I’ve Got Better Things To Do?

This Sunday, I will be in church as I have been on 99.9% of Sundays for my 64 years of life.  I have attended mega-churches with thousands, little country churches with dozens, churches with organs and choirs and those with a single guitar providing the music. I have been blessed in ornate churches with incense and bells and in little unadorned halls with simple, unstructured worship. I have endured terrible services and enjoyed wonderful ones. I’ve been bored out of my mind and engaged to the very core of my being. And, I remain a person who loves Christ’s Church.

I am now part of a minority in America. The percentage of Americans that ‘go to church’ is falling rapidly and a small percentage of those who do go to church attend regularly each week. There are numerous reasons for this decline. About a third of those born after 1990 in the US no longer identify themselves with any religion. Scandals have rocked the confidence of people in pastors and diminished the value of organized religion. Many other activities compete with church for attention. 

But, I believe that many do not make church attendance a high priority because they do not really understand the reason for it. Church has become something of an entertainment venue, though many would not consciously think of it that way. A prime question that shapes the choice of many concerning where, when, and how often they attend church is ‘how does it make me feel?’  The focus has turned completely around from “I go to worship and honor God” to “I go to find something of value for me.”  We should hope to find some benefit, some joy, some inspiration when we gather to worship the Lord BUT that is secondary to making the choice to present ourselves to Him intentionally, in a place of worship, in devotion. Any emotional lift we may find is a bonus!

While people think they go to church for a program, in reality we go for a Person!

Eugene Peterson describes three reasons that being ‘in church’ for worship is important.

1. Worship gives life a working structure.

2. Worship nurtures our need for a relationship with God.

3. Worship centers our attention on the wisdom of God. – Life at Its Best, Zondervan, 2006

When we take a break from the things that consume our attention in daily life, there is an opportunity to regain our perspective- a kind of weekly reset of our understanding about what/who we were created to be. Regardless of the style of our church’s liturgy – from rigidly formal to charismatically chaotic – behind it all is the Spirit reminding us that we are finite and He is infinite, the illusions of our Self set stripped away by an encounter with the Divine!

Worship gives us a language for loving God. The choice to go ‘someplace’ and to gather with others for the purpose of worship says, “I’m reaching out to You.” Worship includes an encounter with mystery – as we take the Cup and Bread in hand – and hear “This is the blood of the Covenant, this is my Body broken for you.”  And, hopefully, there is the renewal of wisdom that comes from hearing the Word of God. One of the tragedies of some churches is the scarcity of the Word, replaced with philosophy, poems, and preacher’s opinions. It is the Word, infused with the revelation of the Holy Spirit, that shapes us into the people of God who live for the purposes of God.

I am told, too often these days, “I have better things to do, Pastor,” by those who see little value in making worship a priority over family gatherings, sports, and sleeping in on Sunday morning.  Let’s hear the invitation of the Spirit to come into God’s Presence.  I know He does not live in church building, but those places give us a place to focus, to be with others who are seeking Him.  The reality is that ‘going to church’ and entering into the worship is an investment of time!  One Sunday will do little to change us. Week by week, engaging in worship, will transform us!

Let me pointedly say this.  We must rid ourselves of the consumer expectations that poison our worship experience. Discard any attention to how you feel, what you think you need, or who spoke kindly to you. Show up and present yourself to God!  Here’s a bit of practical advice – go a few minutes early to sit quietly which will allow your soul catch up with your body. Attend with your heart and mind as well as your body! In other words, pay attention and participate. Sing! Pray! Listen! Respond!

Here is a word from the Word - "And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:21-25, NLT)

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Here I Am To Worship

Light of the world You stepped down into darkness,

opened my eyes, let me see;

Beauty that made this heart adore You,

Hope of a life spent with You.

Here I am to worship! Here I am to bow down!

Here I am to say that You're my God.

You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy,

Altogether wonderful to me.

King of all days, oh so highly exalted.

glorious in Heaven above!

Humbly You came to earth You created,

All for love's sake became poor.

Tim Hughes © 2000 Kingsway Music

CCLI License No. 810055

Enter the blessing

Are you limiting yourself, dragged down by thoughts that say “I'm not good enough” to apply for that next level job or ask for the promotion?  Are you afraid to approach God openly? Do His promises seem like they only belong to some super-spiritual elite group of Christians?

Perhaps that is because you have received just half of the gospel message, the part that teaches us “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.”  I know many believers who only live that part, failing to remember a critical conjunction that finishes the thought. Take a look. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24, NIV)  God has made you right with Him, settled whatever debt hung over you, and written ‘paid in full’ for your sinfulness, through Christ Jesus and you can accept that new status by faith.

In the 4^th chapter of Romans, Paul was inspired by the Spirit to take on the mistaken idea that we somehow gain the favor of God after or if we manage to perform enough good deeds or go through enough religious ritual.  He points to the example of Abraham, the father of the faithful, and explains that Abe was made right with God when he trusted the Lord in faith. "If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:2-3, NIV)  That is not just some dusty theology! Knowing that we are ‘credited’ with righteousness by God as a gift opens up great possibilities for us as disciples, just as it did for Abraham.

As Paul develops the thought, he goes to the promise that Abraham received because of the gift of righteousness. "It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. … Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all." (Romans 4:16, NIV)  God promised Abraham that he would be blessed, that he would bear God’s glory before his world, and that all the world would be blessed through him.  How did he gain this status? Through faith that accepted the gift of being made right with God and entering into the covenant by faith!

And, we can enter into it, too!  By faith, you and I are heirs of Abraham’s promise. We have a glorious destiny of being God’s own people, fully accepted before Heaven’s Throne, with eternal life secured for us, and the blessings of living under the hand of His blessings here and now. You can look at yourself, your failures, your sense of inadequacy and live far below what God intends OR you can, by faith, know that you are fully accepted as His child. That righteousness received by faith lays the foundation for a whole new way of life that is formed in us, progressively, by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The key to a joyful, rich Christian experience is to look higher than our own efforts, to trust Jesus fully for grace and mercy. Let’s do it! Are you living up to the potential that God plans for you, a bright light for Him, a living example of someone who has entered into the ‘abundant’ life Jesus promised?  The promise is not just for somebody you perceive to be better, someone you think has a spiritual heritage, or someone without the baggage you’re carrying from the past.  You can be declared ‘not guilty’ and freed to enter the promise – sola gratia (by grace) - sola fide (by faith)!

Here is a word from the Word. "Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised. And because of Abraham’s faith, God declared him to be righteous. Now this wonderful truth—that God declared him to be righteous—wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God." (Romans 4:20-25, NLT)

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No Longer Slaves

You unravel me with a melody

You surround me with a song

Of deliverance from my enemies

Till all my fears are gone

I'm no longer a slave to fear

I am a child of God

I'm no longer a slave to fear

I am a child of God

From my Mother's womb

You have chosen me

Love has called my name

I've been born again into Your family

Your blood flows through my veins

You split the sea so I could walk right through it

My fears were drowned in perfect love

You rescued me so I could stand and sing

I am a child of God

Brian Johnson | Joel Case | Jonathan David Helser

© 2014 Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

Too Far Gone?

The incredible talent of Russ Taff brought him 6 Grammy’s, countless Dove awards, and the praise of thousands. I loved his music. Walls of Glass, Trumpet of Jesus, and We Will Stand are embedded in my memories. Who knew that the man standing there on the stage, looking like a champion, was full of misery? Who knew of the shame he carried from a childhood of an impossible religion preached to him by a dad who finished up Sunday nights by turning into a mean drunk? Who knew of Russ’ own struggle with alcohol that tore him away from his wife and kids, amplifying the emptiness he felt at the core of his being?  In Russ Taff, I Still Believe, he tells the story – without holding back. It’s gritty, painful, and gripping.  (available on Amazon Prime Video)

The turning point was when Russ finally surrendered himself to get the help he needed, when he took the hand of the Jesus he had sung about to millions and let Him heal the wounds of shame, replacing it with grace and love that stilled the voices that insisted he was not enough. He found the love of God. Sound like a cliché? It is an old, old story – told millions of times. Yet, I love to hear it again, not for the awful but for the glory!

In this morning’s email, a friend who I watched spiral down into alcoholism and despair wrote to me about his own healing. Adopted at birth, he always felt a sense of loss. An educated, intelligent man he had what seemed to be all the right stuff. But, his professional life fell apart and his health broke. But, Jesus never forgot him! “I just celebrated a year of sobriety on October 10, 2019.  My Lord has done an amazing work in my life over the past year.  I was alone … much of the time and had few distractions, forcing me to face what I had become, how I got there and to whom I needed to turn.  As I submitted myself to the living Jesus (as opposed to the one I had envisioned through my finite prism), I started praying.”  He went to tell me how he had connected with his birth mother and found out so many things that put the missing pieces in place.

I do not know why I feel so compelled to write this blog this morning, but I know the Spirit is speaking to somebody out there who thinks they are too far gone, who has reached the conclusion that dying is better than life. God has not forgotten your name. The One who knows you best, loves you most.  He is the waiting Father of Jesus’ story (Luke 15) about the Prodigal son. That man who had treated his father terribly and wasted his life thought he could no longer be a son. He tried to go home to make a deal to live with the hired hands.  “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." (Luke 15:20, NIV)  Your Father in heaven is looking for you!

It's not easy to turn around. Old habits can die hard. Old ways of coping, through destruction, wrap themselves around us like a tattered old blanket that we resist giving up. But, the Spirit of God is ready to meet us when we are at the end of our rope. Are you ready to come home?

In my favorite book of the Bible, the letter to the Ephesians, in which Paul celebrates the grace of God, there is this passage, our word from the Word. I pray as you read it, it becomes a living Word for you, a moment of hope and transformation through the grace of God.  "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus. And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:4-10, NLT)

Surrender! Believe! Receive! Live again!

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Hold To God's Unchanging Hand

(Russ Taff sings it like nobody can)

Time is filled with swift transition

Naught of earth unmoved can stand

Build your hopes on things eternal

Hold to God's unchanging hand

Hold to God's unchanging hand

Hold to God's unchanging hand

Build your hopes on things eternal

Hold to God's unchanging hand

When your journey is completed

If to God you have been true

Fair and bright the home in glory

Your enraptured soul will view

Franklin Lycurgus Eiland | Jennie Wilson

© Words: Public Domain