Leaving The 99

I know that we all know someone who is not where they need to be, or maybe they don't realize the position they're in at the moment, maybe they have strayed off the path, but I encourage you to read Luke 15:4-7, which says, "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." This parable talks about the lost sheep, it talks about the shepherd (God) going out to find this sheep. I have heard this story many times but it finally sunk in this morning. The shepherd goes to find the lost sheep, not the other sheep. What I'm trying to say here is that we all know that person out there, let God do what God does, we just need to continue to pray that God's will be done. If he uses us in that, great, if not, we just need to sit back and watch God work. It has been said that in the days of Jesus that the shepherd would find the lost sheep and break its back leg, carry it home, and then hand feed it and keep it close so that it would know who its shepherd was. Sometimes God may need to "break the leg" so that they understand who their shepherd is. It will hurt for a little while, but God will be there to hand feed you and nurture you back to full health. Don't ever forget who your shepherd is. So as I end this post I encourage you to keep praying for whoever it is in your life, and don't ever give up because God is always working. God will find that lost sheep, that's why He's called The Good Shepherd.

Thanks for reading, and remember,
We're always,
Living In Worship.

Waiting On The World To Change?

I was in the car today, when the song Waiting On The World To Change came on the radio, and it hit me, if we sit back and wait on the world to change, it may change but we will not be a  part of it...We can't just simply sit back and wait for our world to change itself, we have to get out there and change it. As it says in Matthew 28:19 "Go into all nations making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." As it also says in Romans 10:14 "How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" Jesus tells his disciples to go out and make more disciples, and in Romans Paul says, how can anyone hear without us going and telling them? I know whatever God wants to happen will happen if we do what we are told or not, but if we sit around and do nothing we will not get that blessing that God has planned for us if we were to go out and change the world. I know one thing and it's that I want to be a part of changing the world! So for all of you reading this, I have a challenge for you. If you are going on mission this year awesome! If you are not going on mission this year I ask you to prayerfully consider it. That doesn't mean that you have to leave the country, that doesn't even mean you have to leave the state. I'm sure that there is plenty of stuff to do in your area, whether that is helping your neighbor mow their lawn, or going to your local laundry mat and just paying for peoples laundry. Whatever you decide to do make sure God is the center of why you are doing what you do and share that with whoever you help. Here's one more thought to think about as I end. Eternity is too long to be wrong about and not share what you know about it, so get out there and share!


Thanks for reading, and remember,
We're always,
Living In Worship

Worshiping The Worship

I feel like sometimes we get so caught up in the service itself that we lose sight of what worship is actually intended for. Take a moment to read over this and truly seek where your heart is in worship.

The Music: I believe sometimes we get so caught up in what we’re listening to we begin to worship the music rather than worship the almighty God, worship is not about music at all.

Worship was created as part of our relationship with God; He wants us to worship Him continually.

If you listen to the words of Matt Redman’s song Heart of Worship, it says “When the music fades and all is stripped away” when the music fades…it’s not about the music at all. The chorus it says “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about you” the heart of worship is all about Christ.

Don’t get me wrong worship music is not a bad thing. You just have to make sure you’re using the music as a form of worship, not as the worship. We use music as one of our tangible forms of worship, music is part of our corporate worship.

The Leader: Maybe sometimes we begin to worship the worship leader.

The song Heart of Worship came from Matt Redman when he was beginning to become a well recognized worship leader and people were coming to the church just to hear him lead. The pastor decided to get rid of the sound system and the band for a little while and just gather to worship with their voices.

The point is that sometimes we lose our way in worship and the way to get back is through the heart of worship and to strip everything away. A worship leader is just someone who has been given the gift of leadership, and they are placed in that position to lead you into a state of worship. They are no different than anyone else. As a worship leader I can personally tell you that I could care less what people think about me when I’m leading. I’m just there to worship with everyone else, yes I’m up on stage but I’m no different than the people in the audience. Worship should not be about me at all.

The Feeling: If our worship is based just on the “feeling” we get when we worship, then we are not truly worshiping. Worship is not about how we feel at all, it’s about praising the Almighty King.

As Paul says in Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship.”

Offering ourselves as living sacrifices is our true act of worship. A living sacrifice is an oxymoron. You can’t have a living sacrifice. Paul knew that, he wasn’t crazy when he wrote this. He’s saying that we are supposed to live as sacrifices to Christ. Emotions in worship are not a bad thing. Feeling the Holy Spirit move throughout worship is a good thing, but if we come into worship just expecting that feeling than we’re not coming in with the right intentions. Don’t be a “worship junkie” which I will touch on later.

A great friend of mine once said to me “A living sacrifice can get down off the alter.”

We have to offer ourselves daily as sacrifices to the Lord.

David's Journal (Part 1)

Have you ever thought about people in the Bible journaling? What if some of the books in the Bible are prophets journal...I think if we take a close look at some of the books we will find that more often then not the prophets and writers were journaling. I believe that Psalms was mostly David's journal to the Lord. If you journal then you know that you're writing down your prayers and your thoughts to the Lord, that's what David is doing in Psalms. If we take a look at Psalms 3 we see David crying out to God. Verse 1 & 2 says, "O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising up against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God." If we read this out of context it looks like David is defeated here but if we take a look at verse 3 & 4 it says, "But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head." "I cried aloud to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy hill." We see here that David is crying out to the Lord, saying that his foes are rising up against him, but he knows that the Lord is there for him, he just has to trust in the Lord and he will deliver him. How many times have we cried out to God in our time of weakness? When we feel like our like enemies are rising against us, but just as David did we just need to trust that the Lord can carry us through any situation. I am constantly reminded that there is no problem to big for God to handle, cast all your cares upon Him and he will take care of you every time.

Thanks for reading, and remember,
We're always,
Living In Worship.

Worship Is a Gift

I was having coffee with a friend of mine last week when we began to talk about worship, and how sometimes it can be discouraging when you are leading and everybody just has their hands at their sides, or in their pockets. Then it hit me, worship is our way of surrendering to God, in other words it is our gift to God. If you really think about it there is no wrong way to give a gift, when you get a gift from someone you're not going to criticize them on how they give it, right? So why should we have any right to criticize how others give their "gift" of worship to God. In fact if you are truly worshiping, it shouldn't matter how the people around you worship. I am constantly reminding myself that, who am I to judge someone on how they give their gift of worship, all I should be focusing on is giving my best at all times. So if you ever catch yourself criticizing in worship, just remember, if that's how they want to give their gift, it's not our place to tell them their wrong.

Thanks for reading, and remember,
We're always,
Living In Worship