Merge Worship

Musicians always seem to struggle with pride. It’s a constant thorn in the side of most musical and creative people. We’ve all read the scriptures that God “opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” and “pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” I read a new one the other day that really caught me off guard. It was Proverbs 17:19. It says this:

The Hebrew there for “exalts his gate” loosely translates to “glorifies his/her position”. The Bible says that people who do this “seek destruction”. I thought about the numerous times I felt it important to tell other people where “God had taken me"(telling about people I’ve met, worked with, written with). Sometimes this can be shared in very positive ways with close friends or new relationships, but I think most creative people could say that they’ve been in conversations where the person was clearly using those conversations to “exalt their gate”. I’ve been guilty of it. I’m sure you haven’t. ;-) Our heart tells us when we cross that line.

It was eye opening for me to see that when I do this, I’m actually getting the opposite of what I was hoping for. I have done that in the past to try and solidify my standing to the person/people I was talking to, but according to Scripture I was actually seeking out my own destruction. The Bible is full of warnings pointing to the destructive nature of pride, but this was the first one that clearly told me that a prideful person is not only due for destruction (Proverbs 15:25), but actively seeking it. That’s a scary thought.

Those closest to me would hopefully tell you that I’m not the most prideful guy on the planet. I try hard to keep that in check. I pray that God would help me retain humility and be able to spot and stop pride in all its various forms in my life. David actually prayed that God would “cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks proud things” (Psalm 12:3) and instructed that “blessed is the man who does not respect the proud”. (Psalm 40:4)

I see humility as a crucial component in my personal journey to be used by God for His fame and to see people exalt Him. As you pray today for God to use you, let a request for humility be close by. Don’t let the destructive nature of pride convince you that if you are just forceful enough, charismatic enough, gifted enough you will have influence and favor. Peter said it this way after quoting Proverbs 3:4: “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” Our position as worshipers and believers should be to have lives that exalt Him. We should let God be the one to exalt us, where He wants us, when He wants us.

Last night I had the opportunity to share with 20+ Jr. High students about worship. I had planned to talk about the "why, how and where" of worship, but instead felt impressed to share that there is purpose and significance to worship. It was a great time of sharing filled with some fun moments. Here's a little of what we shared:

• Worship is about more than singing good songs-There is an invisible world beyond the one that we know. We acknowledge it in our talk of the life after this one and need to acknowledge it in the now and know that invisible things are happening when we worship.
  
• Worship stops the enemy (2 Chronicles 20:22)
• It invites His presence (Psalms 22:3)-To this point we talked particularly about how, according to this scripture, God brings His Kingdom rule when we praise. I talked about the "rules" my parents had when I was a kid. The way things are done in the Herod house and that when we worship we invite God to set up His "rules". To come into where we are and dictate His pattern of doing things.
• Worship is the activity of eternity (Revelation 4)-When we worship we tap into the eternal stream of worship happening in heaven.

I tried encouraging the kids that if they could grasp that worship was about more than the song, more than a moment, but carried purpose and significance for their life they could receive a passion for the worship of God. I always love the opportunity to share worship with the next generation. Psalm 145:4 says; "One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts." Living out that Scripture is one of my life's passions. I would encourage you to find someone from another generation and recount God's goodness to them.

On a side note, I'd like to ask everyone to pray for my Mom. She has lymphoma and is going to have to go through some more treatment for it. I'm a little low on the faith-o-meter this morning and would love to know that others are joining with me in believing for God's healing to overtake her body. We serve a God whose Name is above EVERY other name. Thanks...adam

Friday night we were headed out to see some fireworks in a boat with some friends. About 30 minutes before the show was supposed to start we saw lightning flashing and a storm start rolling in. As we tried to get home the rain started pelting down. My son was a little afraid so I held him close to me. He told me he was scared and I told him that he was in the safest place to be. I asked him if he'd ever been hurt when Daddy was holding him. He said no.

When we got home, I shared with my kids that no matter what the circumstances surrounding them were, my arms were the safest place they could be. The spiritual parallel came clearly to me. No matter what is swirling around us, when we are in the arms of Daddy; it's the safest place to be.

After a week of camp, Friday was supposed to be the "settling down" night. Short service. Baptisms in the pool. Brief sharing time. It was anything but. We had about 1.5 hours of young people sharing their talents. Some were serious, some were not. (I don't think I'll ever forget my boy Erik miming to "Me and God". One of the best things I've ever seen. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Thanks for bringing the joy! ) After hearing all these kids share their talents, we settled in for a short 2 song worship time that turned into a half hour of real worship happening. It was awesome to see young folks passionate about Him! We heard a great message about God's mandate for this generation from my new found friend Keith Burch. We had a time of praying over the kids and it was a powerful time of seeing them connect to what God was speaking to them about their future and their role in His plan for the world.

As we wound down the service around 11:45PM, we had about 6 people that wanted to be baptized. Once we arrived at the pool Keith and I were to do the baptisms. There was a sweet sense of God's presence there. I remembered that the last time I was in this pool someone was baptizing me. God's faithfulness is incredible! As we baptized the 4th person one of our staff members took off his shoes and said he "had to get in". God was speaking to him about renewal and fresh direction and dedication. That started the flood gates coming. We had 25+ people out of the 100 that were there come in the water. It was amazing to see what God was doing in the hearts of individuals there.

Some came in because of salvation, some for renewed dedication, some for renewed commitment, some came in because they did not know how else to respond to what God was doing in that moment. More than once a word from the Lord came when people stepped into the water. The Lord spoke to one young man about his call of leadership, to another young lady her call to ministry, to another lady a new day of prayer and faith. One of the most special, to me, was a young lady who feels God is calling her to be a missionary. As she stepped in the pool I heard in my spirit that we are doing for her here what she will one day do for many others on the other side of the world.

It is such a privilege to be a part of His kingdom. I hope that in 12 years some of those kids will stand in that same pool again the baptizers instead of the baptized. God's goodness is faithful from generation to generation and His blessing is for us, our children and to all those who are a far off according to Acts 2:39. I want to send a big shout out to all my camp friends I made this week and those who joined me in worship. May God use you all to change the world for His glory and fame.