After the rare east coast earthquake, I've already heard several people pondering if this, with all the other recent disasters and economic turmoil, is a sign of the End Times. And for the most part, these ponderings are not rabid doomsday prophesying, but rational contemplation of the reality that there will be that Day one day. Could it be that these are the rumblings of that Day?
Is this earthquake a sign of the End Times?
Yes.
(I am tempted at this point to say, "And you'll have to read next week's article to find out how!")
I say this with confidence only in the following (and somewhat anti-climactic) way: Every earthquake, every tornado (large or small), every tsunami, every war, and every rumor of war is a sign that the End Times are coming. They are constant reminders that our race is fallen, our world is fallen, our universe is fallen, and will continue toward their entropic demise. Every thing that is fallen will either be renewed or will deteriorate into destruction. All these "signs" are evidence that the End Times are coming - that they must come.
They may or may not be harbingers of when the End Times will be irretrievably upon us. Some say yes, others say no. It seems to me that there must be further progress of the Gospel and far more severe persecution before those days are upon us, but the arguments that the days ahead of us are few are worth listening to. The reality is that none of us know, and to claim to know is overstepping revelation.
But ask yourself this: If the Day was indeed right around the corner, what would I do differently? How would I relate to people? What would my priorities be? What would I stop doing? And then consider whether or not we should be living that way no matter when the Day will be.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Greatest Commandment and Worship
It's a little big change - or a big little change. I'm not sure which.
The worship service will be a bit different on Sunday, although not radically so. And yet, the concept behind it is something I've not seen anyone do before. We will structure the service based on Mark 12:30, where Jesus tells a scribe that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." We will structure our worship around this statement as a way to live it out together in worship.
With all of our heart: We will worship together in music as the worship team leads us through songs and prayer all related to the theme of the week. The worship leaders work hard to consider the passage and theme in order to select music that draws our attention to the same truths, so that we are teaching the same things, whether by music or by the message.
With all our soul: Dan will lead us in corporate prayer for one another. This is also a time for us to worship through the offering. We often think of the offering as the practical necessity of running a church, but it can truly be another act of worship. The word offering itself suggests the spiritual act of giving of ourselves for the ministry of the church.
With all our mind: We will have our normal short message for the kids, and then send them off to Children's Church and Junior Church. Then we will open up the Word together to worship God with our minds (and hearts, souls, and strength, but moreso the mind).
With all our strength: The last part will include sharing events plus ministry opportunities and needs with the family business of a few announcements. The worship team will send us off with a final song, and then rather than a normal benediction, we will have more of a commissioning to send us all into the week with our mission to the world firmly in mind.
So, the worship service won't be radically different than we're used to, but a few things have been moved around from our norm, plus we want to better reinforce the various aspects of worship as Jesus describes in the Great Commandment, with our final thought being on the Great Commission.
We'll give this a spin for a few weeks and see what we think. Again, it's not a huge change, but I do want you to be aware of the thoughts that have gone into how the worship service will be put together.
The worship service will be a bit different on Sunday, although not radically so. And yet, the concept behind it is something I've not seen anyone do before. We will structure the service based on Mark 12:30, where Jesus tells a scribe that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." We will structure our worship around this statement as a way to live it out together in worship.
With all of our heart: We will worship together in music as the worship team leads us through songs and prayer all related to the theme of the week. The worship leaders work hard to consider the passage and theme in order to select music that draws our attention to the same truths, so that we are teaching the same things, whether by music or by the message.
With all our soul: Dan will lead us in corporate prayer for one another. This is also a time for us to worship through the offering. We often think of the offering as the practical necessity of running a church, but it can truly be another act of worship. The word offering itself suggests the spiritual act of giving of ourselves for the ministry of the church.
With all our mind: We will have our normal short message for the kids, and then send them off to Children's Church and Junior Church. Then we will open up the Word together to worship God with our minds (and hearts, souls, and strength, but moreso the mind).
With all our strength: The last part will include sharing events plus ministry opportunities and needs with the family business of a few announcements. The worship team will send us off with a final song, and then rather than a normal benediction, we will have more of a commissioning to send us all into the week with our mission to the world firmly in mind.
So, the worship service won't be radically different than we're used to, but a few things have been moved around from our norm, plus we want to better reinforce the various aspects of worship as Jesus describes in the Great Commandment, with our final thought being on the Great Commission.
We'll give this a spin for a few weeks and see what we think. Again, it's not a huge change, but I do want you to be aware of the thoughts that have gone into how the worship service will be put together.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Book Review: "Deepening Your Conversation with God"
Wanting to grow deeper in my prayer life, I've taken to reading a couple of books on the topic. Normally, when I read books on prayer, I usually don't get much out of it, and usually just end up disappointed in myself because I don't experience what the author experiences. Some of the most read authors on prayer often do very little for me. But, I was pleasantly surprised by Ben Patterson's book Deepening Your Conversation with God (ISBN: 978-0764223518).
Patterson didn't really say a whole lot I didn't already know or hadn't heard before. He even said a few things that I just flat out disagreed with. But the strength of this book was that it was practical and it made prayer not the exclusive possession of the elite super prayer warriors, but the accessible habit of average Christians. The book is geared for those in ministry, but nearly everything in it applies to all believers.
Patterson begins with the standard questions about why we should pray, but his answers are not the tired, off-the-shelf responses we typically hear. He focuses on the spiritual battle we are in, and emphasizes that prayer is the "pivotal" element for every piece of the spiritual armor in Ephesians 6. He calls prayer the "real work" that we do, especially in ministry. He addresses the "dry times" we go through when we can't seem to pray much, saying that we dry up not because we go to the well too often, but because we don't go to the well often enough. Often, prayerlessness is due to either acedia (dawdling away our time), hyperactivity (staying busy with unimportant things), or hubris (thinking we can get along fine on our own).
Patterson promotes prayerfulness by encouraging us to be hungry only for things of God (rather than filling ourselves on spiritual "junk food"), by seeking out God's company (rather than keeping Him as an abstract thought), and desiring His joy that He freely offers us (which is tightly related to thankfulness). Patterson also recommends endurance and persistence in prayer (perhaps the most encouraging treatment of the parable of the persistent widow I've read), plus a holy boldness in our prayer. Finally, he encourages us to listen while praying, and shows the great value of praying together.
There are some great thoughts of other authors that Patterson works in (but as much as I love C.S. Lewis, Patterson called upon him a bit too often). Bringing these other authors in brought a breadth to the book. Rather than a dry analysis of the topic of prayer, the author simple tells us things we pretty much already know, but need to hear in fresh ways with some frequency.
For the first time, I read on a book on prayer that didn't make me feel like a prayerless loser. I did identify a lot of shortcomings in my prayer life, but Patterson was more encouraging than anything. Clearly, prayer is vital for him, and he comes across less like a lecturer and more like an enthusiast sharing his thoughts about a holy hobby. Far from just a hobby, prayer is vital to Patterson's daily life, and reading his book encourages me to do the same.
Patterson didn't really say a whole lot I didn't already know or hadn't heard before. He even said a few things that I just flat out disagreed with. But the strength of this book was that it was practical and it made prayer not the exclusive possession of the elite super prayer warriors, but the accessible habit of average Christians. The book is geared for those in ministry, but nearly everything in it applies to all believers.
Patterson begins with the standard questions about why we should pray, but his answers are not the tired, off-the-shelf responses we typically hear. He focuses on the spiritual battle we are in, and emphasizes that prayer is the "pivotal" element for every piece of the spiritual armor in Ephesians 6. He calls prayer the "real work" that we do, especially in ministry. He addresses the "dry times" we go through when we can't seem to pray much, saying that we dry up not because we go to the well too often, but because we don't go to the well often enough. Often, prayerlessness is due to either acedia (dawdling away our time), hyperactivity (staying busy with unimportant things), or hubris (thinking we can get along fine on our own).
Patterson promotes prayerfulness by encouraging us to be hungry only for things of God (rather than filling ourselves on spiritual "junk food"), by seeking out God's company (rather than keeping Him as an abstract thought), and desiring His joy that He freely offers us (which is tightly related to thankfulness). Patterson also recommends endurance and persistence in prayer (perhaps the most encouraging treatment of the parable of the persistent widow I've read), plus a holy boldness in our prayer. Finally, he encourages us to listen while praying, and shows the great value of praying together.
There are some great thoughts of other authors that Patterson works in (but as much as I love C.S. Lewis, Patterson called upon him a bit too often). Bringing these other authors in brought a breadth to the book. Rather than a dry analysis of the topic of prayer, the author simple tells us things we pretty much already know, but need to hear in fresh ways with some frequency.
For the first time, I read on a book on prayer that didn't make me feel like a prayerless loser. I did identify a lot of shortcomings in my prayer life, but Patterson was more encouraging than anything. Clearly, prayer is vital for him, and he comes across less like a lecturer and more like an enthusiast sharing his thoughts about a holy hobby. Far from just a hobby, prayer is vital to Patterson's daily life, and reading his book encourages me to do the same.
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