letter I received from Jon Bloom, executive director of Desiring God ministries. I reproduce it here with the permission granted from their website. I thought it was especially creative and edifying.

In Luke 19, Zacchaeus the tax collector was converted. He vowed to give back fourfold to anyone he had defrauded. Imagine a conversation he might have had when returning the money.

"Dad, there's a man at the door. He said his name is Zacchaeus."

Judah moved brusquely past his daughter, clenching his jaw. If the little weasel even hints at more money, I swear… a thunderstorm of violent thoughts broke in his mind.

When he saw Zacchaeus he exploded, "WHAT?" Zacchaeus reeled slightly from the verbal blow.

"I'm here to return something to you, Judah."

"What do you mean?" The words sounded more like "Get out of my sight!"

Zacchaeus held out a small moneybag. Judah was suspiciously confused. This man had robbed half of Jericho collecting taxes for Tiberius. No one was more conniving and slippery with words. Fearing some kind of set-up, Judah didn't move.

"What are you doing, Zacchaeus?" The cynicism hissed through Judah's teeth.

"I'm dismembering my idol."

Judah's fiery glare turned to stony bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"

"Judah, I know how strange this must sound. And you have every reason not to trust me. I'm here because I've defrauded you. I've charged you more taxes than Rome required and kept them for my wicked little self. I know that you and everyone else knows that. But now I've come to ask your forgiveness for sinning against you like that, and to make restitution. That's what's in this bag."

Zacchaeus held it out again. This time Judah tentatively took it. He looked inside. "There's a lot in here. It's got to be more than you overcharged me."

"Yes. It's four times what I overcharged you. I've got all the records, you know." Zacchaeus smiled.

"Why are you giving me four times what you owe me?" Judah's distrust was not dispelled.

"I'm keeping a vow. I promised Jesus that I would repay everyone I defrauded fourfold."

"You mean the Rabbi Jesus? You know him?"

"I do now. He's in town, as you know. And the other day I wanted to get a glimpse of him. But being, ah, short-legged, I figured the only way I'd see him was from a tree! Wouldn't you know, as Jesus passes by he stops, looks up at silly me in the sycamore and says, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.'"

Judah gave him a puzzled look.

Zacchaeus said, "I know, I know! I was as shocked as anyone! How did he know my name, right? So Jesus and his disciples come to my house and in a matter of minutes my world falls apart and comes together."

"Falls apart and comes together."

"Judah, when I was a boy I was in awe of what I thought money did for people. It seemed to open all the doors to power and pleasure. So I vowed to myself that whatever it took I was going to be rich. And I kept that vow. Back then I had no idea how empty being rich would be. But up till two days ago, I figured it was still better than the alternative.

"But as I sat in my home with Jesus and his disciples, who have nothing, nothing but God—Judah, I've never seen happier people in my life! And as Jesus spoke, it was like his words were alive. My heart burned with a longing for God I had never felt before! And a deep shame that I traded him for money.

"Then it hit me like a cedar beam: I'm poor, not rich! They had God; I had a dead idol: money. They were rich; I was no more than a beggar. They were free. But the only doors money ever opened for me led to dungeons. My world, as I had known it, fell apart.

"And there sat Jesus, looking at me as if he could read me like a scroll. Everything in me just wanted to follow him. I wanted the forgiveness and salvation he's been preaching about. For the first time in my life I wanted God more than… anything! Suddenly, it was like life never made more sense. Before I knew it I was on my feet vowing in front of everyone that, well, that I would dismember my idol."

"Give away your money."

"Right. Well, some of it is your money." This time Judah smiled.

Later, Judah's wife found him staring at a small moneybag on the table.

"What's that?"

"A tax refund."

"A what?"

"I think we need to go hear Rabbi Jesus."

"Rabbi Jesus? Why?"

"I thing we're poor."

More articles like this can be seen at http://www.desiringgod.org/.

But should you try...

It is easier to get into the saddle of a dead horse.

18%

"The respect of those you respect is worth more than the applause of the multitude."

I'm not a lumberjack...

I'm not a lumberjack,

But that's okay.

I sleep all night,

And I work all day...

I am now ready for winter and the cold weather. Saturday a group of great men from our church had a lumber splitting gathering and blessed us with abundant fire place fuel for the chilly times.

I want to thank those who gathered and helped us:

Johnie "the-real-lumberjack" Floyd,

Winston "chainsaw" Coates,

Ricky "sit-and-split" Davis,

Charles "log-roller" Rice,

Joey "the-switch" Gallaher,

Bill "you-never-have-too-much-wood" Livingston,

Dennis "I-wouldn't-have-missed-it" Klumpp,

Lee "bid-2-marks" Langston,

Nick "stack-or-nap" Holder,

and Robert "take-this-to-my-wife" Ring.

It's like a new creation.

I came across this video, and I thought it would be a good theme interpretation on the title of this blog. The speaker is Francis Chan.

Sitz im Leben

I was in Oklahoma 15 years ago today. It was on this day in 1995 that Timothy McVeigh made a bomb out of a rental truck and had it go off in front of the federal building in Oklahoma City. This morning's news announcement about that terrible event caused me to remember my personal "Sitz im Leben" on that morning.

Sitz im Leben is a German phrase roughly meaning "situation in life". To put it simply, the phrase is used by bible interpreters to describe the situation that gave occasion for the biblical text. It is helpful to understand the biblical text if you understand its "Sitz im Leben."

What I remember about my situation in life that morning as a young pastor at my first church in Shattuck, Oklahoma was my immediate reaction to the news. I had walked, as I did every day, to the Post Office about three blocks from the church to pick up the mail. While there, on this day, fifteen years ago, just a little before noon, someone said to me, "Brother Phil, did you hear, Oklahoma City blew up this morning?!" My immediate reaction was to look up and to the east for smoke. OKC is about 150 miles away from where we were in western Oklahoma. Of course, I didn't see any smoke, but it was my reaction, at that moment, I remember most vividly about that day.

I have a similar reaction if I happen to be outside and something causes me to think about the return of Jesus. I look up, and I look east. My current Sitz im Leben causes me to think He could come at any moment. So, because I can, I look. I anticipate. I get ready to rejoice.

If your Sitz im Leben is not where you can look up to the sky ready to rejoice, perhaps you ought to interpret how you relate to God right now.