An Abolitionist.

Harriet Tubman, and…me?
Fredrick Douglas, and…me?
Abraham Lincoln, and… me?
William Wilberforce…Soujourner Truth… and…

Abolitionsist. I've heard the term. I've marveled at the people. Their bravery, their minority stand against a majority who embrace evil. Bravery, courage, marks of an abolitionist. I applaud them. I clap my hands and say "Bravo!" I nod my head in recognition and slide easily back into my bedded world of ignorance, and I ignore…

Until now.

The whir and hum of the voices are growing. A murmur has turned into a rumbling. A whispering plea for help, has erupted into a volcanic roar. No earplugs can dim the volume. No heavy eye-masks can block the faces. No dose of sleeping pills can keep me comatose any longer. "Awake Oh Sleeper, rise from the dead" (Eph. 5:14). It's time to get up. It's time to wake. Get out of bed. Remove your earplugs and listen. Take off your mask and see. Do some stretches, and get ready to act.

Everyday, hundreds of people - children, women, men - are abudcuted. Opressed. Shackled. Sold. Beat. Owned. Like cattle. Worked to death without pay, without break.

An abolitionist is anyone who acts on behalf of slaves, who does something to set the captives free. Tubman, Lincoln, Douglas, Wilberforce, and many more, are indeed great, brave, magnificent figures in Abolitionist history. But we should not place them as decorative golden figurines on our mantel and say, "wow, I could never do that, good for them." We can do that. You can. Even I can! We can and should come alongside them because their fight, their cause, is still alive, their battle is not over, and we need fighters.

Our greatest Abolitionist is Jesus himself. His heart's cry is to set people free. Not just from the oppression of sin, but also in this physical life.

Isaiah 61, a prophecy that Jesus fulfills and quotes as his ministry reads:
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners."

Isaiah 58:6, God proclaims:
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?...
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday."

Will you join God in his work? Will your heart break, for what breaks His?

As my feet hit the pavement each day on my runs, in rhythmic motion with my breathing. In, out…forward, back… Every step I run, is a step toward the end of slavery. I am running as an athlete for Break the Chains. I picked a race, I signed up. It wasn't that complicated….it was something I could do. There is always something we can do. Don't be overwhelmed, don't think you are helpless. What can you do? New abolitionists are being made every day. As people give to Break the Chains, and as people give to International Justice Missions. As people run, raise money, form bake sales, wash cars. As hands are folded and knees are bent. As speakers raise awareness, as stories are told, as videos are made and watched. New Abolitionists are rising up and people are being freed.

It wasn't until last night, as I left a small speaking engagement where I raised awareness for Break the chains, that I realized my part in this. Last night on a video I listened to a young passionate 16 year old, Zach Hunter, talk about being an abolitionist and it was at that moment that I realized, I am an Abolitionist. I'm not "up there" with the great ones like Lincoln, but none the less, I am happy to join the ranks. Are you ready to be an Abolitionist too?

I wrote my Dad about this Oprah "Awakening" issue and found his reply challenging to me as a Christian:

"I see that it all reflects a spiritual hunger and that leaves the door open for dialogue and witness, but for sure there is huge deception here (whoever denies Jesus is the Christ, etc is the antichrist- I John 2 or 3...). Oprah may be a mortal enemy...but the work and good she does may also reflect God at work in and through her, though she doesn't acknowledge it."

I see this too. She is amazing in her world-wide concerns and work. I give that - but I also see so many millions following and listening, and it is concerning. ABSOLUTELY it is a sign of spiritual hunger...so that is a good thing. But people aren't running to Christ, they're running to everything new, to themselves, to fill this. Here's the challenging part - it kind of escalates our urgency and goals in introducing people to Jesus during this "hungry" time...

I wrote my Dad about this Oprah "Awakening" issue and found his reply challenging to me as a Christian:

"I see that it all reflects a spiritual hunger and that leaves the door open for dialogue and witness, but for sure there is huge deception here (whoever denies Jesus is the Christ, etc is the antichrist- I John 2: 19-23 Many would say that Oprah is the enemy, but the work and good she does may also reflect God at work in and through her, though she doesn't acknowledge it."

I see this too. She is amazing in her world-wide concerns and work. I give that - but I also see so many millions following and listening, and it is concerning. ABSOLUTELY it is a sign of spiritual hunger...so that is a good thing. But people aren't running to Christ, they're running to everything new, to themselves, to fill this. Here's the challenging part - it kind of escalates our urgency and goals in introducing people to Jesus during this "hungry" time...

I'm not sure how to approach this, I dont' have much to say at the moment... but I feel deeply disturbed by a few things I've found on You-Tube regarding Oprah, a book called "New Earth" and some other "spiritual" developments. The world is racing, running, hungrily to a philosophy of self-god... a religion about inner purpose, motivation, inner-deity, power, ...pantheism (all things are one, God is in all and is all, and we are god). It looks beautiful, it uses the words we are familiar with in the bible, - love, hope, peace... and talks about a new world where people are self-actualized and therefore find harmony and peace and truth inside themselves that leads the world into love.

Here are some of the summarizes of the book "New Earth" -"Eckhart Tolle presents readers with an honest look at the current state of humanity: He implores us to see and accept that this state, which is based on an erroneous identification with the egoic mind, is one of dangerous insanity. Tolle tells us there is good news, however. There is an alternative to this potentially dire situation. Humanity now, perhaps more than in any previous time, has an opportunity to create a new, saner, more loving world. This will involve a radical inner leap from the current egoic consciousness to an entirely new one. In illuminating the nature of this shift in consciousness, Tolle describes in detail how our current ego-based state of consciousness operates. Then gently, and in very practical terms, he leads us into this new consciousness. We will come to experience who we truly are—which is something infinitely greater than anything we currently think we are—and learn to live and breathe freely."

New consciousness, infinite greatness, inner leaps... Oprah calls it, the "Awakening" and people are being "awakened" all around the world. Even the term itself seems to freeze my blood. New "greater" consciousness does not transform lives - maybe on the surface, maybe on the outside a life looks changed, brought into "inner peace"... but there is no peace, that is not God's peace. Lives are not saved, chains are not broken, addictions are not loosed, heart break is not healed, brokeness is not mended. This inner pace - is not even peace. Inner peace comes only from God - peace comes from Jesus Christ. Beth Moore's bible study on the fruits of the spirit, she preaches that there is only one way to find true peace, that is under the umbrella of Jesus Christ. "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be on his shoulders, and he shall be called prince of peace..." His authority in our life is what brings peace. The word "authority" makes us bristle - but there is no other "authority" I'd rather place myself under than under the one who died for me and sacrficed all he had to save me, love me deeply, truly, eternally. So, in our world today, like in Jeremiah - we are saying "PEACE! PEACE! When there is no peace..." False, counterfeit, "inner-peace" that does not save, does not transform...

We are enticed these days by veiled and deceptive words and partial-truths that lead basically to self worship and absolute denial of God and his son, Jesus. As wonderful as she is, Oprah, as kind and generous as she is, is leading viewers and followers into this spiritual religion that is deceptive, and false. This is the first video that presents these misleading views: (by the way, one thing I do not like is the quick Obama reference at the end... I am still undecided on who to vote for, but I am not anti-Obama in anyway).

Here is another one, where Oprah talks about how she realized that God was in a box, and that He is not a jealous God, and basically makes him what she wants - "THAT which we call God" - is different to everyone - your God may be called "light", my God may be called "xyz", etc... "THAT" de-personalizes God entirely - a thing, an object, an "out there" a spiritual force that is within... This is not God. But sadly, people are vigoroulsy nodding in agreement...




This is all for now - you can google and find more yourself...
I am open for discussion about this...it sends chills down my spine truthfully...

I want to post a couple "opening statements" on some church's websites that I found and have a discussion about it! This is not to church-bash that particular church, but to critique and discuss BOTH the strengths and weaknesses (even heresy's you may find) in their statements. For me, I'm still chewing... A knee-jerk response is "I'll never go to that church" - yet my other knee jerks and says "This truly "postmodern" perspective may reach a generation that may not have been reached."

Where do we "draw the line" with speaking to today's culture, engaging it, but not loosing Truth. In the same way we "do" mission's overseas - one must understand how to "speak the vernacular" of the culture. How do we SPEAK postmodern "per say", but not loose the church in it's subjectivity and lack of Truth with a capital T?

(Hey~ please add any comments to the postmodern blog or the worship blog -esp. the worship blog - i'm curious as to what anyone thinks!!)

Here are the statements:

"We want you to feel relaxed and comfortable. 'Doing church' doesn't have to be boring, dry, irrelevant, or confusing. Church should be all about life and encourgement and hope. That's what we are trying to do every time we get together. We want you to know that you are important to us. You are not just a face in the crowd, but a very valuable person in our sigh and God's as well. We totally believe that God has a fantastic design and purpose for your life and we want to help you find it and fulfill it!


Here's another church:

"We are a new church with an accepting and welcoming way of believing. Whatever your background, wherever you are in your spiritual path, we hope you will feel acceptance and love as you take spiritual steps at a pace that is right for you.

Here you will find a style of faith that isn't "preachy" or "holier than thou." What attracts us to Jesus is that he speaks the truth and loves wandering and imperfect people like you and me. Though our church takes the Bible seriously, we don't feel the need to push it on people. You don't have to believe, act, look, and vote like us to feel accepted. Jesus' way of leading with love before speaking the truth resulted in crowds of people from all walks of life being attracted to his way of life and teachings.

If you feel some disdain for organized religion and Christianity in particular, you are probably bumping into hidden truths about the way the Christian faith has been wrongly expressed. Too often faith becomes rigid, believers are quick to judge, and answers given to our tough questions feel empty. Instead of offering you a "bumper sticker" slogan, we will strive to show and tell you how imaginable, challenging, and relevant following Jesus is in our daily lives. "

In the last month, we have had some of the longest, most detailed conversations with mormons, J. W's than I have had in my lifetime! We have opened our door and invited them in, and shared testimony's...last night we prayed for our mormon friends before they left. I struggle with knowing where to draw the line and "quit"... it seems God is doing something, and I want to be available. On the other hand, I can't embrace them as fellow christians - this is not fellowship as I mistakingly said last night (I meant something else - like "social-ship" - but out came the word fellowship - oops) ...but it is reaching out, offering a warm home and some scones. Both the JW's and the Elders said that they have never met anyone like me/us before in their life. At one point I lost it and cried when talking about how Jesus is all we need, we don't need MORE revelation, more layers, more books - he is the first and last who was and is... I felt embarassed like it de-valued the rest of what I'd have to say. But at the end of the night the "main" elder also got teary. He was passionate about God, loved his heavenly father, clung to his savior - how often he talked of Jesus' atonement and saving grace with gratitude. Yet he would continue to use the term "I try my best." Oh, yeah, that is also when I got choked up - asking him how his "best" would ever be good enough. I think it may have been D. Bonhoffer who said that even in our best we can sin against God. How can we be righteous enough? 2 Nephi says: "...after all that we can do, we are saved by grace." What is it we "can" do? When have we DONE "all that we can do?" I ached inside. The elder spoke of his love of God and his belief in the book of mormon. He believed Joseph Smith restored the church - that he is a true prophet of God. Nothing I could say would deter him. My J.W friend also loves his Heavenly Father - believes in the redemption that God will bring, and that God "see's the righteousness of Christ when he looks on himself, a sinner." Yet, we are talking about different Heavenly Fathers and different Sons of God. So much the same, so different. I know I can learn from them, but I will not learn any more elements of truth from them. I wonder if we all left wondering "they are so close, if they could only see." Rob and I said that after they left, did they say the same thing about me? They have the living word of God right there in their hands - and then along with it - the Watchtower, or the book of mormon. The bible wasn't enough? Two hours of talking...I was exhausted, emotionally, spiritually, physically... I poured myself a glass of wine and went to bed. By the way, the Elder said that wine wasn't fermented in Jesus' time - he drank wine - but it wasn't the same wine we have today. I brought up the wedding at Caana - why mention that he brought out the "best" at the end? What difference did that make if the men/women were not already becoming intoxicated? (Not that intoxication is a prescriptive!). Anyway - does anyone know if that's true?

I also had a hard time understanding his take on Peter's letter about the layers of heaven - and the "2nd" chance that everyone has after they die - they get preached to and then have another chance to respond?

Also - I brought up prophecies that J. Smith made that didn't true. He flat out denied that and said that whoever wrote that had left the Mormon church and that it was false. Does anyone know where I can find true documentation of his false prophecies? Not for them, but just for my own knowledge. I don't think they are coming back again...

One more item - can anyone explain better to me about the Aaronic/Melchizidek priesthood is about in connection to Joesph Smith - the laying on of hands and passing down the apostolic priesthood/annointing?

So, I'm on a small writing streak. This will end soon. It SHOULD end soon because I have too much work to do to be doing this!!

I've been driving by a billboard everyday that has been causing me to think, and somewhat bothering me. BUT, it's hard to put it into words. Here is the billboard: It's a man with a remote control in his hand - pointing it out -(like toward the cars) - so the focus is on the remote control. And on it is says "Before you Turn God Off... Try Church again www.trychurchagain.com" So - what is wrong with this? IT's a christian church, trying to get people's attention to come to church. Does it send the right message?

When I think about a remote control - it is something in your hand that wields power to please YOU. You turn the TV on, you turn the TV off. If you're pleased with what you find - you keep it on. If it does not please you - you either keep channel surfing or you turn it OFF. Is that how it is with church today? Try it - flip channels - see if it works for you - then turn it off if not? Or worse, what about God? By saying "Before you turn GOD off - "try again,'" seems to be saying - that you tried ALREADY. Try AGAIN. Is this saying, "Give God a Try?" Try Him again seems to imply that God "failed" the first time, and didn't meet your expectations... that's too bad... why don't you try Him ONE MORE TIME - Give God ONE MORE CHANCE and then decide whether or not you'll keep him. Trying on God like you would a pair of jeans... Too tight, too rigid...too loose, doesn't fit well, doesn't "suit" you... Is that was this is saying? In my knee jerk opinion the church posting this billboard is one now I would never go too. I think - they are too seeker friendly, they are missing the truth of the gospel, the power of the cross of Jesus Christ, etc. They are implying the wrong message - that God is to be marketed the best way possible and our consumers are to try him to see if they like Him. Do we try on Truth? Of course we do. I know I'm guilty of picking and choosing bible verses or truths to live by...the hard ones... I'll rule out subconsciously, or consciously even! Truth tries US on... and it DOES make us uncomfortable...and it often DOESN'T Fit us - it doesn't usually - because we are still being formed and shaped. Truth rubs against us and we say "ouch! That hurts! I don't like." But staying on the path to the cross, the path of truth, and eventually that rubbing forms and shapes us into a beautiful vessel. Still broken, still clay...but beautiful.

So - I turned that church off. I sneer and snarl at the billboard. I mentioned it to my Dad as we passed by it on our way to class (which by the way is the reason I'm blogging all this stuff - the class is rubbing me - challenging me - and making me think about EVERYTHING Darn it!)...I was thinking he would immediately sneer and snarl with me and curse the wretched seeker friendly church that put it up. But his first question was - "So, to you, an insider, you see terrible implications in that sign. What about to a totally secular non-churched person who's never been to church... how would they see it?" I see things about church from my "emic" view point (insider) and the outsider sees it from an "etic" view point. New words I learned. How would an Etic see this? I thought for a minute. Would they see it as a turn-off to God? Have I written off the work of the Holy Spirit? What if someone was driving by, upset, hurting about life, upset with God, and looks up and sees the poster and is cut to the heart and thinks - why not go back to church? Maybe I should go back to church. Maybe I will try one more time... The Holy Spirit may have already been working in that person's heart and all they needed was one more sign... one more idea to try... one more invitation to "taste and see" that the Lord is good..

So before I go egotistically and arrogantly slamming churches, I need to see the world outside of my VERY in-bred mainstream protestant perspective.

The Story of Narcissus:
Once upon a time, there was a boy called Narcissus. He was the son of a god and he was very, very handsome. Many women fell in love with him, but he turned them away. One of the women who loved Narcissus was a nymph called Echo. Echo could not speak properly - she could only repeat what was said to her, so she couldn't tell Narcissus that she loved him. One day, when Narcissus was walking in the woods with some friends, he became separated from them. He called out "Is anyone here?" Echo replied "Here, Here". Echo stepped forward with open arms, wanting to cuddle him. But Narcissus refused to accept Echo's love. Echo was so upset that she left and hid in a cave, until nothing was left of her, except her voice.

The Maiden, a goddess, found out about this, and she was very angry. She made Narcissus fall in love with himself. When Narcissus looked at his reflection in a pond one day, he fell in love. He stayed on that spot forever, until he died one day. Where he died a flower grew, and that flower is called a Narcissus.

EXTREME POST MODERNISM – a story of Narcissus

Along with the dawn of quantum physics we have emerged into a new era called Post Modernism. In a nutshell post modernism is what we are calling the time after modernism! What was modernism? Modernity is characterized by the age of science and fact. Modernists believe that the scientific method is the ultimate measure of what is trustworthy, matter is real, and everything should and can be proven by science and re-demonstration. What can’t be proven, is not real. Of course this is a very crude definition. Postmodernism is a reaction to scientific certainty - reality is now only created in the mind. Quantum physics tells us that atoms, molecules and matter do not have concrete specific functions, but rather they are an endless sea of possibilites. Atoms are energy fields that don’t exist in one form or another, they are potentials. We have entered an age of uncertainty. With this we have become skeptical of truth and primary believers in the personal experiential. What we observe is not necessarily reality, it’s simply our perception and the individual’s brain filtering out what it wants to see. Reality is “in here,” and as one postmodern philosopher put it – there is no “out there”, out there. Everything is “in here.”

The post modern composes questions and leaves them unanswered; we are friends with ambiguity and foes with the definitive. In this age, interpretation is everything, we have endless choices (30,000 possible personalized drink options in Starbucks alone), we have transient relationships, personal spirituality, and along with our esteem of individuality and autonomy we live in emotional isolation. Our shared experiences with humanity revolve around the question “did you watch ______ last night?” We talk candidly about LOST, biggest looser, Celebrity Apprentice; more comfortable with watching reality than participating in it. Life is random and without direction, without purpose.

The concept of belonging to a “meta narrative” is foreign to our postmodern selves. There is no bigger picture, nothing is connected, our lives are not headed in a particular direction, and especially, there is no God directing and participating in our lives. We have heard over and over that the only person who has power over your destiny is yourself. You are your own creator of your life, you make the choices, you perceive the endlessly potential “matter” around you the way you want to and therefore you – you create your best life. Believe in yourself.

In a sense we have made ourselves our own god. Our perceptions, experiences, and interpretations are the rule of measurement for truth and the standard subjective filter for our behaviors and lifestyles. In a recent film called, “What the bleep do I know” (written by post moderns, for post moderns – and no, it didn’t “make sense,” it didn’t have to!) – the narrator ended with a prayer: “Show me a sign today of what I created so I have no doubt it’s coming from you.” Ambiguous? Indeed! The narrator was praying to his own “observer” (the eyes, the brain, the “ghost in the machine”). We pray to ourselves, believe in ourselves, and ultimately need to prove to ourselves that we exist by signs of our creations!? At least in Modernity we prayed to GOD to “show us a sign” that He is real, now in Postmodernity we are praying to ourselves, to show our self that our “observer” inside of us is real, all of this depending on the reality we create. Are we only alive because we perceive ourselves to be alive? What if we’re not really alive at all, we only think we are!

The same narrator expounded on the concept of God stating: “As a kid I had lots of ideas of who God is. Now I know that I’m not conscious enough to truly understand what that means…and how can any little carbon molecule (persons) on earth betray God?” Are we really that lost that we believe ourselves to be carbon molecules living in some discontinuous, half-conscious, self-manifesting, dead-end life? Can we manifest what happens AFTER death?

We have become our own gods. We have fallen in love with ourselves and like Narcissus, the longer we look at our reflection in the pond, the further we will fall, deeper into the pool, until we are gagging and choking on our own, now grotesquely distorted image.

This is what I know to be true: I do not make up meaning for myself – and when I do – I drown in my own fragments of poisonous desires. God makes meaning, God IS meaning. How can we trust soley in ourselves if we are simply “carbon molecules?” What is True, is not the potential that matter has around me and my influence on that matter. Meaning is not my self-creation. Truth is not dictated by my own “observer” in my head. The “ghost” in my “machine” is my soul, my spirit filled by the Holy Ghost. Can I create? Absolutely. We are made to be creators and artists. Does creating prove to myself any sense of meaning and reality? The fact that I can create does not make me the Creator. Who am I to be the ultimate reality to myself? What the bleep do I know? From dust I came, to dust I will return. Is that it? I am not merely random shreds of matter thrown together for no purpose. One could say this is simply a fantastical need inside me to feel like I am unique and special. I suppose I could agree with that – but it’s not just a need to perceive my life in this fasion, it is a truth, I was born knowing this. Jeremiah says: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” Paul states that “In Him – all things move and breathe and have their being.”

Tonight we may all gather around our respective televisions and “connect” over our common shared experiences of watching LOST. Does not that alone seem to imply a longing for community? A need in us to be a part of something? Recently a friend told me that she “can’t go too long” before she needs to watch another Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or read a Narnia book. I am the same way. These books/movies are classic examples of “people” living inside of a meta narrative. There is a good and an evil, a side that is chosen, and a broad story with a cumulative ending…there is a purpose and a shared conception of reality. Our obsession with these epic tales is just another clue that we not only long for, but are made for a “meta narrative” – a big picture. That big picture is the story of God and his creation – from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 – and we are a part of it, living and breathing in it. What role do you play? Who were you created to be? We live in such a world where discovery of self is the ultimate reward on this treasure-hunt…But in order to truly discover self, one must discover God and His story – from beginning to end.

When I look in the mirror or bend over and look in the pool, who do I see staring back at me? Will I become enamured with the reflection of myself and ultimately drown in the love of my god-like existence – or - will I see the face of God? I am made in the image of God and I am a reflection of God. I will either fall in and die and be forever swimming in warped, fractions of my own reflection, or I will fall in and as I live and die I’ll find myself swimming in the arms of the Almighty.


“For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—and I am still with you.”


**All information about characteristics of Post Modernism taken from "Missional Church" - Fuller NW class by professor Brad Hill.

I Can’t Worship to Steel Drums – By Becca Worl


“Worship was GOOD today!”
“I LOVED your song picks today, it was so encouraging!”
“Worship wasn’t boring!”

If you are currently attending a “mainstream” church, these are common phrases you may hear after the service. If you are on the worship team, or if you are a pastor, these are comments that sound positive yet can make you cringe. The comments, although delivered with the best intentions, begs the question – “what would a “bad” worship service be?” Reflecting logically on these praises, leads one to terrible conclusions. The antithesis of “good” is “bad”; the opposite of “encouraging” is “discouraging,” and the flip-side of “boring” is…heaven forbid…“entertaining?” Since when was worship supposed to be entertaining? Show me a bible verse that says worship is for our entertainment?

I am just as guilty as the next person for criticizing or praising the worship band at particular churches, including my own. I have been guilty of using the phrase “I can’t worship to…” – fill in the blanks. I can’t worship to hymns? I can’t worship to contemporary songs? (By the way, one person’s “contemporary” is still another person’s “traditional.”) For that matter, I can’t worship to steel drums or harmonicas! Can I worship in a foreign language? Can I worship in German? Can I worship if my seat is uncomfortable? Can I worship if the person beside me is snoring – or– raising their hands and clapping? Reflect on the statement, “I can’t worship to…” WHO is worship for? WHAT is worship about?

Is worship for us? Is it for God? So often it is spoken of in terms of what God did for me: “During the worship today I was so (fill in the blanks)” - moved, healed, broken, blessed, encouraged, etc. Is this a wrong perspective? Not entirely. God created us to be able to worship (Ps.150, Rev.6). He created music, creativity and our spirits – do get moved, filled, convicted and encouraged by praising Him. Worship IS for us, in that God gave it to us, gave us the ability to worship and desires to fill us with His presence and truth and love when we praise Him. But worship is directed toward GOD, and GOD ALONE. Only when our hearts and minds and vocal chords are God-centric and not egocentric, and we are giving glory to God - Creator, redeemer, friend, savior - are we truly worshipping. The miracle of it is God in turn, may fill us, speak to us and encourage us. But that is the work of God in response to our bended knee – that is not the work of the music, the stage, the sound, or the power point.

Worship is not a tool to attract the “un-churched.” It is not a tool for us to gain some quasai-harmonious-meditative-equilibrium in our spirits. Worship is true worship when we forget ourselves, our needs, our wants, our tastes and our likes and dislikes. It can not be personalized like ordering your favorite drink at a drive through window: “Yes, I’d like two clapping songs, one tear-jerking song, a poem about the death of Jesus, a short culturally-relative spiritual movie clip and an encouraging word about my salvation please…No liturgy, and oh, please hold the speaking of tongues, and the arm raising… I don’t want to feel too convicted, but just a little challenged please… And does that come with steel drums?”

We would do well to remember David – who danced unabashedly before the Lord without regard to his peer’s or his wife’s criticisms (2 Sam 6:14 – “And David was dancing before the Lord with all his might…”). Ok, yes, he was naked…take that or leave it if you will, it’s not necessarily a prescriptive. The point is that his worship was for God’s eyes alone. The grandeur and goodness of God DROVE David to worship with his whole heart and mind and soul. When he thought about Yahweh, he was compelled to worship. Maybe he hated lyres, harps, and tambourines! But he could still worship.

We would do well to join David as well as the living creatures, the saints, and the elders in falling down before the Lamb…drums or no drums.


**many ideas in this blog are sourced from the class "Missional Leader", Fuller NW - professor Brad Hill.

Here is something I'm hoping to publish - wrote it this morning.

SeaTac Airport thrums with the usual frenetic energy of thousands of people scrambling for a hundred thousand daily flights that are alternately cancelled, delayed, or just moved to other gates. People hustle and bustle through security, taking off shoes, belts, watches, glasses, bracelets, necklaces, opening laptops, and nervously placing precious I-pods, I-phones and I-nanos into the bin that whisks them away on conveyer belt that disappeared into a black maw.

I was one of the lucky ones that narrowly escaped through the teeth of airport security without tripping the dreaded red blinking alarm of death; I make it a point to wear as little clothing and accessories as possible. Of course, this isn’t the general fashion philosophy I always adhere to. I never take chances when it comes to catching my plane, so I have a good two-hour window of people-watching, Starbucks-drinking time to waste before heading to my gate. I glance over at the nearest Starbucks about a foot away (aren’t they always?), and saw a long line of fellow addicts. “No worries,” I think to myself, “I have plenty of time to stand in line, even if it is an hour… isn’t a hot frothing double tall split shot 2% three pump vanilla caramel macchiato…worth it!? I stand peacefully in line, knowing my time will come eventually, enjoying watching the frenzy.

In front of me, the middle-aged, middle-class gentleman with a growing middle, habitually checked his watch and tapped his foot. The line moved two feet. He made loud obnoxious sighs, breathing in and out like he would for his Pulmonologist with a stethoscope to his lungs. We moved six inches. The line was compacting, it wasn’t actually moving. His sighing became mumbling, and then turned into a slew of colorful words. He crunched his knuckles and popped an anxiety pill. “This #@$* line! Taking so #@&* long! I’m going to miss my flight! $@*% Barista – taking her sweet time – as if none of us are in a hurry!” He glanced at me for a nod of empathy. Knuckle-crunch, pill-pop. I shrugged and cringed while the slurs escalated. The caffeine-deprived man was turning red, slightly sweaty and getting more exasperated at each passing second. He kept checking his boarding pass and comparing it to the hands on his watch. “This is an outrage! I’m going to miss my #$@ flight!” he spat and sputtered and knocked the pill bottle into the back of his throat. The line moved another inch but N-2 was a long ways away. With a final profanity, pill, and knuckle crunch he yanked his oversized “carry-on” out of the line and aimed for N-2. He would just have to settle for the on-board coffee service.

I couldn’t help but wonder why he would stand in an obviously lengthy line when his flight was boarding, and then proceed to complain about it! Wasn’t it his choice to wait for a cup of coffee? No one was forcing him, or manipulating the man into missing his flight or waiting in a long line. He wasn’t waiting in the security line – a necessary step to boarding – he was waiting in the !@#$ (sorry, I tend to absorb my environment) Starbucks line – not a necessary step to boarding. Somewhere in this person’s life the line between what was a necessity and what was a luxury got blurred? What is it about our nature, or perhaps our all- too -common American philosophy of entitlement that erodes the boundaries of human decency and gratitude? Far too often we believe we have a right to something that truly isn’t ours. Is it our right to go over 60mph on the freeway? Is it our right to watch our TV program when the guide says it should be on? Is it our right to have a cup of coffee when we want it, how we want it and where we want it without regard to our fellow sojourners? Are we so used to the slogan, “your way, right away,” that we can’t live in any different dimension of patience and long-suffering? How often we cry: “This is an outrage!” This is unjust! We don’t know what injustice is, or what a real “outrage” would be. In our limited perspective it is an outrage when Safeway is out of our favorite brand of butter, and we’re forced to throw something different onto our distinguished palate. It is an injustice to be “forced” to skip your morning latte in order to make a flight?

I was reminded of a time in my life not long ago where our little home must have suffered from a strong electromagnetic pulse; in one day my microwave broke, my home phone broke, my cell phone shattered, and my Macbook crashed… and I lost my keys at Safeway and had to walk home. Was this an “outrage?” An “injustice”? Were not all these “things” just luxuries? Did I have a right to these objects of latest technology? Did I have a right to be angry over it? I enjoyed a brisk walk, reheated my coffee in a pan over the stove, and appreciated how quiet my house and my life had become. A hermit for a day. Sure, it was a disappointment, but nothing worth loosing my head over. Stuff happens. Most of what we have in life are luxuries and it can be good for our blood pressure to view them that way; holding all that we own loosely instead of in a clenched, entitled fist. I still had shelter, my husband, and my daughter; so what if I didn’t have a car, a cell, a laptop, or a microwave?

I eventually made it to the front of the line to order my Carmel Macchiato...and was told, that they were out of caramel. C’est la vie. “Just a tall latte then please.” I got my drink and clunked in an extra dollar tip as if I could compensate for the angry disturbance in the force field. I still had time so I walked along the corridor towards the end. At N-2 I noticed Knuckles in another long line. He was in group four, the last to board. I said a prayer for his growing ulcer.

I pleasantly sauntered along the corridor to my gate and faintly overheard some familiar profanity. “I’m sorry you missed your flight sir, but there is a seat available on the next flight to Chicago at 11:10.” I swallowed and looked at my boarding pass. That was my flight. As providence would have it, I was seated next to the pill popping, knuckle cracking, patience-deprived man. In the very back of the plane in our middle seats, we both drank on-flight Starbucks until we were in a caffeine-induced coma all the way to Chicago. It was a luxury.