On WorshipLeader.com, Andrew Jones discusses how worship "back in Bible days" used to be a worship of movement. He says, (and I agree), that worship has become "static"- people just sitting or standing still. People didn't praise God sitting still originally. God made us to praise Him. You can see this in the Psalms when the psalmist speaks of the majesty of God's creation praising Him. Waterfalls, birds, ocean waves, trees. And human beings.
I lead a small group of girls at our church in worship dancing. I'm not a dancer, but I can praise (I qualify, you know?- I'm a child of God!). Well, last night, at our first meeting for the new school year, we were trying to figure out a better name than what we've been bestowed (Creative Movement.... BORING!) While putting together acronyms, I muttered something about "Praise In Motion.... P.I.M". Before I could finish my thought, (which was, "hmmmmm....what could we do with that?"), one of my precious dancers came up with "Princesses!! we could be P.I.M.P. Dancers!!!"
Obviously we need a little help here. Ideas anyone?
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Got Joy?
Did you know that sapphires come in almost every color of the rainbow except red? And that the only reason they don't come in red is because when they are red, they are called rubies? And that the most valuable ones are a pinky-orange called padparadscha? Sapphires should be very clear. The depth of their color is not as important as their clarity. When the sapphire is clear, it can reflect the light better- there are no "inclusions" to muck up the glow. Then, with a fine sapphire, when it's cut just right, the light shines through it and bounces around and sparkles - like joy.
I say "like joy" because I've watched my middle son play with sparkly "treasures" since he was old enough to notice them. They enthrall him; he can't leave them alone. One Christmas I even bought him a prism with a solar powered motor that hangs in a window. When the sun hits it, it turns, bouncing its refracted lightbeams all over the kitchen. I don't know who enjoys it more, me or him, but joy is certainly a good word to describe it. Things like prisms and sapphires bring me great joy!
Joy is something that Christ promises us if we follow him. John 15 and 16 speak repeatedly of a joy that we will receive. A joy that no one will take from us. Jesus wishes us to be filled with joy. But is joy a word you can use - be honest now- to describe your life? I know that for years, it wasn't the first word I'd use... let me see... in fact, joy was somewhere pretty far down on the list. And joy that no one could rob from me? As Princess Mia would say, "SHUT UP!"
Well, I'm reading a book called Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. In it, he's discussing the living, active nature of God's word. He says,
I like the way he describes it.
I imagine turning the Word around in my hand, holding it up to the Light and seeing it all over again.
I imagine that no one can predict exactly how the Light will pierce it this time and exactly what the result will be.
I imagine reaching out to touch it but being touched by it instead;
changed;
filled with joy;
permanent joy.
I like knowing that God's word isn't some stale piece of paper that cannot move in and out of time with His people. I like knowing that when I read about David, I can see myself- whether it's in standing in faith against a giant or holding my head and crying out to a God I don't understand. How did God know that I would need stories of failure and redemption like Adam and Eve, and Abraham, and Moses, and David? Like Peter, and Paul? How did He know that thousands and thousands of years later, these stories would still inspire, guide, and instruct? Maybe a better question is why did He bother? Bother to make sure we had the stories?
Maybe He did it because He loves us.
Maybe because He's alive, and cares.
Maybe because all He wants for us is joy. That His joy would be complete in us and ours in Him. (John 15:10-12)
So don't believe for a minute that drudging through your day is all there is. Don't believe it's a freak of nature that sapphires make your heart sing. Don't believe for a minute that the Word is stale, or boring, or a history book, or that Sunday morning sermons and big new buildings are all there is to Christianity. Go out on a limb with me and read the Word with open eyes and let the Light refract it in a whole new way.
And be filled with joy.
Oh, and ask me about my sapphires sometime!
I say "like joy" because I've watched my middle son play with sparkly "treasures" since he was old enough to notice them. They enthrall him; he can't leave them alone. One Christmas I even bought him a prism with a solar powered motor that hangs in a window. When the sun hits it, it turns, bouncing its refracted lightbeams all over the kitchen. I don't know who enjoys it more, me or him, but joy is certainly a good word to describe it. Things like prisms and sapphires bring me great joy!
Joy is something that Christ promises us if we follow him. John 15 and 16 speak repeatedly of a joy that we will receive. A joy that no one will take from us. Jesus wishes us to be filled with joy. But is joy a word you can use - be honest now- to describe your life? I know that for years, it wasn't the first word I'd use... let me see... in fact, joy was somewhere pretty far down on the list. And joy that no one could rob from me? As Princess Mia would say, "SHUT UP!"
Well, I'm reading a book called Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. In it, he's discussing the living, active nature of God's word. He says,
The Rabbis spoke of the text being like a gem with seventy faces, and each time you turn the gem, the light refracts differently, giving you a reflection you haven't seen before. And so we turn the text again and again because we keep seeing things we missed the time before.
I like the way he describes it.
I imagine turning the Word around in my hand, holding it up to the Light and seeing it all over again.
I imagine that no one can predict exactly how the Light will pierce it this time and exactly what the result will be.
I imagine reaching out to touch it but being touched by it instead;
changed;
filled with joy;
permanent joy.
I like knowing that God's word isn't some stale piece of paper that cannot move in and out of time with His people. I like knowing that when I read about David, I can see myself- whether it's in standing in faith against a giant or holding my head and crying out to a God I don't understand. How did God know that I would need stories of failure and redemption like Adam and Eve, and Abraham, and Moses, and David? Like Peter, and Paul? How did He know that thousands and thousands of years later, these stories would still inspire, guide, and instruct? Maybe a better question is why did He bother? Bother to make sure we had the stories?
Maybe He did it because He loves us.
Maybe because He's alive, and cares.
Maybe because all He wants for us is joy. That His joy would be complete in us and ours in Him. (John 15:10-12)
So don't believe for a minute that drudging through your day is all there is. Don't believe it's a freak of nature that sapphires make your heart sing. Don't believe for a minute that the Word is stale, or boring, or a history book, or that Sunday morning sermons and big new buildings are all there is to Christianity. Go out on a limb with me and read the Word with open eyes and let the Light refract it in a whole new way.
And be filled with joy.
Oh, and ask me about my sapphires sometime!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Shipwrecks, School Supplies, and Cobwebs
I'm alone in my house for the first time in months. Everyone in the family has returned to school and I am left here to ponder some of the meanest, thickest cobwebs I've ever seen! It's very quiet but there's an undercurrent of concern and even anxiety. My eldest started high school today. He admitted he's a bit nervous. It's a really big (REALLY BIG) school and there are REALLY BIG kids that go there. My middle one worked his tail off this summer in summer school so he could earn a spot in a coveted art course and came to find out yesterday that the class meets at the same time as band so, although he earned his spot, he can't take it. Summer school took a lot of energy and he didn't finish his summer reading and summer math assignments until this morning! Add to that, he's at a new school as well! The youngest is at the top of the heap in elementary school this year but has a brand new teacher. She's worried about things like people liking her and student government and how one accomplishes the task of being well liked without being "a Mean Girl". Rod is dealing with all kinds of new things at work and a rush to get ready. It's all a lot to be anxious about and if I worry, I can see how it might all go down like a ship in a storm!
A shipwreck in a storm was the topic of my reading this morning in the peace and quiet of my kitchen. Acts 27 describes Paul's terrible shipwreck as he traveled to Rome for an audience with Caesar. While shipwrecked on Malta, Paul survived a poisonous snake bite so he could heal the sick (which I'm sure drew the natives to God during the three months he stayed with them). While in Rome, he spent two years welcoming everyone who came to visit, explaining everything about Jesus Christ and urgently presenting all matters of the kingdom of God (Acts 28). True to form, Paul was totally about God's business which was precisely why God saw to it that he was spared when the ship went down.
As we were discussing all the school issues the other day, I reminded the kids that if their only desire in school was to be popular or well liked, they would be miserable. School is their Malta- their Rome. Paul wasn't necessarily popular or well liked, but he did have friends, was safe, and content. And friends, safety, and contentment are huge when you're facing poisonous snakes, mighty rulers, and confused, hurting people.
Now to face those cobwebs...
A shipwreck in a storm was the topic of my reading this morning in the peace and quiet of my kitchen. Acts 27 describes Paul's terrible shipwreck as he traveled to Rome for an audience with Caesar. While shipwrecked on Malta, Paul survived a poisonous snake bite so he could heal the sick (which I'm sure drew the natives to God during the three months he stayed with them). While in Rome, he spent two years welcoming everyone who came to visit, explaining everything about Jesus Christ and urgently presenting all matters of the kingdom of God (Acts 28). True to form, Paul was totally about God's business which was precisely why God saw to it that he was spared when the ship went down.
As we were discussing all the school issues the other day, I reminded the kids that if their only desire in school was to be popular or well liked, they would be miserable. School is their Malta- their Rome. Paul wasn't necessarily popular or well liked, but he did have friends, was safe, and content. And friends, safety, and contentment are huge when you're facing poisonous snakes, mighty rulers, and confused, hurting people.
Now to face those cobwebs...
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Firm Footing on Mountain Paths
Yes, I know it's been a long time. July has come and gone and not without a little sweat and tears. But I'm not complaining. I've been dealing with some extremely difficult issues at work. And today, as I read my passage in Streams in the Desert, I was comforted and encouraged by what seemed to be written just for me.
The scripture reference was Isaiah 49:11, "I will turn all my mountains into roads." These are the words of God. If you read the entire chapter, God is telling us that he is compassionate and that he will use all the difficulties we face- all the mountains- as roads- as paths to a place he has created for us. A place that is by the choicest streams. A place where we are free and safe and comforted and loved. Who wouldn't want to go there? And God's purpose in all of this? To form us and use us to reconnect the people with him (Isaiah 49:9) So in this passage where God is talking about making paths out of mountains, he's talking to believers.
He's not saying he's going to make everything peachy. He's saying he's going to mold us and make us into someone he can use. The wise thing to do would be to work with him on the project. To stop fighting the mountain and to trust his compassion and walk the path he has placed before us. And we don't even have to walk the path blindly, wondering what on earth he might have up his sleeve. In 2 Peter, he's quite clear on what it is he's desiring to create in each of us:
-Basic faith
-Good character
-Spiritual understanding
-Alert discipline
-Passionate patience
-Reverent wonder
-Warm friendliness
-Generous love
This is the child he can use to "reconnect the people" to himself. I need not ask God to remove these difficulties in my life. What I need to do is to see how they help create these qualities in me- to encourage my growth- so that as I walk that mountain path it will be a paved road- my feet on firm footing- and I might draw others to Him and our joy will be complete.
The scripture reference was Isaiah 49:11, "I will turn all my mountains into roads." These are the words of God. If you read the entire chapter, God is telling us that he is compassionate and that he will use all the difficulties we face- all the mountains- as roads- as paths to a place he has created for us. A place that is by the choicest streams. A place where we are free and safe and comforted and loved. Who wouldn't want to go there? And God's purpose in all of this? To form us and use us to reconnect the people with him (Isaiah 49:9) So in this passage where God is talking about making paths out of mountains, he's talking to believers.
He's not saying he's going to make everything peachy. He's saying he's going to mold us and make us into someone he can use. The wise thing to do would be to work with him on the project. To stop fighting the mountain and to trust his compassion and walk the path he has placed before us. And we don't even have to walk the path blindly, wondering what on earth he might have up his sleeve. In 2 Peter, he's quite clear on what it is he's desiring to create in each of us:
-Basic faith
-Good character
-Spiritual understanding
-Alert discipline
-Passionate patience
-Reverent wonder
-Warm friendliness
-Generous love
This is the child he can use to "reconnect the people" to himself. I need not ask God to remove these difficulties in my life. What I need to do is to see how they help create these qualities in me- to encourage my growth- so that as I walk that mountain path it will be a paved road- my feet on firm footing- and I might draw others to Him and our joy will be complete.
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