Of all the Psalm writers, I seem to connect the most with Asaph, one of the worship leaders appointed by David. Where David was a king, and led as a king, Asaph was a musician and a "church guy". Almost everything he wrote was either for, or on behalf of the people of God.
That's why Psalm 77 stands out. It just doesn't sound like an Asaph Psalm. Then one day I noticed at the very top of the Psalm an inscription that said "For Jeduthan". Jeduthan (sometimes called Ethan) was Asaph's friend and co-worker. I think Psalm 77 was written for Jeduthan at a time when he was doing it tough, and was struggling to find words to express what he was dealing with. After all, as a worshiper he didn't want to insult God, but his soul was in trouble.
Asaph simply stepped in, and said the words for him.
"I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted."
Isn't it great when you discover that you are not alone in your struggle, that friends get it and are right there with you? But being a great friend, Asaph did just stop there. He went on to remind Jeduthan that God has always been faithful, and He is incapable of changing.
"I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night."
and
"Then I thought, "To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High." I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?
You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah (just think about that)
The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very depths were convulsed. The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth.
Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen."
God can't fail you. It would be easier for you to return the rain to a storm, or make the sea stand still like glass. And His unseen footprints wind their way through all the affairs of your life.
God doesn't change, even when circumstances do. He will rescue you and in the end, every circumstance will bow down to the Lord of all and submit to His grace and power. It's not over yet, but it will be one day soon.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Thank God For Miracles
I love reading the reports in the Bible about Jesus’ miracles. I try to imagine the impact that these miracles had on these people and their families: a blind man can suddenly see his children for the first time, a cripple person can work again, a seriously ill woman can rejoin her family for the first time in years.
But some people had some very unexpected reactions:
A man healed of leprosy was told by Jesus to keep it on the down-low, but he told the whole town about it anyway.
When one man was delivered from violent, dangerous demons, the town’s people got so scared they begged Jesus to go away. Now there is a mixed–up bunch!
Jesus healed one boy, and the crowd thought Jesus had killed him.
One time Jesus healed a crippled woman, but the religious people became angry because He did it on the wrong day.
Another time, Jesus healed a blind man, so the authorities tried to force him to implicate Jesus in a religious crime. Luckily, he was blind throughout most of the miracle so he had a great excuse to not identify Jesus. When the authorities went after the man’s parents, they cut their own son loose to avoid trouble for themselves.
A group of ten lepers were healed at the same time, but only one came back to say “thank you”.
But the greatest miracle of all is salvation- Jesus’ death for our sins. The worst deformity will only last until we die. And no one will call you “Duckface” in Heaven (sorry if that is your nickname). Once we get to Heaven, all sicknesses and disabilities will be gone.
But the miracle of salvation is eternal, the overwhelming, compelling reason to love God forever.
I want to be like that one leper who came back and found Jesus, to tell him that he was eternally grateful. That’s what a great worshiper is. This is what happened…
Luke 17:15-17.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
The healing of the nine guys was remarkable and the story even made it into the Bible. But this one man not only knew he was healed, he also realized Who had done it. He got loud and passionate in giving praise.
There is the heart of worship.
But some people had some very unexpected reactions:
A man healed of leprosy was told by Jesus to keep it on the down-low, but he told the whole town about it anyway.
When one man was delivered from violent, dangerous demons, the town’s people got so scared they begged Jesus to go away. Now there is a mixed–up bunch!
Jesus healed one boy, and the crowd thought Jesus had killed him.
One time Jesus healed a crippled woman, but the religious people became angry because He did it on the wrong day.
Another time, Jesus healed a blind man, so the authorities tried to force him to implicate Jesus in a religious crime. Luckily, he was blind throughout most of the miracle so he had a great excuse to not identify Jesus. When the authorities went after the man’s parents, they cut their own son loose to avoid trouble for themselves.
A group of ten lepers were healed at the same time, but only one came back to say “thank you”.
But the greatest miracle of all is salvation- Jesus’ death for our sins. The worst deformity will only last until we die. And no one will call you “Duckface” in Heaven (sorry if that is your nickname). Once we get to Heaven, all sicknesses and disabilities will be gone.
But the miracle of salvation is eternal, the overwhelming, compelling reason to love God forever.
I want to be like that one leper who came back and found Jesus, to tell him that he was eternally grateful. That’s what a great worshiper is. This is what happened…
Luke 17:15-17.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
The healing of the nine guys was remarkable and the story even made it into the Bible. But this one man not only knew he was healed, he also realized Who had done it. He got loud and passionate in giving praise.
There is the heart of worship.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Ramen Noodle Nation
Ramen Noodles are a very simple food. You open the packet, boil up the noodles in some water, add the flavouring, pour out the excess water and eat them.
They are a staple food for many college students who are either broke, busy or both. But it’s not just students who appreciate the simple beauty of these little packets of oriental greatness. I, too, am part of the Ramen Noodle Nation.
Each packet is like a trip to a slightly dodgy Chinese restaurant, except you can be eating your noodles is less time than it would take to even find a table, and each packet costs a tiny fraction of just the tip.
But there is an undercurrent of creativity that courses through the Ramen Noodle Nation. It seems there are many ways to make the humble noodle dish. Some simply follow the directions. Some use less water. Some make noodle soup. Some break the noodles up before cooking them (either vertically, horizontally, or both). Cook them in the microwave or a saucepan. Some even eat straight out of the packet, then follow up with a diet Coke.
I stumbled into this world of creative noodling one day when I accidentally threw away the pack before I meant to. Now the instructions were at the bottom of the kitchen tidy, and I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do. I made a mistake which so improved the noodles, that I have done it ever since. I added the flavouring after I poured out the water.
Now my beef noodles had a strong, more manly taste.
I shared this secret with a friend who told me that he had been doing that for years, but had I tried adding an egg? I said no, I had not, could he show me how?
It turned out to be simple. When everything was otherwise finished, you just cracked an egg into the noodles and ate it all. I took this new recipe idea and decided to improve it by returning the noodles to the microwave for 45 seconds to cook the egg. Brilliant.
But then I began to think again. If you could use an egg, what else could be added to the golden noodles. My hands flew to the spice cabinet and fell upon the chilli flakes. They then hovered over the noodles, while my mind stuttered: how much should I use?
I settled on seven shakes of the chilli bottle, and as luck would have it, it was just about perfect. After a few days of testing this I also added a dash of olive oil and the recipe was complete.
Days passed in the smug recognition that I had created a true masterpiece. I thought this creation needed a name. I though hard. Then decided not to as it hurt a bit. Finally, I settled upon a name; Six Minute Noodles. Like most good names it needed little explanation, but it said it all.
Whenever I share my recipe, I find there is one of two responses. Bemused bafflement, or dawning happiness. Those outside the battlements of the Ramen Noodle Nation just don’t get it, but those true followers of the noodle take just seconds to recognise it’s innate greatness.
Six Minute Noodles fits all the criteria. It is fast, cheap, easy, and no-mess. And it tastes great. All the ingredients are found in just about every kitchen, and you use so little of everything that nobody really notices anything is missing until after the noodles are already gone.
You can’t really join the Ramen Noodle Nation. You are either in it or you are not. It doesn’t need a Facebook group, promotion or a budget. You can’t talk anyone into it, and you can’t talk anyone out of it. The RNN is an army of people who know that simplicity and truth are the foundation of all things great.
And the RNN is also a very secure group. We know that no one makes noodles exactly like another member does, and that’s a great thing. It’s all about creativity. However you make it, however you like it, that’s fine with us. Such is the power of the noodle.
In fact it says a lot about people in general. Despite the fact that most of us live in cities, towns or villages, we are all different. We are also creative. We all have our own ways, and we want to have room to express ourselves. That’s just fine, and how it is meant to be. We are creative, made by a creative God. He loves difference and spontaneity. He doesn’t want us all to be the same. But he does want us to belong.
He even has a nation. It is the Kingdom of God. No one will ever talk me out of it because I get it. His kingdom is where you can rely on things being simple and true. Taste and see.
They are a staple food for many college students who are either broke, busy or both. But it’s not just students who appreciate the simple beauty of these little packets of oriental greatness. I, too, am part of the Ramen Noodle Nation.
Each packet is like a trip to a slightly dodgy Chinese restaurant, except you can be eating your noodles is less time than it would take to even find a table, and each packet costs a tiny fraction of just the tip.
But there is an undercurrent of creativity that courses through the Ramen Noodle Nation. It seems there are many ways to make the humble noodle dish. Some simply follow the directions. Some use less water. Some make noodle soup. Some break the noodles up before cooking them (either vertically, horizontally, or both). Cook them in the microwave or a saucepan. Some even eat straight out of the packet, then follow up with a diet Coke.
I stumbled into this world of creative noodling one day when I accidentally threw away the pack before I meant to. Now the instructions were at the bottom of the kitchen tidy, and I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do. I made a mistake which so improved the noodles, that I have done it ever since. I added the flavouring after I poured out the water.
Now my beef noodles had a strong, more manly taste.
I shared this secret with a friend who told me that he had been doing that for years, but had I tried adding an egg? I said no, I had not, could he show me how?
It turned out to be simple. When everything was otherwise finished, you just cracked an egg into the noodles and ate it all. I took this new recipe idea and decided to improve it by returning the noodles to the microwave for 45 seconds to cook the egg. Brilliant.
But then I began to think again. If you could use an egg, what else could be added to the golden noodles. My hands flew to the spice cabinet and fell upon the chilli flakes. They then hovered over the noodles, while my mind stuttered: how much should I use?
I settled on seven shakes of the chilli bottle, and as luck would have it, it was just about perfect. After a few days of testing this I also added a dash of olive oil and the recipe was complete.
Days passed in the smug recognition that I had created a true masterpiece. I thought this creation needed a name. I though hard. Then decided not to as it hurt a bit. Finally, I settled upon a name; Six Minute Noodles. Like most good names it needed little explanation, but it said it all.
Whenever I share my recipe, I find there is one of two responses. Bemused bafflement, or dawning happiness. Those outside the battlements of the Ramen Noodle Nation just don’t get it, but those true followers of the noodle take just seconds to recognise it’s innate greatness.
Six Minute Noodles fits all the criteria. It is fast, cheap, easy, and no-mess. And it tastes great. All the ingredients are found in just about every kitchen, and you use so little of everything that nobody really notices anything is missing until after the noodles are already gone.
You can’t really join the Ramen Noodle Nation. You are either in it or you are not. It doesn’t need a Facebook group, promotion or a budget. You can’t talk anyone into it, and you can’t talk anyone out of it. The RNN is an army of people who know that simplicity and truth are the foundation of all things great.
And the RNN is also a very secure group. We know that no one makes noodles exactly like another member does, and that’s a great thing. It’s all about creativity. However you make it, however you like it, that’s fine with us. Such is the power of the noodle.
In fact it says a lot about people in general. Despite the fact that most of us live in cities, towns or villages, we are all different. We are also creative. We all have our own ways, and we want to have room to express ourselves. That’s just fine, and how it is meant to be. We are creative, made by a creative God. He loves difference and spontaneity. He doesn’t want us all to be the same. But he does want us to belong.
He even has a nation. It is the Kingdom of God. No one will ever talk me out of it because I get it. His kingdom is where you can rely on things being simple and true. Taste and see.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Watch Over My Way
The other day I heard someone say that they were starting to believe in karma, an eastern philosophy which is (in part) about good being rewarded with good, and evil being rewarded with evil. Of course God Himself was the creator of this principle. He calls it justice, and the world runs on it.
In Psalm One, we read,
"For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish".
Call it justice, sowing and reaping, karma or any other name you choose, if we give things enough time, we will receive that which we deserve.
Every day I want to make sure that I am doing what I need to do so that God will watch over my way. The beginning of this same Psalm shows us exactly how to do it.
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
or stand in the way of sinners,
or sit in the seat of mockers".
I can just see this guy's evil twin brother! He walks into a room where bad advice is given out freely, he stands there taking in what these people are saying about their exploits, then he sits down and joins in. It all seems very normal, even friendly. But it is so far from blessing and from God.
The man who is blessed has perfected the art of being in the world but not of it. He doesn't walk around being "hungry" because he is spiritually well fed. Have you ever walked past a bakery when you are hungry? Everything smells so good. It is always better to go to the supermarket when you have just eaten, or you may end up with a trolley full of stuff you don't even remember buying.
Same with our spiritual lives. Being full of the blessing of God is a great safeguard against swallowing spiritual "junk". For me, I see the things of God most clearly when I'm worshiping or praying. That's when I become spiritually filled up. Maybe that is why this bit of good advice appears at the very beginning of God's book of praise and worship. When your field of vision is full of Him, you are not easily drawn into life's junk-food aisle.
Be a daily worshiper, even if you don't think you sound good. When you go to church, try to get there in time for all the praise and worship. Be keen, and grab the opportunity as if it is the last time you will get to do this before meeting Him face to face. (It might be good to turn up in heaven knowing all of the words.)
Worship matters. It isn't the TV theme for church, that bit of music at the start that tells you the show is beginning but you haven't really missed anything yet. Praise is vital, it keeps us healthy and it blesses God.
So walk into His presence, stand before Him, and sit at His feet. God loves everybody, but He "watches over the way of the righteous".
The other day I heard someone say that they were starting to believe in karma, an eastern philosophy which is (in part) about good being rewarded with good, and evil being rewarded with evil. Of course God Himself was the creator of this principle. He calls it justice, and the world runs on it.
In Psalm One, we read,
"For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish".
Call it justice, sowing and reaping, karma or any other name you choose, if we give things enough time, we will receive that which we deserve.
Every day I want to make sure that I am doing what I need to do so that God will watch over my way. The beginning of this same Psalm shows us exactly how to do it.
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
or stand in the way of sinners,
or sit in the seat of mockers".
I can just see this guy's evil twin brother! He walks into a room where bad advice is given out freely, he stands there taking in what these people are saying about their exploits, then he sits down and joins in. It all seems very normal, even friendly. But it is so far from blessing and from God.
The man who is blessed has perfected the art of being in the world but not of it. He doesn't walk around being "hungry" because he is spiritually well fed. Have you ever walked past a bakery when you are hungry? Everything smells so good. It is always better to go to the supermarket when you have just eaten, or you may end up with a trolley full of stuff you don't even remember buying.
Same with our spiritual lives. Being full of the blessing of God is a great safeguard against swallowing spiritual "junk". For me, I see the things of God most clearly when I'm worshiping or praying. That's when I become spiritually filled up. Maybe that is why this bit of good advice appears at the very beginning of God's book of praise and worship. When your field of vision is full of Him, you are not easily drawn into life's junk-food aisle.
Be a daily worshiper, even if you don't think you sound good. When you go to church, try to get there in time for all the praise and worship. Be keen, and grab the opportunity as if it is the last time you will get to do this before meeting Him face to face. (It might be good to turn up in heaven knowing all of the words.)
Worship matters. It isn't the TV theme for church, that bit of music at the start that tells you the show is beginning but you haven't really missed anything yet. Praise is vital, it keeps us healthy and it blesses God.
So walk into His presence, stand before Him, and sit at His feet. God loves everybody, but He "watches over the way of the righteous".
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Leadership Goes Green
I don’t know what it is about golf that is so addictive for lots of people. Probably it is a number of things added together. For instance many courses are beautiful to look at with rolling green fairways (mowed by someone else), water-falls and relative quiet. Nobody ever wrote a blues song about a golf course.
Maybe it’s the sense of power you feel when a shot goes a long distance. It could be the “hardware store in a bag” thing: lots of shapely metal clubs, hi-tech graphite shafts, shiny name badges all in your own personalised golf bag, and so on.
Golf is also a kind of terrarium of life, life in miniature. When you are young, you step up to the tee box and everything seems far away, narrow and a little daunting. However, with youthful confidence, you pull out the big driver and aim the ball down the fairway, pretty sure you can keep it in play. Go for the big hit, and aim for the sky.
Its only when you go in search of the ball that you realise that the narrow fairway is a little wider than it appeared from the tee. That’s good. But up close it also becomes apparent that there are some hidden dangers to think about and things to avoid that you could not see from so far away.
This time, for your second shot, you are a little wiser and with a little more to lose. You leave the driver in the bag because you now realise strength is good but it isn’t everything. There is still some distance to cover so you take hold of your 6 iron, a middle distance club, and aim not for the sky but a spot closer to the target which is now clearly in view. And you hit.
The shot which was meant to go so straight goes a bit left and now you have to improvise a little to get back on track. You spend some time trying to find the ball, then stand back and try to imagine what can be done from behind all these trees and rocks. Do you play safe, or just “hit and hope”?
Depending on how you feel that day you might do either. Today it’s hit and hope. By a bit of a miracle you get the ball under the low branches, deflect off a sign about not driving the cart here and end up near the green. Not very elegant, but there is no place on the score-card to actually draw a picture of how good you looked doing it, so it doesn’t matter.
The power you needed at the start of the hole is now of little use. It’s all about finesse: the art of getting the ball over the little bit of rough surface and onto the smooth green with just enough energy to take it within a few feet of the hole. Really it is the art of doing two things with one decision. This is also a mind set change. It’s all about control not power, the ability to visualize what is about to happen and then make it so. Slow deep breaths, shake your hands out to get rid of the tension then do it.
The ball clears the bumpy grass, lands on the green, heads for the hole, then inexplicable turns right and rolls down a slope you didn’t even see. Time to exhale.
More carefully now, take into account the slope, the distance and the raised lip around the hole. Sing a little song in your head to stop the nerves building up, then tap the ball straight into the hole. Hold the ball up like Tiger does and act like you may get the phone call to go professional any day now, yet still appear humble.
Different parts of your life require a different approach.
Leadership sometimes requires
great strength and
a release of energy,
sometime a calculated decision,
sometimes a bit of “hit and hope”,
sometimes some visualization,
sometimes the ability to make a single decision that accomplishes more than one thing,
other times careful, almost surgical precision.
And you always need to be able to manage your own weaknesses and strengths.
It takes courage, the ability to come back from a mishap, and some humility when you succeed.
The key is to do the right things at the right time. As someone who has driven a ball three blocks from the fairway, hit golf balls from one sand bunker straight into another one, and putted a ball clear off the green I can attest that both skills and judgement are necessary.
Same in life and leadership. You do get better as you go along, but only if you apply the lessons as you learn them. If you pray first, think second and act last you give yourself a good shot at ending up in a great place.
One last thought: in golf there are out-of-bounds areas. Hit the ball there and you incur a penalty that puts you behind. They don’t throw you off the golf course because you mess up on one shot (unless perhaps you hit the hood on the Manager’s new deep blue BMW). Life has it’s out of bounds areas too, things about which the Bible clearly warns us. You do all you can to avoid life’s out of bounds areas. But there is forgiveness and restoration waiting for all those who can shake off their pride and confess that the ball in the members' swimming pool really is theirs.
We all mess things up at times. It only makes sense to admit our mistakes, change the stance or the grip, and pick up as near as possible to where we left off.
In the final analysis the score-card that seemed so all-important isn’t as big of a deal as we thought. Church is a team sport, our results all just kind of add in together and Jesus Christ is the team captain. Its better to finish the course on the winning team than to be the best looking or most famous player who quit after just nine holes, or decided not to play because “every else plays better than me”.
Leading is about persisting with integrity.
By the way, if I knew anything about cake decorating or woodwork, this would be a very different article. Sorry if you really don’t like golf. I promise I meant well.
Maybe it’s the sense of power you feel when a shot goes a long distance. It could be the “hardware store in a bag” thing: lots of shapely metal clubs, hi-tech graphite shafts, shiny name badges all in your own personalised golf bag, and so on.
Golf is also a kind of terrarium of life, life in miniature. When you are young, you step up to the tee box and everything seems far away, narrow and a little daunting. However, with youthful confidence, you pull out the big driver and aim the ball down the fairway, pretty sure you can keep it in play. Go for the big hit, and aim for the sky.
Its only when you go in search of the ball that you realise that the narrow fairway is a little wider than it appeared from the tee. That’s good. But up close it also becomes apparent that there are some hidden dangers to think about and things to avoid that you could not see from so far away.
This time, for your second shot, you are a little wiser and with a little more to lose. You leave the driver in the bag because you now realise strength is good but it isn’t everything. There is still some distance to cover so you take hold of your 6 iron, a middle distance club, and aim not for the sky but a spot closer to the target which is now clearly in view. And you hit.
The shot which was meant to go so straight goes a bit left and now you have to improvise a little to get back on track. You spend some time trying to find the ball, then stand back and try to imagine what can be done from behind all these trees and rocks. Do you play safe, or just “hit and hope”?
Depending on how you feel that day you might do either. Today it’s hit and hope. By a bit of a miracle you get the ball under the low branches, deflect off a sign about not driving the cart here and end up near the green. Not very elegant, but there is no place on the score-card to actually draw a picture of how good you looked doing it, so it doesn’t matter.
The power you needed at the start of the hole is now of little use. It’s all about finesse: the art of getting the ball over the little bit of rough surface and onto the smooth green with just enough energy to take it within a few feet of the hole. Really it is the art of doing two things with one decision. This is also a mind set change. It’s all about control not power, the ability to visualize what is about to happen and then make it so. Slow deep breaths, shake your hands out to get rid of the tension then do it.
The ball clears the bumpy grass, lands on the green, heads for the hole, then inexplicable turns right and rolls down a slope you didn’t even see. Time to exhale.
More carefully now, take into account the slope, the distance and the raised lip around the hole. Sing a little song in your head to stop the nerves building up, then tap the ball straight into the hole. Hold the ball up like Tiger does and act like you may get the phone call to go professional any day now, yet still appear humble.
Different parts of your life require a different approach.
Leadership sometimes requires
great strength and
a release of energy,
sometime a calculated decision,
sometimes a bit of “hit and hope”,
sometimes some visualization,
sometimes the ability to make a single decision that accomplishes more than one thing,
other times careful, almost surgical precision.
And you always need to be able to manage your own weaknesses and strengths.
It takes courage, the ability to come back from a mishap, and some humility when you succeed.
The key is to do the right things at the right time. As someone who has driven a ball three blocks from the fairway, hit golf balls from one sand bunker straight into another one, and putted a ball clear off the green I can attest that both skills and judgement are necessary.
Same in life and leadership. You do get better as you go along, but only if you apply the lessons as you learn them. If you pray first, think second and act last you give yourself a good shot at ending up in a great place.
One last thought: in golf there are out-of-bounds areas. Hit the ball there and you incur a penalty that puts you behind. They don’t throw you off the golf course because you mess up on one shot (unless perhaps you hit the hood on the Manager’s new deep blue BMW). Life has it’s out of bounds areas too, things about which the Bible clearly warns us. You do all you can to avoid life’s out of bounds areas. But there is forgiveness and restoration waiting for all those who can shake off their pride and confess that the ball in the members' swimming pool really is theirs.
We all mess things up at times. It only makes sense to admit our mistakes, change the stance or the grip, and pick up as near as possible to where we left off.
In the final analysis the score-card that seemed so all-important isn’t as big of a deal as we thought. Church is a team sport, our results all just kind of add in together and Jesus Christ is the team captain. Its better to finish the course on the winning team than to be the best looking or most famous player who quit after just nine holes, or decided not to play because “every else plays better than me”.
Leading is about persisting with integrity.
By the way, if I knew anything about cake decorating or woodwork, this would be a very different article. Sorry if you really don’t like golf. I promise I meant well.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Fire and Worship
Fire Falls On Small Town
When I was a teenager an event took place in our backyard that was so funny, we rarely even speak about it for fear of laughing ourselves to death. Here is what happened. Remember, do not attempt this in your own home. We were trained professionals, prepared and equipped to cope with this kind of thing. Almost.
Well one time we had some meat in our refrigerator that had been there too long and it had started to go bad. My father decreed that it should not be put in the trash but it needed to be destroyed by fire. In our backyard there was a small concrete incinerator that we used for getting rid of rubbish and generally amusing ourselves.
My father placed the bad meat in the incinerator, lit some paper and threw it in and waited for something to happen. Of course, nothing burned except the paper so in an act filled with great purpose and hidden destiny, my father bled some fuel from the gas tank of our lawn mower and carried it in a tin, to the fire.
As the fire was still burning slightly, he tipped the fuel in on top of the flames. Strangely enough, the fuel simply extinguished the flames. Although perplexed, he was possessed of the belief that fuel and fire together should do something. So he tried one last time. In an act owing more to persistence than forethought my father threw in a lighted match. What happened next was so spectacular that it will never be forgotten as long as we live.
First there was a huge explosion. It had a satisfying low rumble to it and was so loud that citizens of Australian within several blocks radius ran out of their homes to see what had occurred. Remember this was during the cold war so some were wearing helmets and had aluminium foil wrapped around the parts of their bodies deemed to be most susceptible to radiation.
My brother and I were in the garage, but just a few metres (or yards) from the epicentre. We ran into the backyard only to see the last wisps of smoke drifting from the incinerator, and all the roofs, fences, clothes lines and backyards of our neighbours houses dotted with burning stuff that looked suspiciously like napalm.
The napalm-like substance was in fact the rotting meat my father had been trying to burn. Instead of destroying it he had delivered it, still burning, to all of our neighbours. This was oddly appropriate as he was by profession a mailman. Confusion and fiery lamb chops in equal amounts had rained down on our town. People wandered around shocked, arms going slowly up and down, looking up at their roofs with their mouths moving but no words coming out.
The best thing about it was that it was so hard to explain. Apart from my father’s suspicious lack of eyebrows, hair that had been blow straight up and slightly smoke streaked face there was little to tie him to the attack. And as he was still rather stunned and deafened by the explosion, he could attempt no explanation and therefore was never really suspected of being the mastermind behind the Great Burning Meat Attack of ’68. Every trace of fire and meat had been blown completely clear of the incinerator, and indeed our own backyard. Not even the team from CSI could have pinned this one on the Fragars.
The event passed into memory slowly, as all unsolved crimes do. And yet a dark cloud of fear had come upon Penrith. There was always the chance this strange and unexplained event could happen again one day, without warning. And have you even noticed that the last part of “Australian” sounds just like alien? Many theories were put forward to explain what had happened but none seemed to answer all the questions. After careful consideration, we never used the incinerator again.
Meat and fire go together like thumb and mousetrap. And a barbeque is simply men using meat to play with fire while appearing purposeful. Life doesn’t get any better than that. If I tell you there is a connection between this event and worship, you would be forgiven for thinking I was crazy. As it turns out, we could both be right.
The First Worship
The earliest mentions of worship in the Bible were not about music and such, but about animal sacrifices. And the very first mention of worship, the proposed sacrifice of Abraham’s son Isaac was about a sacrifice involving faith. Eventually as you will recall, sheep (not Isaac) became the sacrifice.
Ge 22:5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you ”
Ge 22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
Ge 22:7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Ge 22:8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
And later in Hebrews we read about the “sacrifice of praise”.
Heb 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.
What is the actual sacrifice here? I think this term has layers of meaning depending on where we are in life but the most fundamental meaning concerns the sacrifice we as Christians offer when we make Jesus the Lord of our lives in place of ourselves. Once we have done it we realise this is a fantastic “upgrade” but sometimes we struggle to get ourselves there. Handing over the throne of our lives is indeed a sacrifice.
But think about the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament for moment. The family would turn up to the temple with their animal (or animals). The priests would receive them and the animals would slaughtered on the altar in accordance with scripture. Sometimes we get that far with God. We “sacrifice” to God: we get ourselves out of bed and go to church, maybe a cell group, serve in the welcome team or worship team, we give money, maybe even tithe. Come the worship time, we sing along. And in doing so, we are fairly sure we are pleasing God.
But the sacrifices of old went one step further than just the actual sacrificing of a valuable animal, and it is a very important step. You see, if they had just slaughtered the animals and then left them lying there on the altar, very soon the meat would attract flies, then it would begin to smell “off”, and eventually it would smell so bad nobody would want to go anywhere near it.
The Fire
The missing step is the fire. The priests built a fire and, in essence, cooked the meat. Instead of a rotting smell, they presented to God a great cook-out the smell of which, the Bible tells us, rose up and pleased God.
Lev 1:9 He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
Can you see where this is going? When we bring our sacrifice to God we must put fire to it. And this especially applies to our worship. If we don’t do that, we become just religious.
Isa 29:13 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
Our worship will lack passion and power. And the smell that will go up before God is not the great smell of a grill, but the smell of decaying flesh.
When we add fire to our worship of God, it is wonderful. It has a great aroma and it actually makes hungry people desire what we have. The fire makes our worship fit for “consumption”. They want to join in. Fire is always intended to be part of our sacrifice of praise.
I can only think of a few occasions in scripture when God Himself put the fire to the sacrifice (including Gideon and Elijah). On almost every occasion it was the people who added the fire.
When we just "sing along" with the songs in church, the fire is missing.
But when gratitude grips our hearts, when tears come to our eyes, when we sing with all the strength we have, not caring what our neighbours think…that’s when we are worshiping with fire. That’s the worship that rises to God as a fragrant offering.
Keepers of the Fire
Like the priests of old we are all the keepers of the fire. Sometime all that was required was that the priests stir up the coals from the previous day and the fire was ready to go. Sometimes after a stormy night the fire would need to be re-lit. And so with some dry straw, a few sticks and a couple of pieces of flint the priests would get together and bring the precious fire to life again.
Sometimes it seems that the worship never really stops in our lives and the fire in us just burns day after day. Then there are those times when we have to relight our fires, maybe even using someone else’s fire to get ours going again. Maybe we need to get with some friends, and together get the fire going once more. In fact I think this happens for some people in church every Sunday.
Ultimately, I am responsible for the fire in my worship. I can do this by deliberately controlling the thoughts I dwell on, choosing wisely who I hang out with, by what I read, and by making positive decisions about what I become emotionally attached to.
Some things in life just happen to you. That is true. But that is far from the whole story. If Christ is my King, then I am His kingdom and Godly worship becomes the true music of my life. I don’t have to start worshiping…I just have to open my mouth and let it out!
Worship is so much better with fire. There is always something happening, there is always a crowd gathering around, things smell great and everyone is joyful.
Finally, Can Vegetarians Worship?
I know some of you don’t like to eat meat. That’s fine, and just for you, the Bible also has grain offerings so that you can be join in too. Very nutritious. For me, I’ll stick with the barbeque.
When I was a teenager an event took place in our backyard that was so funny, we rarely even speak about it for fear of laughing ourselves to death. Here is what happened. Remember, do not attempt this in your own home. We were trained professionals, prepared and equipped to cope with this kind of thing. Almost.
Well one time we had some meat in our refrigerator that had been there too long and it had started to go bad. My father decreed that it should not be put in the trash but it needed to be destroyed by fire. In our backyard there was a small concrete incinerator that we used for getting rid of rubbish and generally amusing ourselves.
My father placed the bad meat in the incinerator, lit some paper and threw it in and waited for something to happen. Of course, nothing burned except the paper so in an act filled with great purpose and hidden destiny, my father bled some fuel from the gas tank of our lawn mower and carried it in a tin, to the fire.
As the fire was still burning slightly, he tipped the fuel in on top of the flames. Strangely enough, the fuel simply extinguished the flames. Although perplexed, he was possessed of the belief that fuel and fire together should do something. So he tried one last time. In an act owing more to persistence than forethought my father threw in a lighted match. What happened next was so spectacular that it will never be forgotten as long as we live.
First there was a huge explosion. It had a satisfying low rumble to it and was so loud that citizens of Australian within several blocks radius ran out of their homes to see what had occurred. Remember this was during the cold war so some were wearing helmets and had aluminium foil wrapped around the parts of their bodies deemed to be most susceptible to radiation.
My brother and I were in the garage, but just a few metres (or yards) from the epicentre. We ran into the backyard only to see the last wisps of smoke drifting from the incinerator, and all the roofs, fences, clothes lines and backyards of our neighbours houses dotted with burning stuff that looked suspiciously like napalm.
The napalm-like substance was in fact the rotting meat my father had been trying to burn. Instead of destroying it he had delivered it, still burning, to all of our neighbours. This was oddly appropriate as he was by profession a mailman. Confusion and fiery lamb chops in equal amounts had rained down on our town. People wandered around shocked, arms going slowly up and down, looking up at their roofs with their mouths moving but no words coming out.
The best thing about it was that it was so hard to explain. Apart from my father’s suspicious lack of eyebrows, hair that had been blow straight up and slightly smoke streaked face there was little to tie him to the attack. And as he was still rather stunned and deafened by the explosion, he could attempt no explanation and therefore was never really suspected of being the mastermind behind the Great Burning Meat Attack of ’68. Every trace of fire and meat had been blown completely clear of the incinerator, and indeed our own backyard. Not even the team from CSI could have pinned this one on the Fragars.
The event passed into memory slowly, as all unsolved crimes do. And yet a dark cloud of fear had come upon Penrith. There was always the chance this strange and unexplained event could happen again one day, without warning. And have you even noticed that the last part of “Australian” sounds just like alien? Many theories were put forward to explain what had happened but none seemed to answer all the questions. After careful consideration, we never used the incinerator again.
Meat and fire go together like thumb and mousetrap. And a barbeque is simply men using meat to play with fire while appearing purposeful. Life doesn’t get any better than that. If I tell you there is a connection between this event and worship, you would be forgiven for thinking I was crazy. As it turns out, we could both be right.
The First Worship
The earliest mentions of worship in the Bible were not about music and such, but about animal sacrifices. And the very first mention of worship, the proposed sacrifice of Abraham’s son Isaac was about a sacrifice involving faith. Eventually as you will recall, sheep (not Isaac) became the sacrifice.
Ge 22:5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you ”
Ge 22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
Ge 22:7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Ge 22:8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
And later in Hebrews we read about the “sacrifice of praise”.
Heb 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.
What is the actual sacrifice here? I think this term has layers of meaning depending on where we are in life but the most fundamental meaning concerns the sacrifice we as Christians offer when we make Jesus the Lord of our lives in place of ourselves. Once we have done it we realise this is a fantastic “upgrade” but sometimes we struggle to get ourselves there. Handing over the throne of our lives is indeed a sacrifice.
But think about the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament for moment. The family would turn up to the temple with their animal (or animals). The priests would receive them and the animals would slaughtered on the altar in accordance with scripture. Sometimes we get that far with God. We “sacrifice” to God: we get ourselves out of bed and go to church, maybe a cell group, serve in the welcome team or worship team, we give money, maybe even tithe. Come the worship time, we sing along. And in doing so, we are fairly sure we are pleasing God.
But the sacrifices of old went one step further than just the actual sacrificing of a valuable animal, and it is a very important step. You see, if they had just slaughtered the animals and then left them lying there on the altar, very soon the meat would attract flies, then it would begin to smell “off”, and eventually it would smell so bad nobody would want to go anywhere near it.
The Fire
The missing step is the fire. The priests built a fire and, in essence, cooked the meat. Instead of a rotting smell, they presented to God a great cook-out the smell of which, the Bible tells us, rose up and pleased God.
Lev 1:9 He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
Can you see where this is going? When we bring our sacrifice to God we must put fire to it. And this especially applies to our worship. If we don’t do that, we become just religious.
Isa 29:13 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
Our worship will lack passion and power. And the smell that will go up before God is not the great smell of a grill, but the smell of decaying flesh.
When we add fire to our worship of God, it is wonderful. It has a great aroma and it actually makes hungry people desire what we have. The fire makes our worship fit for “consumption”. They want to join in. Fire is always intended to be part of our sacrifice of praise.
I can only think of a few occasions in scripture when God Himself put the fire to the sacrifice (including Gideon and Elijah). On almost every occasion it was the people who added the fire.
When we just "sing along" with the songs in church, the fire is missing.
But when gratitude grips our hearts, when tears come to our eyes, when we sing with all the strength we have, not caring what our neighbours think…that’s when we are worshiping with fire. That’s the worship that rises to God as a fragrant offering.
Keepers of the Fire
Like the priests of old we are all the keepers of the fire. Sometime all that was required was that the priests stir up the coals from the previous day and the fire was ready to go. Sometimes after a stormy night the fire would need to be re-lit. And so with some dry straw, a few sticks and a couple of pieces of flint the priests would get together and bring the precious fire to life again.
Sometimes it seems that the worship never really stops in our lives and the fire in us just burns day after day. Then there are those times when we have to relight our fires, maybe even using someone else’s fire to get ours going again. Maybe we need to get with some friends, and together get the fire going once more. In fact I think this happens for some people in church every Sunday.
Ultimately, I am responsible for the fire in my worship. I can do this by deliberately controlling the thoughts I dwell on, choosing wisely who I hang out with, by what I read, and by making positive decisions about what I become emotionally attached to.
Some things in life just happen to you. That is true. But that is far from the whole story. If Christ is my King, then I am His kingdom and Godly worship becomes the true music of my life. I don’t have to start worshiping…I just have to open my mouth and let it out!
Worship is so much better with fire. There is always something happening, there is always a crowd gathering around, things smell great and everyone is joyful.
Finally, Can Vegetarians Worship?
I know some of you don’t like to eat meat. That’s fine, and just for you, the Bible also has grain offerings so that you can be join in too. Very nutritious. For me, I’ll stick with the barbeque.
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