Category: Worship

Manly praying

9/17/2014

Have you ever noticed that Christians speak normally to one another, but when they speak to aloud to God they lapse into a strange language and tone? I call this “prayer-speak” and it’s epidemic in evangelical churches today.

Prayer-speak is especially prevalent among worship leaders.

Prayer speak silences men. Guys who might otherwise pray aloud are intimidated because they don’t know the “prayer code.”

A guy might be tempted to open his mouth and say, “God, I got a problem.” But he keeps quiet because his oration doesn’t sound holy enough.

The other problem with prayer-speak is that it makes our prayers sound rather wimpy. Here is a prayer I heard recently from a musician as he closed his first set:

Dear God, we need you. God, we just need your love. God, we just need your presence. Father be with us in this time of worship. Lord just send your spirit so that every heart is touched. Father, that no one would go home the same.

Lord, I just pray that we would run into your arms and seek safety there. Father nothing compares to your love for us.

Father God we just pray that we would honor you in all we do. Lord, give us boldness to proclaim your word to every nation. Father make us your witnesses unto the ends of the earth. We just pray that your Word would go out into the world and change lives.

Father we just ask all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Does this sound familiar? You probably heard something like it last Sunday.

I don’t really have a problem with what the prayer said. It’s how it was said.

Notice the prayer invoked the name of God twelve times – at the beginning of each sentence. This is just odd. Did Jesus instruct us to repeat God’s name over and over when we pray? When we speak to a flesh-and-blood person do we say their name each time we open our mouths? “Jeremy, thanks for having lunch with me. Jeremy, what will you be ordering? I’m thinking about the tilapia, Jeremy. Jeremy, can you pass the salt?”

And what’s with the frequent use of the word just? Placing a just before a verb softens it. It gives our prayers the sound of a beggar. Would you just give me a crust of bread, God? Lord, I’m just a miserable sinner, just begging you for some little thing.

We are God’s sons, not his slaves. John Wesley said, “Storm the Throne of Grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down.” We should enter his presence with appropriate confidence. The tone of our prayers should reflect our place as God’s beloved children. Jesus was bold and familiar with his Father; we should be too.

Let’s reimagine the prayer above:

Lord, in the next hour we’re going to set aside all our worries and burdens and ask you to take care of those. We want to focus on what’s really important, but we’re so easily distracted by things that don’t matter. Forgive us for that.

We’re a needy people. We are nothing without you and your Spirit. We get beat up by life all week long, and we need this time with you. Thanks for loving us.

And we know you have a mission for us. You called us to be your witnesses, but we’re scared. We shouldn’t be – but we are. Next time we have an opportunity to speak up for you, fill us with your power.

We really look forward to this time in your presence. Speak to us now. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Feel the difference between the two prayers? They say basically the same things, but the second prayer sounds confident. You feel it in you gut. It’s not repetitive, hesitant or sing-songy. It’s surprising in its candor. It’s not stuffed with the usual churchy phrases.

Guys, we need to start modeling boldness in prayer. The next time you have an opportunity to pray aloud in a group I challenge you to do three things:

Invoke the name of God once, at the beginning.
Don’t place the word “just” before the verbs.
Speak to God as if he’s a real person. Make your prayer as conversational and “normal” as possible.

When our prayers sound like real conversation with a real God, more men will join in.

This post was written by David Murrow. You can find the original post here: http://churchformen.com/discipling-men/how-to-pray-aloud-like-a-man/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

2 Comments

4 ways pastors can promote worship

9/2/2014

0 Comments

When your church gathers each Sunday, there are many people that come together to make that gathering happen. Preachers, singers, musicians, readers, prayers, people running sound, lights, media – all of these people are crucial to both the practical and the theological aims of the services you offer. Most of them want to offer their best to the church each week, but without some sort of conversation about why we do what we do each week, their goals and efforts easily end up causing more strain than harmony, and that strain affects the life of the church. So, pastors: your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to gather these people together and begin a conversation about worship, liturgy, and what they do in church every week.

Here are four steps you can take to kick-start this conversation.

1) Set the Tone If you want the church you pastor to be intentional and theologically informed in their decisions about worship, you must be committed to doing so yourself. From preaching to sacraments, from lyrics to service structure, everything we do on Sunday teaches the church what it means to be the people of God in the world. Think through it all. Ask the hard questions about what you do each week and why you do it. Pay attention to the whole of the service and not just the sermon or the portions that directly involve you.

2) Know Your Limits None of us are experts on everything. Hopefully, you have people around you who are gifted and shaped to do the things you are asking them to do. Encourage them to be the experts at what they do each week, but to be so in light of the larger orientation of this conversation about worship. Welcome their perspective on the task at hand. You don’t have to know music to give musicians direction that benefits the church, but you must encourage them to point their skills in the right direction.

3) Resource Your Leaders If your church is anything like mine, people can grow both tired and somewhat numb to the voice of their pastor. Fresh voices in the conversation of church can breathe new life into it. Take the time to resource your leaders with books, blogs, magazines, audio files, or any other worthwhile resource you come across that will bring perspective and energy to this conversation. These resources will function like a springboard into the kinds of conversations you want to be having.

4) Bring People into the Process It can sometimes seem easier to take care of something yourself than it is to enable and empower someone else to do it. Do not buy into this way of operating. Target people and release certain responsibilities to them. Guide them into the process of shaping and designing the times of worship in your church. The more hands-on and out-loud the design process is, the more people will begin to think, act, and own the corporate time of worship each week.

This post was written by Drew Causey. You can find his original post here: http://seedbed.com/feed/4-steps-pastors-can-take-to-kick-start-the-worship-conversation/

0 Comments

4 ways to foster health in your worship team

9/1/2014

0 Comments

I’ve been involved in leading worship in the church in some fashion for almost sixteen years. I have run sound, lights, and media for church services. I have played in bands, chamber groups and orchestras. I have sung in choirs big and small, on praise teams talent-filled and talentless. I have been a part of traditional, contemporary and modern worship services and as many blends of such things as exist. And I’ve seen all kinds of leadership for these teams, including my own leadership, which has definitely had its highs and lows.

I say all of this because one truth about worship teams emerges when I look back at all this experience: I’d rather be a part of a healthy worship team than a talented worship team. Actually, the best worship teams I’ve ever been a part of were good precisely because they were healthy. They were made up of people who looked to live in spiritual health, and they adopted practices that encouraged personal and “professional” health for the sake of the task of leading the church in worship. Here are four ways you can begin to foster health on your worship team.

1) Communicate the Vision of Why You Gather Each Week There is perhaps no better way to get your team focused than to help them understand why the church gathers for worship each week. If you ask them, you’ll probably hear all kinds of answers, and each one of those answers informs not only their view of the worship gathering, but their role in facilitating it. Spend time with your church’s leadership in cultivating a clear understanding as to why your church gather’s for worship each week, then communicate that to your team. This will help your team members understand how their roles and actions fit (or perhaps do not fit!) into the vision of what worship is in the life of your church.

2) Be Clear About Your Expectations If you are leading the team, you probably have certain expectations about how the people on your team should prepare for and perform the tasks they have volunteered to do. You should do your best to communicate these expectations clearly to your team members. They should know what you expect on the front end so they can agree to strive towards these expectations or choose not to take on the task. You should also take some time to hear what they expect from you as a leader. This up-front communication provides great accountability and can prevent hurt and disappointment over unmet expectations on all sides.

3) Teach Your Team How To Prepare, Not Just Perform With #1 and #2 in mind, your team members should understand the task at hand for them both as individuals and as a team. But understanding the task is not enough; one must also know how to prepare in order to accomplish the task. Help your team understand that preparation is a part of stewardship, and equip them as you can with the skills they need to prepare well. Doing so may mean more work on your part, but that is . Giving them access to equipment, planning sets and charts early, and even one-on-one training may be a part of helping your team prepare to lead. Just remember: investing in these things early will pay huge dividends in the long run.

4) Remember That People Come First The people on our teams are not a means to an end. They are participants in the life and mission of God with you. Treat them as such. Take time to love and pastor the people on your team. Pray with them. Speak truth to them in love. Make room for them to be as messy as you are, and be gracious when their mess spills over into team life. Build in times of rest from the jobs (like a service sabbath) and help them prioritize when needed, knowing that both too much and too little time given to the team could be a problem. Remember that your time together with your team is not just to make good music, but is purposed for your collective sanctification. Invest in who they are, not just what they can do for you. And remind them that all that you do together is not just for their sake, but is for the sake of the world and to the glory of God.

This post was written by Seedbed author, Drew Causey. For the original post, go to: http://seedbed.com/feed/4-ways-foster-health-worship-team/

0 Comments

9 reasons why people aren't singing in church

8/5/2014

2 Comments

Worship leaders around the world are sadly changing their church’s worship (often unintentionally) into a spectator event, and people are not singing any more.

Before discussing our present situation, let’s look back into history. Prior to the Reformation, worship was largely done for the people. The music was performed by professional musicians and sung in an unfamiliar language (Latin). The Reformation gave worship back to the people, including congregational singing which employed simple, attainable tunes with solid, scriptural lyrics in the language of the people. Worship once again became participatory.

The evolution of the printed hymnal brought with it an explosion of congregational singing and the church’s love for singing increased.

With the advent of new video technologies, churches began to project the lyrics of their songs on a screen, and the number of songs at a churches disposal increased exponentially.

At first, this advance in technology led to more robust congregational singing, but soon, a shift in worship leadership began to move the congregation back to pre-Reformation pew potatoes (spectators).

What has occurred could be summed up as the re-professionalization of church music and the loss of a key goal of worship leading – enabling the people to sing their praises to God. Simply put, we are breeding a culture of spectators in our churches, changing what should be a participative worship environment to a concert event. Worship is moving to its pre-Reformation mess.

I see nine reasons congregations aren’t singing anymore:

They don’t know the songs. With the release of new songs weekly and the increased birthing of locally-written songs, worship leaders are providing a steady diet of the latest, greatest worship songs. Indeed, we should be singing new songs, but too high a rate of new song inclusion in worship can kill our participation rate and turn the congregation into spectators. I see this all the time. I advocate doing no more than one new song in a worship service, and then repeating the song on and off for several weeks until it becomes known by the congregation. People worship best with songs they know, so we need to teach and reinforce the new expressions of worship. (more)
We are singing songs not suitable for congregational singing. There are lots of great, new worship songs today, but in the vast pool of new songs, many are not suitable for congregational singing by virtue of their rhythms (too difficult for the average singer) or too wide of a range (consider the average singer—not the vocal superstar on stage).
We are singing in keys too high for the average singer. The people we are leading in worship generally have a limited range and do not have a high range. When we pitch songs in keys that are too high, the congregation will stop singing, tire out, and eventually quit, becoming spectators. Remember that our responsibility is to enable the congregation to sing their praises, not to showcase our great platform voices by pitching songs in our power ranges. The basic range of the average singer is an octave and a fourth from A to D (more).
The congregation can’t hear people around them singing. If our music is too loud for people to hear each other singing, it is too loud. Conversely, if the music is too quiet, generally, the congregation will fail to sing out with power. Find the right balance—strong, but not over-bearing.
We have created worship services which are spectator events, building a performance environment. I am a strong advocate of setting a great environment for worship including lighting, visuals, inclusion of the arts, and much more. However when our environments take things to a level that calls undue attention to those on stage or distracts from our worship of God, we have gone too far. Excellence – yes. Highly professional performance – no.
The congregation feels they are not expected to sing. As worship leaders, we often get so involved in our professional production of worship that we fail to be authentic, invite the congregation into the journey of worship, and then do all we can to facilitate that experience in singing familiar songs, new songs introduced properly, and all sung in the proper congregational range.
We fail to have a common body of hymnody. With the availability of so many new songs, we often become schizophrenic in our worship planning, pulling songs from so many sources without reinforcing the songs and helping the congregation to take them on as a regular expression of their worship. In the old days, the hymnal was that repository. Today, we need to create song lists to use in planning our times of worship. (more)
Worship leaders ad lib too much. Keep the melody clear and strong. The congregation is made up of sheep with limited ranges and limited musical ability. When we stray from the melody to ad lib, the sheep try to follow us and end up frustrated and quit singing. Some ad lib is nice and can enhance worship, but don’t let it lead your sheep astray.
Worship leaders are not connecting with the congregation. We often get caught up in our world of amazing music production and lose sight of our purpose of helping the congregation to voice their worship. Let them know you expect them to sing. Quote the Bible to promote their expressions of worship. Stay alert to how well the congregation is tracking with you and alter course as needed.

Once worship leaders regain the vision of enabling the congregation to be participants in the journey of corporate worship, I believe we can return worship to the people once again.

This post was written by Kenny Lamm. For the original post, go to: http://blog.ncbaptist.org/renewingworship/2014/06/11/nine-reasons-people-arent-singing-in-worship/

2 Comments

Do people still sing in church?

8/4/2014

0 Comments

Looking around the church last Sunday I noticed that the majority weren’t singing. And most of those who were singing barely moved their lips. The only voices I actually heard were those on stage with microphones.

That’s been the case for years now–in churches large and small. What used to be congregational singing has become congregational staring.

Even when the chipper “worship leader” in contemporary churches bounds on stage and predictably beckons everyone to “stand and worship,” the people compliantly obey the stand command, but then they turn into mute mannequins.

What’s behind this phenomenon? What happened to the bygone sounds of sanctuaries overflowing with fervent, harmonizing voices from the pews, singing out with a passion that could be heard down the street? I suspect it’s a number of unfortunate factors.

Spectator set-up. Increasingly, the church has constructed the worship service as a spectator event. Everyone expects the people on stage to perform while the pew-sitters fulfill the expectation of any good audience–file in, be still, be quiet, don’t question, don’t contribute (except to the offering plate), and watch the spotlighted musicians deliver their well-rehearsed concerts.

Professionalism. It seems it’s paramount for church music to be more professional than participatory. The people in the pews know they pale in comparison to the loud voices at the microphones. Quality is worshipped. So the worshippers balk at defiling the quality with their crude crooning. It’s better to just fake it with a little lip syncing.

Blare. The musicians’ volume is cranked up so high that congregants can’t hear their own voices, or the voices of those around them, even if they would sing. So they don’t sing. What would it add? The overwhelming, amplified sound blares from big speakers, obliterating any chance for the sound of robust congregational singing.

Music choice. Sometimes people refrain from singing because the songs are unfamiliar, hard to sing, or just cheesy. Sometimes worship leaders choose a song that may thematically tie into the day’s sermon topic, but it’s unsingable. Sometimes worship leaders choose lame songs written by their favorite songwriters–themselves.

I admit. I’ve joined the majority. I’ve stopped singing. I’m not happy about it. I know I should overcome these barriers and just praise the Lord with my very unprofessional vocalizations. But I long for an environment that evokes my real heartfelt vocal participation.

This post was written by Thom Schultz. For the original post, go to: http://holysoup.com/2014/05/21/why-they-dont-sing-on-sunday-anymore/

0 Comments

Things are not what they seem

2/21/2014

0 Comments

The reason we enjoy fairy tales—more than enjoy them—the reason we identify with them in some deep part of us is because they rest on two great truths: The hero really has a heart of gold and the beloved really possesses hidden beauty. I hope you've had a glimpse of God's good heart. But what about the second great truth—could we possess hidden greatness? It seems too good to be true.

Remember, the theme of veiled identity runs through all great stories. As Buechner reminds us, "Not only does evil come disguised in the world of the fairy tale but often good does too." The heroines and heroes capture our heart because we see long before they ever do their hidden beauty, courage, greatness. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White—they're not simple wenches after all. The beast and the frog—they're actually princes. Aladdin is "the diamond in the rough." If the narrative of the Scriptures teaches us anything, from the serpent in the Garden to the carpenter from Nazareth, it teaches us that things are rarely what they seem, that we shouldn't be fooled by appearances.

Your evaluation of your soul, which is drawn from a world filled with people still terribly confused about the nature of their souls, is probably wrong. As C. S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory:

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. . . . There are no ordinary people.
You have never talked to a mere mortal."

This excerpt is taken from the book, The Sacred Romance, by John Eldredge

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

0 Comments

Three simple ways to welcome men at church

2/4/2014

1 Comment

Why is it that churches, even when they know there will be large numbers of unreached men in the pews, seem so inept at reaching them?

Christmas Eve is one of the big-three services to which unchurched men are dragged by their wives and mothers. This Christmas Eve, I happened to attend two candlelight services. One church understood how to make men welcome; the other did not. One church got the little things right; the other did not.

So what were these little things? Here are three small things you can do any time of year to make men feel at home:

1. Don’t load a man’s hands when he enters the sanctuary. Have you ever noticed how women pick things up and carry them around? Men usually don’t. This is because men are hunters – women are gatherers. Women love to scoop things up but men want their hands free in case they need to defend themselves or kill a wild animal.

Church #1 didn’t understand this principle. The moment I entered the church I was met by greeters with cookies and cider. As I entered the sanctuary, ushers handed me a candle with a wax catcher, a bulletin and a candy cane. That’s WAY too much stuff for a man to handle. My wife, the gatherer, was happy to have her hands overflowing, but I was very uncomfortable.

At church #2 the ushers handed out nothing. Bulletins and candles were already placed on each chair. Brilliant! Guys could walk into the sanctuary with hands free. Even the men who clutched cups of coffee still had one hand free just in case they needed to pick up a spear.

2. Don’t just preach – bring an object lesson into the pulpit. At church #1 the pastor did what pastors do – he talked for 30 minutes. It was a fine sermon, but hardly memorable.

At church #2, the pastor spoke for about 5 minutes, and suddenly the entire room went black. He kept speaking from the darkness for two more minutes. Then he lit his candle and finished his sermon by the light of a single wick. He taught us the verse, “Those who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.” As he finished his sermon, he used his candle to ignite every candle in the room. It was a powerful illustration of how the Light of the World passes from one person to another.

Here I sit in late January and I cannot tell you a word I heard at church #1. But I am able to recall the main point of the second sermon and share it with you a month later. In fact, I recently walked into a very dark space and that sermon leapt to mind. I stood in the darkness giving thanks for Jesus, the Light of the world. Pastors, this should be your goal – to give your hearers an object lesson so memorable they recall your preaching months or even years later.

3. Don’t strike up the worship band as soon as the service is over. At church #1, as soon as the pastor dismissed us, the band struck up again and played at full volume. The loud music drove people out of the still-darkened sanctuary and into the parking lot. The church was virtually empty in 5 minutes.

At church #2, the pastor gave a benediction and the band left the stage. The sound guy brought up the house lights and played a very soft collection of Christmas carols. People stood in the sanctuary and chatted for 20 minutes or more.

Talk time at the end of the service is important – especially with men. Men are relationally starved. We get so little time to talk at church – why on earth would the band ruin that fellowship time by rocking out after the service is over?

This post was written by David Murrow. You can find the original post here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/afewgrownmen/2014/01/three-little-ways-to-welcome-men-at-church/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

1 Comment

Emotional Worship

1/29/2014

0 Comments

On a recent Sunday at church, right on the front row, stood a happy-dancer.

She could barely contain her joy during the music. Singing at the top of her lungs, jumping, dancing and occasionally yelling, “Thank you Jeeeeee-sus!”

Her raw exuberance stood out in our congregation. We’re not sticks-in-the-mud, but neither are we holy rollers. Yes, we sing enthusiastically, but most of us restrict our bodily praise to the occasional raised hand.

Not the happy dancer. She whirled, twirled, hopped on one foot, and even shed a tear or two. She whooped, swooned and smiled at the ceiling.

In recent years, many Christians have come to associate emotion with true worship. The more sentiment we feel toward God, and the more emotion we outwardly display, the more we’ve worshipped, so the thinking goes.

This puts men in a tough spot.

If we judge worshippers by the amount of emotion they manifest, we’ve set up a situation where women will win and men will lose.

Picture yourself walking down the street. You see a woman on the sidewalk dissolved in tears. You think to yourself, “Poor thing. I wonder what’s wrong?”

Now imagine you see a man on the sidewalk weeping uncontrollably. You think to yourself, “What’s his problem? Buck it up!”

Society teaches men from a young age not to show emotion in public. Big boys don’t cry. And if they do, we punish them for it.

I’m not saying this is right – but it’s the way things are.

So, to truly worship as it’s defined today a man must defy social convention. He must violate the man-code. A woman faces no similar social sanction.

This brings up a host of questions for you, dear readers:

The happy-dancer was the most emotional and vigorous worshipper at my church. Does this mean her worship was the most pleasing to God?
Is worship primarily a state of the heart, or a state of the mind?
Is emotion essential to worship? Can one truly worship God without emotion or sentiment?
How important is it to feel God during worship? To “let go?” Is that warm feeling what pleases God?
Is it possible to offer corporate praise God apart from music? If so, how might this be done?
Many people experience intense emotion and euphoria when they sing worship songs. Is that because of God, or are they just reacting to the music?

Now, before you tear me to bits, let me make something clear: I’m not against emotion in worship. I’m just asking if it’s essential. If one does not feel emotion, has one truly worshipped?

This post was written by David Murrow. For the original post go to: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/afewgrownmen/2014/01/is-emotion-essential-to-worship/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

0 Comments

Selfish worship

12/4/2013

0 Comments

In 1992-1993 we were missionaries in Ecuador. I have worshiped with people from many different cultures and have enjoyed the different ways that Christians engage in worship. I remember one service in Esmeraldas that had a very African flavor to it and another in Guayaquil that was a tropical, Latin mix. I thoroughly enjoyed both and could tell that these were ernest Christians who REALLY enjoyed worship.

On another occasion we went to Riobamba to a church high in the Andes mountains. What I experienced there was quite different. We had traveled there to visit some people from America that were on a work trip to the area and wanted to make some friends. We had eaten supper together with them and the Quechua folk of that church. When we went to worship, we were fortunate to have a teen choir lead us in worship. The worship was more formal and the singing was in a very nasally, high voice. It was in the Quechua language so I had difficulty understanding what they were singing.

I was young, proud and had my wife and kids with me. After the service one of the Americans came over to me and we were talking about the service. I said something about the service that I shouldn't have said. I said, "that music was gross!"  It popped out and I didn't take it back. I was instantly convicted but was too stiff-necked to listen to God's Holy Spirit's chastening. After all, I was the missionary, they were just people visiting.

I have thought about my bad comment over the years, trying to analyze why I would say something like that. Now, I know that one of the tricks that Satan uses is to keep reminding Christians of their faults and sins to keep them feeling condemned and ineffective. I have been forgiven for my statement and my attitude and when I think about what I said, I still get a twinge of guilt but then I am reminded that was in the past and forgiven.

I recognized that I had in my mind certain ways that I approved of how worship was to be done. This third church, in Riobamba, stretched me and didn't fit my preconceived notions. I was clearly wrong.  I have prayed that the young American that I talked to (I have no recollection who he was) would not remember my insensitivity but the good things of his time in Ecuador.

Now it is 2013 and I am miles aways and 20 years away from that event. I have worshiped in several other cultures and other churches and have come to believe that I have put away such preconceptions. I no longer have the feeling that a certain style of worship is gross. I have matured. I have become more Christlike.

But have I? Have I really progressed?

I was recently at a worship service where we were lead by a worship team that had a decidedly "country" flavor to it. Part way thru this experience, I excused myself. As I walked past the sound booth, a friend asked me, "how do you like the worship team?" I said, "I am not a fan of country music..." I felt instant conviction, very similar to how I felt in Riobamba when I ignored the Holy Spirit. I immediately followed it with, "but I see that others are worshiping and the team is really doing a good job, so I can't complain. I'm trying to worship too."

OK. That was a bit better.

Then I was reminded of a statement, I don't know where I heard it, that says, "If your life is divided up between what you like and don't like and you just do what you like & avoid what you don't like, you're gonna have a miserable existence."  That statement is sooooo true. I close myself up to God's ability to work in my life if I just simply become opinionated about everything and complain/avoid things I don't care for.

So, I'm trying, I'm improving, I'm getting better, my intent is improving, my heart's getting into it....

but I still have a long way to go...

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

0 Comments

A Noble and Good Heart

10/29/2013

0 Comments

It's undeniable: the new covenant, accomplished through the work of Christ, means that we have new hearts. Our hearts are good. Or God's a liar. Until we embrace that stunning truth, we will find it really hard to make decisions, because we can't trust what our hearts are saying. We'll have to be motivated by external pressure since we can't be motivated by our hearts. In fact, we won't find our calling, our place in God's kingdom, because that is written on our hearts' desires. We'll have a really hard time hearing God's voice in a deeply intimate way, because God speaks to us in our hearts. We'll live under guilt and shame for all sorts of evil thoughts and desires that the Enemy has convinced us were ours. God will seem aloof. Worship and prayer will feel like chores.

Of course, I just described the life most Christians feel doomed to live.

Now listen to Jesus:

Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. (Luke 6:44-45, emphasis added)

Later, explaining the parable of the sower and the seed, Jesus says,

The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luke 8:15, emphasis added)

Jesus himself teaches that the heart can be good and even noble. That somebody is you, if you are his. God kept his promise. Our hearts have been circumcised to God. We have new hearts. Do you know what this means? Your heart is good. Let that sink in for a moment. Your heart is good.

What would happen if you believed it, if you came to the place where you knew it was true? Your life would never be the same. My friend Lynn got it, and that's when she exclaimed, "If we believed that . . . we could do anything. We would follow him anywhere!"

This post was taken from the book, Waking the Dead by John Eldredge

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

0 Comments

<<Previous

Manly praying

4 ways pastors can promote worship

4 ways to foster health in your worship team

9 reasons why people aren't singing in church

Do people still sing in church?

Things are not what they seem

Three simple ways to welcome men at church

Emotional Worship

Selfish worship

A Noble and Good Heart

Rules for commenting:

Categories

Archives

IRONSTRIKES

Men Forging Men