Thoughts about Worship (and other ponderances) - From a Mortal

Have you ever been reading the Bible and come across a part that makes no sense? Like when it lists all those names, places, etc..... Well the following passage from the Bible had one of those, for me.... Jeremiah 2:18 18.Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Shihor ? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the River ? When I first read this, I had no idea what the Shihor was, and had very little interest. The Shihor is a heavily debated topic, but it is either a stream that serves as the border of Egypt and Jerusalem, or it is the Nile itself, which served as the border for Egypy and Jerusalem. Now, knowing that, let's look at this scripture again.... 18. Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Shihor ? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the River ? (The red letters in know way indicate Jesus said this...) The issue that God had with the Isrealites at this time was that they had little-to-no concern about their relationship with Him; they were complacent. Their

I watched the movie August Rush the other day, and am greatly impacted by it's lesson. We live our lives everyday, seeking for something, but rarely do we stop long enough to realize that this "something" is all around us. In the movie, August's genious started with merely paying attention to the beauty (music) that he found everywhere around him. Others only became aware of that genious when he translated that beauty through music. In my interpretation of the movie, I believe God to be that music that surrounded August and eventually led him to his parents. What would happen if we started listening/watching/feeling for the music every minute of every day. Could this be what the scriptures meant by "pray without ceasing"? There is so much beauty to emerse ourselves in and if we could first learn to recognize and enjoy it, and then to translate that to the world around us, we would see that world change for the better.

Sometimes, understanding a principle is easier understood by looking at what can constrain that principle in practice. That said, I wanted to throw out a quick note as to what can turn a path towards being a true worshiper into an uphill climb without the yodel. Jeremiah, Chapter 2 goes into somewhat of a bleak sounding proposition for the Isrealites. You can hear a jealous God asking the questions, "Why have you drifted so far?" He then provides an answer with His following rebuke. He let's them know that they drifted from HIM to themselves. They stopped asking, "Where is our God?" God is mournfully asking, "Why in this world have your hearts lost their love affair with me in exchange for meanless and temporary things?" God, through Jeremiah, speaks of different non-existent God's they were serving, but if you get to the raw bones of this thing, those "God's" were man-made creations that they came up with to nurture their NEED for so

Last night, I was playing with my daughter, Lyric, and she reminded me of something very important; very common knowledge, but how many of us adults turn loose of common knowledge for the more complex worries of time, space, and air. Lyric reminded me that life is what you make it. Or more importantly, what God wants to make it. I have a tendency to worry.....a lot. Some medical professionals hold to the theory that stress is the # 1 killer in the US. Why is it that we are so content to build unrealistic scenarios to worry about while we look, with patronizing grins, at our children who build unrealistic scenarios to dream and enjoy? Why is our lack of reality so "grown up" only when it is negative and stressful? Why is a child's lack of reality, at the same time, looked at as "childish" merely for the reason that does not bring with it some "bad news" about the world around them. I recently finished a podcast by Erwin McManus that deals with the thing

I was going back to read my post to make sure that it did not sound clumsy, ambling, and ignorant. I feel I avoided such descriptions, however my current line of thinking drives me provide a clarification on one point. Worship does not "look like" or "sound like" or "smell like" or "seem like" anything. Worship is something that happens beneath the surface. Worship happens in that spiritual place that establishh the symptoms that are what we see, hear, feel.... Too often we define worship by some sort of physical attribute; this is impossible. We have not worshiped more or less because of what we did; we have worshiped at all because of how our spirit recognizes and responds the Spirit of God; the Holy Spirit. So, let's not search for what worship looks like, feels like, or sounds like. Let's look deeper into ourselves to experience God, and Worship will happen; leaving symptoms that are much more natural and genuine.

Okay, so I am giving into the Blogosphere.... When the initial launch team starting conceiving the ideas that now serve as a foundation for "Genesis Church", I had a few things that were really important to me as the Worship Leader. 1. I wanted a Worship Band, not just me standing and leading songs. I wanted a group of people who embraced the idea of creating an environment of true worship; worship in spirit and in truth. I wanted the worship team at our church to be a group of real people, who wanted nothing more than to create a song that blessed God's heart and that led other real people into that same place. 2. I also wanted to make sure that I provided those who attended our church, either for the first time or on a regular basis, with the opportunity to understand the true essence of worship. I feel we (as in Worship Leaders) have done a good job at priming people up to sing a song, clap a hand (dare I say "raise" the aforementioned hand?), and anything el