Worship

We had a wonderful time of worship at the Farmingdale Christian Church yesterday. But during the time of worship, a scripture came to mind. Romans 12:1-2, which says (NIV), "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." As I thought on this, while singing songs with words like, "I will worship..." and "I will bow down..." it really got me thinking.

"I" refers to the being that is me. All of me. In my entirety. And here I was singing, "I will worship." All of me? My whole self, as a living sacrifice, as Romans calls for?

What then came to mind is that my worship is far more than the words I sing in church on Sunday. It is as much, if not more, about the words I speak at home on Monday or at work on Tuesday. It is far more than raising my hands during service. It is about reaching out with those hands to touch the lives of those around me. It is more than bowing my knee for a song or two. It is about stooping down to help those around me who may need a hand up.

Please don't take what I am saying as if to say that our gathering as a Church in worship services around the world is unimportant, because that is not at all what I am saying. There is power to be found when God's people come together like that. What I am saying, though, is that our worship of our Lord Jesus needs to be so much more than a few hours on Sunday morning. It needs to be a whole surrender to Him, to be used for His good pleasure.

Great South Bay 5K

Today, I ran a 5K.  But really, that is not at all the story for today.

Today, while I was running the 5K, my beautiful wife and darling daughter both walked the same 5K as well.  For each of them, it was the first "event" they have walked in, and I have to say, I am so very proud of them.  They set a goal, when they agreed to do it, of completing the 5K in one hour or less.

The weather was absolutely spectacular, with not a cloud in the sky and a crisp 52 degrees.  The race went off at exactly 8:30AM and I said good-bye to them and headed out running.  My run was not bad, with a great first two miles and a struggle at the end, but I'm happy with my time, overall.

Once I got in, I rushed to the car to get the camera and get ready to catch their finish.  They called me with 0.5 miles left and I knew they were setting a great pace.

Well, they both met their goal IN SPADES!.  Faith trotted across the finish line in 52:43 and Christine came in just behind her in 53:20.

I just want to shout, as loud as I can,

I AM PROUD OF MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER!

To The End

That God is a faithful God is a fact that many people, myself included, can attest to.  It is often said that God is "faithful to the end."  While this is, in my mind, doubtless true, I posit that there may be meaning behind such a statement that you may not see at first glance.

God is always faithful.  He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deut 21:6,8).  He is faithful even when we are faithless (2 Tim 2:13).  The Bible also states that His love towards us is great and His faithfulness endures forever (Psalm 117:2).  But is there more to that phrase than just God's enduring faithfulness?  I believe there is.  God is faithful to the end.  His word declares that God has a plan for each of our lives (Jer. 29:11).  And to that plan, or to that end, He will always remain faithful.

Imagine a blacksmith, making a sword.  He has a plan, knowing exactly what kind of sword he is making.  He begins by plunging a raw piece of metal into a furnace.  It remains in there until the instant the smith knows it is ready.  Then, out it comes and immediately, the smith begins pounding it with a hammer.  Then, after the precise number of blows, into the water it goes, only to be returned to the fire yet again.

This does not sound comfortable from the point of view of the piece of metal.  Yet the blacksmith knows exactly what he is making and will continue to do everything necessary until that raw piece of metal becomes a finely-honed sword.  That blacksmith remains faithful to the end throughout the whole process, keeping the plan for the finished sword in mind the whole time.

In much the same way, God is taking these raw lumps of metal called "you and I" and He is forming something wonderful with us.  He has a plan in mind; He knows what He is making us into.  And He is willing to do what it takes to form us.  Even if it means plunging us into the fires of adversity or striking us with the hammer of trials.  He knows exactly what it needed, no more and no less, to form in us what He has purposed.

And I dare say that it is precisely because He is working in us to produce His plan for us that we can ultimately and entirely trust Him.  Because we know that He is in control and that He will work all things together for our good (Rom 8:28), we can yield to His process.  We can put our trust in Him, even through the trials and adversities we face, knowing that God is at work producing something beautiful in our lives and knowing that He will do exactly and ONLY what is needed to accomplish His purpose.

Yes, God is always faithful.  ALWAYS faithful to the end!

Are you "rechargeable" or "plug-in"?

These days, almost everything that requires electricity, you can get in a "rechargeable" form.  Vacuums, mixers, razors, circular saws, music players and telephones, just to name a few (obviously).  You plug them in for just a little while, then they run for minutes/hours/days from that one charge.  It's really an amazing convenience, no?  I mean, the freedom you get without a power cord hanging from your cordless sweeper is just grand.

Too many of us, quite often myself included, are treating our relationship with God as if we "rechargeable" beings, though.  Right about now, you're probably asking, "What is this guy talking about?"  Allow me to expound a bit.

You see, we go to church on a Sunday morning and plug ourselves in for a while.  We experience the joys of His presence in worship and praise.  We get encouraged by the preaching of His word.  In short, we get all charged up and ready to go to work.  Then we unplug and go home.  Too often, though, we expect to live off that "charge" for the rest of the week.

Jesus spoke these words in the book of John, chapter 15, verse 4:

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." 

We need to continually abide in Him.  Not just for a while on Sunday morning.  Not even just for a few minutes at the start of each day.  But hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute and breath-by-breath.  He is our only source of power to live the life He has called us to.  If we have any hope of bearing fruit in this life that will last, we need to stay plugged-in to Him all the time.

Merry Christma(s)

Savior

Luke 2:11

On this day, we celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born for an entirely singular purpose. That was, to be the Savior of the world. Jesus did not come only to show us the way to God. Jesus came to BE the way to God. He is our Savior.

The very term 'savior' identifies Jesus as more than a mere instrument of God. God said, through the prophet Isaiah (43:11), 'I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.' To declare that Jesus is Savior is to, in no uncertain terms, declare that Jesus is God Himself. This should come as no surprise, given that Isaiah also prophesied that Jesus was to be known as 'Emmanuel' or 'God with us.'

The Creator of the universe was willing to humble Himself as but a creation in order to bring about the salvation of the world. But even more than that, the God of all became a man to give YOU the gift of salvation.

Merry Christm(a)s

Announce

Luke 1, 2

When God was about to send His only begotten Son into the world, He used angels to announce it to the 'involved' parties (Zechariah, Mary, Joseph). These were, essentially, private meetings and/or dreams that were given to these people as a way to prepare them for what God was about to do through them.

When the Father saw the birth of His Son on that very first Christmas day, He was so overjoyed that He sent angels to announce it to some shepherds in a field. Heaven could apparently not hold the joy that flowed, and it spilled over into the earthly realms, as witnessed by these incredibly blessed shepherds.

God was overjoyed, not merely as a proud Father, but because He knew that the perfect plan of Salvation for the entire world was set in motion that very night. The prospect of the redemption of a people that God loved so very much filled all of heaven with such joy that it could not be contained. And that joy still flows over the new birth of but one of His children. Even YOU!

Merry Christ(m)as

Manger

Luke 2:7

What does the word 'manger' bring to your mind at Christmas? A nice, quaint stable with a cozy bed of hay for a baby to sleep in? A warm picture of tranquility? Not quite what I would imagine would have been the real story.

The mention of the manger is what leads most to believe that Jesus was born in a stable. In those days, stables were often caves dug out of earth, with the feeding trough (or manger) dug into the rock wall. It would have been a dark and dirty setting for the Son of God to make His entrance into this world.

This, however, is somewhat fitting, considering the rest of Jesus' life. Where there was filth, dirt and darkness, Jesus came to bring holiness, purity and light.

When I first met Jesus, my heart may have rivaled the manger, as far as cleanliness goes, but Jesus came to me just the same, and brought His life.