Will They See Jesus Better Now?

This past week many Christians celebrated the court ruling allowing for prayer to be said at the opening of government meetings, such as a town counsel meeting. The justices spoke to how this is a practice even seen in our congress today.  (For more information see ruling details here). Again this was celebrated by many Christians as the news moved through Facebook like a storm. As I read the news, the celebrations, and posts, I found myself wondering if I wanted to celebrate. Or maybe it might be better said; I found myself wondering what they were celebrating.

            I often hear many declaring how this country was founded and first established under the value of religious freedom. Something I agree with. Yet they also say the country was rooted in and many of its values found in Christianity as seen by our laws and quotes from many of the for-fathers. A statement I kind of a agree with, kind of.

            So now people have the right to prayer before a government meetings. So, do my Christian friends support anyone’s rights to pray before a meeting? What if Monday was Christian protestant prayer, Tuesday was a catholic prayer, Wednesday was a Muslim prayer, Thursday was a Hindu prayer, and Friday was a Wicca prayer? Would you still be celebrating? These named faiths are all religions that are represented by the people of the United State of America. These are their religions and they live in a nation founded on religious freedom.

            Many have attacked the group that brought the lawsuit; wondering what it matters if a prayer is offered if you do not believe in it? So then what will your reaction, as a believer, be if a prayer is offered by a faith you do not believe in? How will you respond? Even if you don’t believe in that faith, or believe it is a false religion, would you still celebrate the religions freedom to practice that faith? Are you ok if they also pray publically to open a government meeting, even if they are not Christian? Because it’s going to happen. In fact is has happened and look how the “Christians” handled it...

Now what I want to know is what are you celebrating? As I study the Bible and look at the writings of the Apostle Paul and of Jesus I wonder; would the Apostle Paul be celebrating? Would the Apostle Paul care? What would he do if he where in a government meeting? Would he respond the way the Christians did? Would Jesus respond that way?

This whole situation got me thinking. I admit I have many thoughts and I am not sure how to get them out there. Honestly I hesitate writing this out of some fear of how people will perceive me and think about me. But what I do know is that I am not celebrating right now. In fact I am sad…

I find myself wondering: What did Jesus win because of this ruling? What is now better off in the Kingdom of God because of this ruling? Will more be saved because of this? Will more people see the Gospel lived out? After watching the Youtube video I seem to think they wont…

Contradicting or Complementing?

I recently read two articles from the same issues of Worship Leaders Magazine. One of them was titled “Open Your Eyes: The Worship Trialogue”. You can give it a quick read but the article basically gave a loving rebuke to worship leaders (meaning the entire band) that the role of being on the stage is not just to worship themselves but it is to lead the congregation and even relationally engage with those they are leading. It says that people need to feel that worship is a part of a community and the leadership from the stage plays a major role in that. It emphasizes the role of a leader and the need for the people to have that connection with those leading worship. It did not dismiss the moments of worship where an entire team does find themselves in an intimate place in their worship; eyes closed and hands raised. It merely showed the need for the worship team to function as a part of the community of worshipers within the church and to own their leadership role so as to help and not hinders those they are leading into worship.

Then a few links down I found this article entitle “Should Worship Leaders Leave the Stage?” The title is pretty self-explanatory. It explores the idea of worship leaders needing to leave the stage, take on a much less prominent leadership role; all in the name of people being distracted by the worship leaders and other creative things on the stage area. It suggested ideas like moving them to the floor, or moving them to the back, or even having them in a separate room. All in the name of not being a distraction or hindrance to others worshiping.

Neither of the articles said something I have not heard before but what surprised me was that I read them from the same source, the same issue, just a few pages apart from each other. To me they seem like they are contradicting each other. That each expel a completely different understanding and perspective of corporate worship and the role of a worship team/worship leader.

So what do you think? Are they contradicting or are the complementing...or something else?

"Do We Really Need More Worship Songs"

I was given this short but great blog post on "Do We Really Need More Worship Songs" and asked to give my thoughts on it. After reading and posting my thoughts for a friend I decided to do a post here and see if others have thoughts. It was a great challenge and I have my thoughts below BUT read it firsts, check out my thoughts and let me know yours. 

Remember Eph 4:29 as you read and respond: "Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."

My Thoughts: I think there are some great thoughts here in this article. I think when the author challenges writers on their lyrics that it is a great challenge and an often needed one. I agree that the Idea of poetry is at root of great songs and I think we can see that even in the hymns that will last longer then most of their counterparts out of the hymnal. The ones that are written as poetry instead of a sermon will last much longer, I believe, and thus say even more with less (Holy Holy Holy, How Great Thou Are, etc). I would agree, out of how many songs I check out each week I like 1 or none, usually, but that is ok. However, I think the author said it well without trying to say it when he talked about the songs written out of his church. They are written for a purpose or a season and create great meaning for that church or community and carry power and anointing there. If I was to hear the same song I might brush it off quickly as lacking depth or poetry or meaning to me or my church. So does that mean they should not have been written? NO! Of course not. Because they were written for a season and community and that’s what God was doing there. So with that in mind, we have to be careful, especially as artists and worship leaders, to not attack or judge others art that was created for their church or community. Even with phrases like "sloppy wet kiss" (which I hear many people criticize).  For the many people that hate it, there are also many people that it speaks to and paints a poetic picture that gives them a closer understanding of Gods truth. That’s the power of language, art and poetry. It won't speak to all and doesn't need to. That is the great advantage of the many many many new songs being written. They are tools in the hands of the Holy Spirit and I am a fan of letting God use what he will use and me shutting up when it comes to criticizing when I have no real idea of context and God movements in those other places where the songs are being used. BUT theology and truth MUST always be a filter we can judge a song by, as we do all other literature or writing or art in a Christian context. For me personally, my favorite songs have lyrics that are right out of the Bible (whether its depth or simple) but my least favorite songs are the ones that feel the need to tell a whole story or give a many sermon (Like many hymns do). As a worship leader I have found that I do craft a theme or even a story each week I lead worship but it is with several songs, flowing from one to another. To me the best song are the ones that don't try and do to much, but then I can lead, give scripture, and move on to the next one to create a message that is pointed to God and pointing people to God.Well those are my thoughts on it! So to answer the question "Do We Really Need More Worship Songs" I would say, if the spirit is leading them to be written then who am I to argue with God.

See also other previous posts on this topic: 

"I Lay Me Down"  or   "For Him or Me"

Salt and Light Part 2 - Actions of Faith

Continuing on this theme of “Salt and Light” and “good deeds” I want to look at the book of James. In reality I would love to look at this entire book but for starters I’ll just hit a few verses that I think give us an even greater challenge to the idea of being Salt and Light and explore this idea of others seeing our good deeds as I discussed in my last blog post. (If you have not read that one yet just look down a few posts for “Salt and Light” and read that one first)

When we looked at Mathew 5 we see Jesus challenging us to show that we are truly followers of Christ, Salt and Light to this world, by our “good deeds” and I ended it with a challenge to go do good deeds. This past week I was reading in the book of James and I came across the same phrase, “good deeds” and it got my attention again.

In James 2:20 James says “How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is dead?” In other words, if our faith is not seen by what we do then we really don’t have a life changing faith. That might seem harsh but look at the verse right before. In verse 19 James says, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. “

Here James makes a very hard direct statement to those who call themselves Christians. He says that just claiming the knowledge of truth does not set us apart yet as followers of Christ (or as Salt and Light). Even the demons know that truth you claim BUT it has not penetrated their heart and life to a point of living out that truth in a way that makes them different then the way they where before they knew the truth. Our faith MUST be shown! Not because our actions save us, but its our actions that show we are saved. If the actions are absent, if our life does not have the good deeds Jesus and James talk about then what do we have? We have knowledge of Truth, yes we know Jesus is God, but what is that alone? James even asks the question in verse 14 “If you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions…Can that faith save you?”

When we truly surrender to God as the LORD of our lives our faith then is shown in our actions and good deeds because we truly begin to live out the truth that “our lives our not our own” (1 Cor 6:19) and our actions show our faith is real and alive by how we live, showing that we are living as Jesus would live and do what we saw Jesus doing.

This is not an easy word to think about but I think it’s a word that all of us who call ourselves followers of Christ must be willing to hear and let God speak to us and challenge us through.

This has greatly challenged me! Is my faith seen as active and alive by my actions? Am I Salt and Light that is seen by the world around me as different then the rest of the world? Does my faith appear dead by my actions, or lack their of…? 

I encourage you to read James Chapter 2 completely to get an even better picture of this incredible challenge to us all.  BUT also find encouragement that God is writing this to Christians who had the same struggles when it was written back then as we do today. God wants us to grow through these words and find our strength in us coming to Him in this challenge!

Salt and Light

The last several weeks there has been a theme emerging from my blog posts. I know it is flowing out of things God is teaching me but I also believe they are for us as a church. Today I came to Mathew 5. It’s a great chapter, full of so much teaching and direction from Jesus. I feel I could hang out in it for a month and still not be done seeing the many things Jesus would show me. For this blog post we will skip past a few verses and look at Matthew 5:16.

 Even though verse 16 was the one that stood out to me, here is the group of verses it flows with. Mathew 5 starting in verse 13. Jesus is talking and says:

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

These are verses I have read many times and I expect you might have as well. Jesus is calling his followers, his Church, the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Great verses and they are so popular there are even a few kids’ songs that come from these as well. But it was the last verse that God emphasized to me today.

Here we are being called to be salt and light, but then the question is, how are we to be salt and light. Since there are many ways we can do that, Jesus gives clarity at the end of this section. We are salt and light when others “see your good deeds”.

So, if you’re like me, when Jesus says, “be my salt and light on this earth,” we raise our hands and say “yes” to the call. But I read that last verse and had to ask myself; have I had good deeds, and has the world seen them in a way that points to God? It’s a question we all must ask ourselves. The answer will look a little different depending on our season of life and where God has called us to be BUT the call is there all the same. He didn’t say they will hear your good words, no, he said they will see your good deeds.

So what deeds have you and I done this week or last week? Would Jesus say we are being salt and light by our deeds? It seems that is the challenge to us today….let’s go do it

It Would Change The World

They deserved it! They had it coming! They started it! That’s justice! I have a right to…

These are statements I think we have all have made at some point in our lives. Maybe we hear them more from our kids, but in reality we definitely have adult versions of these phrases that we live out in our lives. Usually they are said after someone has hurt us or wronged us. Maybe we respond to that hurt by putting that person in their place, seeking justice to see them suffer the consequences of their actions or maybe even taking action against them (“justifiably” of course) for what they did.

How we handle those who wrong us is one of the greatest indicators that either mark us as followers of Christ or hypocrites who act just like an unbelieving world. Jesus calls each of us to a standard of living that removes all “rights”we think we have when we are wronged and He says this in Luke.

Luke 6:27-31“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

You know, every time I read this, it's like BAM! I respond to these words and feel them smack me right in the face. What is Jesus saying? He is saying that we have no rights! That we are a slave to righteousness and righteous living (Romans 6:18) under the new standard that He calls his followers to.

When someone wrongs us, Jesus is not a situational based teacher. In fact he really makes this one pretty straight up. Love those that show you no love. Bless those who keep attacking you. Show kindness to those who show you none. If someone wrongs you, give to them even more.

This is one of the HARDEST callings of Jesus to live by. I honestly don’t see it lived out much at all. What do you think would happen if Christians took this command from Jesus and let it change how we act in response to every person we know and encounter? Do you think an unbelieving world might look and see something so different in us they would come to ask what it is? I do! It would be the most incredible life changing testimony we could have if we learn to just love like Jesus already loved us and see our friends and enemies come to a life-changing encounter with God. It would change our lives and the world’s around us!