Don't Market Me

Let's take a moment and think about the world around us. We wake up in the morning and we turn on either the radio, the tv, or pick up our iphone and check to see what the weather is going to be like that day.

If you turn on your radio you hear an advertisement for how you can cure you hair loss, if you turn on the tv you hear an advertisement how you can better clean your house, or if you pick up your iphone then you see an advertisement for a new gadget that has come out. While all these things are great in some form or fashion they are marketing ploys that run deeper than you or I could ever imagine.

Most advertising try to fix the humanistic element of "how do I effect what others think of me" or "how do I make people like me better". If you're listening to the radio you probably are a male on the way to work and you want people in your office to think you are younger and respect you more and all your problems will be swept away with this product. If you are a homewife and are at home with your kids, sure your house needs to be clean, but the advertisement is probably telling you it matters what people think of you when they come in your house - not just for sanity's sake. If you are checking your weather on your iphone chances are you are into technology and are a "young adult" and whether or not you have the latest gadget speaks to whether or not what others will think of you - they will admire you more if you have the latest and greatest. And this is just the beginning of the day - by the end of the day through the radio, television, your phone, and the internet each human is exposed to well over 3000 ads a day! Does this shape and fashion who we are and how we react? OF COURSE! We become convinced that what people are marketing is truth, when in fact they only desire our monetary value and not our well being.

This introduction raises the question for me, if the world is so great at marketing, and we have bought into it so much that it has become a part of us, is the Church guilty of the same thing?

I'm not talking about Lifeway or Family Christian Stores - that is a whole other set of Christian Marketing issues - I am talking about the Church, You know the one that meets on Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings, Sunday Evenings, and Wednesdays? How are we marking on the church level?

Let's talk about some of the ways that the church markets its consumers...er...patrons...Let's start with the parking lot.

When you pull up to the church what do you see or what do you hear? When you pull into a church is it trendy and in a shopping strip, or is a huge facility the size of six flags that has banners on all the light poles, or is it a small country church where there are men outside in flannels and blue jeans welcoming you as you come inside? What does the church look like when you pull up? This is the first place that marketing takes place - the church that is marketing will take this opportunity to tell you "who they are" as the church. For example have you ever been to one of those churches where they have the "singing rocks" all the way from the parking lot to the door to "prepare you for worship"? This just screams out 1. our church has a lot of money, 2. Our church is hip and cool, 3. this is a place that you need to dump out all your problems and join in our calm and collected atmosphere where your problems dissolve before you worship a Holy God. I don't know about you but I have problems and I don't want to check them at the door and pretend I have none when I go to church, I also want to see my church give sacrificially and not spend money on singing rocks. However marketing begins in the parking lot but it doesn't stop there.

What does the church look like when you enter in? There is an informational booth right? With all types of pamphlets and cool slick graphics on the ministries of the church that you can be involved in and accepted there. You might also see some cool and trendy graphics or posters on the current sermon series that just happens to be the name of a TV show that was popular half a decade ago - what is this marketing taking place here? What are you being told to think? First when you see an information booth you are being told to think I have to be involved to be accepted - which in itself is not bad, but what about if you were just told because I'm here I'm accepted? The information booth almost resembles one of those old "visitor centers" that states uses to have, or a hotel lobby in which you can see the answer to the question of "what is there to do here?". I thought this was a church right? Maybe it should be written we're here to worship God not to have ministries that make US feel accepted. Just from entering the door I see that this church is marketing to me so they must be concerned with my feelings and opinions and acceptance. The Gospel after all is about us right? More on that later. What about this sermon series on an antiquated TV Show that is on late night reruns now? Wasn't that a show that I wasn't particularity fond of my children watching? What does that have to do with the gospel? What does that have to do with what Jesus has said. Right there maybe you're being marketed to because you may say "I loved that show, I'll love to hear this pastor speak"; whichever response that you have, My question is since when has the gospel been popular? Since when has someone telling you that you are a sinner and there is nothing that you can do to pull yourself out of rebellion to God been something that you market, apparently it is now.

Next we step into the Sanctuary/Worship Center/Throne Room/Auditorium/High School Cafeteria/Movie Theatre. What do you see when you walk in? Are there comfortable seats that are cushy and comfortable? Are there MORE slick graphics on banners hanging down? Are there lights and a sound board that resemble that of a U2 Concert? What about the stage? Is there an organ that cost more than you'll make in a lifetime? Are there more guitars, mikes, and keyboards then you see when you walk in guitar center? What does all this mean? Here's a hint its more marketing that has causes a serious problem. Oh you need a squishy seat so you're comfortable for the 15 minute sermon? - here you go; oh you’re not comfortable with everyone seeing you worship? here are some lights that are on the stage so you are in the dark during the music portion so no one will think bad of you if you raise your hands, we want you to be comfortable doing so; oh you like the pipe organ? - we have the best one in the state so you're comfortable listening to its gorgeous sounds; or oh you love the band sound? - we have the best equipment and band around - come see, it will make you comfortable as you worship. Is the church a dying person and we're just trying to make her comfortable as possible why she dies? Another marketing ploy of the church to say that our comfort and preferences somehow matter. THE CHURCH IS NOT ABOUT US.

Lets skip now to the actual church service. I think back to a video that was made popular a few months ago called "Typical Sunday", have we marketed the church so much that we know what the service will look like every time we come in the door? There will be unapproachable pastors who will kindly tell us what’s going on in our lives who we couldn’t even talk to if we wanted to? Are there trendy music people who lead us to have some type of emotional experience that may or may not include God? Is there a video that makes us take a moment to think about how people in other countries are worse off than us so we need to give our Starbucks money for a day and forget about it the rest of the year?

So what is my point? The church is a market that is just as large as societies markets. It preaches the same gospel as society - It is all about our comfort & what others think about us. The only difference between the churches market is that instead of marketing to gain monetarily value, we market to gain numerical value of people that are "Christians".

Now what I described is not every church in America, there are some amazing churches that are preaching the gospel according to the bible and preaching a Gospel that is about the Glory of God and not ourselves, however they are becoming more and more rare.

Would you join me in praying for the church as well as refusing to be marketed? Humbly go to your ministers, ask them why they do what they do and how it ultimately points back to God, challenge them, let them know your concern is for the glory of God and not in attracting a certain marketed people into the church. My intention is not to ridicule any specific church, or any church culture, but yet to point into the realities that we as a church society are becoming one with secular society, only using Christian lingo to separate us.

Good Books on Worship

Having been involved in leading worship in some form of ministry for the past ten years, I have met a lot of people that are in different places in ministry now. Often I will get an email, facebook message, or text from these people all asking a similar question of a recommendation on a good worship book. Many times the recommendation is for a student that feels called to be a worship leader, but sometimes its just for personal use. Naturally the first book that we have on worship is the bible; containing examples of worship songs, and how people have worshiped God throughout time. The Bible is always a good place to start and to end up when reading about worship.

However throughout my time in school and leading worship I have collected a few favorites worship books that I would like to share with you if you're curious on what good books have been written on worship.

Matt Redman - The Unquenchable Worshipper: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship

Matt Redman has been a leader in the worship movement for the past ten years writing songs such as Better Is One Day, Blessed Be Your Name, You Never Let Go, and The Heart of Worship. This book is a perfect book to get for the youth that feels called to Worship/Music Ministry because of its readability and great insights.







Matt Redman - Facedown

This is also a great book to get for a youth that is called to Worship/Music Ministry as well as a great read for anyone who has lost the "facedown" fear that we should have of the Lord.







Gordon Borror - Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel

Dr. Borror was one of my main professors at SWBTS. His insight is priceless. Having lived a life of leading worship for over 60 years the wisdom that this book displays is amazing.






Bob Kauflin - Worship Matters

As one of the leading Reformed Worship Leaders and founder of Sovereign Grace Music, anything Bob Kauflin writes or says, you need to listen to it. Including this book.








Robert Webber - Worship Is A Verb

Robert Webber is one of the most well-known worship pioneers of our day. His writing has a learning curve to it and is not for the beginner; however it is worth taking the time to ponder upon and understand.










Robert Webber - Worship Old And New

Robert Webber in this book speaks of Historic Worship and its transition to Today's worship and what they have in common and how they are different. This book is for the person who wants to go a little deeper in understanding worship.





Segler/Bradley - Understanding, Preparing For, and Practicing Christian Worship

For the Person who is called to the ministry. I cannot tell you how many times I have pulled this book out for help in funeral orders, wedding orders, and just general day to day items that come up for the Music Minister.



Bradley - From Postlude to Prelude

What does a Music Minister do the other 6 days of the week? This will help you grasp a vision of that.





Herbert Bateman - Authentic Worship

Having had Dr. Bateman as a professor at SWBTS I know that he has forgotten more than I will ever learn. His book on worship is a must read for those who are looking to go deeper.






Segler/Bradley - Christian Worship

Eskew/McElrath - Sing With Understanding

Have you ever wondered where the songs come from that we sing each week. What is the history of how worship music evolved to what it is today? This book will help you learn that.






Music/Price - A Survey of Christian Hymnody

Beale - We Become What We Worship

One of the newest books that I have read. Not particularly a music worship book, but a great book in understanding Christian Worship.







Best - Unceasing Worship

Harold Best hits the mark with this book. It is a must read if you want to understand humanities necessity to worship.








I hope that hopefully this book list will help someone. If you have any to add that I missed feel free to leave a comment with it included.

Life and Death

Life and Death

This weekend has been interesting for me. The first part of the weekend I spent it by learning of the miracle of life. A child being born is truly one of the greatest miracles that everyone of us experiences (because we were all born). It is amazing to know that everything turns out just how it is meant to turn out while growing from a microscopic sperm and egg into a fully developed baby nine months later. The later part of my weekend, however, has been quite the opposite, filled with attending and planning funerals at the church that I work at for those who have died in the past week.

Eight months ago almost to the day we found out that Natalie was pregnant. It was such a shock and something that we were not expecting. A new life was beginning inside of Natalie and it was something that we were not ready for, nor was it something that we thought we could handle at the time, but God is gracious. When I went to my pastor to share my fears with him and sort of voice out my doubting my ability to be ready to be a father or to lead a family, he comforted me by reminding what I already knew that God is the giver and taker of life, and He had chosen to give us this baby even though we, as a young married couple, didn’t think we could handle it, He was entrusting this child and life in our hands so that He could receive the ultimate glory of how we reacted in raising our child and how our child reacted with the life that it was given.

Five months ago I experienced the first death of a person that I had been close to my entire life, my grandmother. It was not such a shock that my grandmother died because her health was fading quickly, but it was something that we were not expecting to happen as soon as it did. There was a life that had begun probably with shock as our daughters did inside of Natalie, it was a life that probably her parents were not ready for or might have been more than they could handle at the time. But God gave my grandmother her life and had a plan for her. God chose to give her life just as He chose to take it away at the very moment that he did.

Life and death are both joyous and stressful. A new life is stressful when we think we are not ready for it or don’t know how to provide for it; it is joyous because when you see the life that God has entrusted you with there is a joy in knowing that is your child. Death is stressful because it is a loss of someone that we are comfortable in having in our lives and someone that has quite possibly been there as long as we can remember; death is joyous because we realize that whatever a person prized the most on earth they will spend eternity worshiping that very thing. For my grandmother, the thing that she prized the most on this Earth was God and bringing God glory through her life. I know that she will spend eternity worshiping God and enjoying Him forever.

I realize that my life, my wife’s life, and my soon to be daughters life are all a gift that can be taken in an instant. I hope that in my life, my wife’s life, and my daughter’s life that it is evident that the thing I prize the most is worshiping the one who has given all to me.

Life is temporary and Death is approaching.

Does God Love Failures?

I am a failure. Do you ever feel like that? I try and I try, and then I try again to live a life that is fully and totally good, then I realize that I have failed once again. Another day, another sin, another wasted opportunity to make a choice was right and I failed. This leads me to wonder does God love failures?

For a person to be a failure there must be a standard. There must be a level that is considered perfection or either to be the right way for one to choose a wrong way. If there were no right or wrong then one would never be a failure, right? So who makes right and wrong? Who determined the standard? I would argue and insist that God is the one who has made the standard or right and wrong since the beginning of Creation as evidenced in the bible. If you would argue against that just take a look at the most well known and simplistic orders of the law which are the ten commandments. We could all agree that it is wrong to murder, to cheat on your spouse, to steal, or to lust after your neighbors wife or possessions right? Why is that wrong? I would argue it is because it is God's law and He is the author of right and wrong; He set the standard of How a person should live.

But what if we fail? What if we all fail? What if we see the new house of our neighbor, or the new car of our friend, and we lust after it? What if we stole a pencil as a child because it was cooler then the one we had? What if we thought about killing someone and wished they were dead out of anger? Have we fallen below the standard that God set? Yes, I think we have. So there is no hope for any of us right? We are all failures! Does God love the failures?

What's more God even knows we are failures (Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"). Would God love someone who He KNOWS is a failure? God is Creator and we as His creation are failures. God knows we are failures, and through anact of selfless love made a plan of redemption through the person of Jesus Christ, who was fully man and fully God, sent to Earth to die.

Jesus came to Earth and lived a life that was perfect. He lived up to the standard and was actually not a Failure. He was the only person who actually deserved to live forever; instead He died. God's word puts it better then I ever could :

( 1 Peter 2 - He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.)

Jesus lived a perfect life but yet He suffered on a Cross a gruesome death, dying for the sins that we commit today. We are all failures and have fallen short of the standard of living a perfect life. None of us are perfect, but Jesus came and made a way for us to have a perfect life that gives us life that lasts long after the life on this Earth.

Eternal life that sounds tempting and almost a little ridiculous at the same time right? I mean it sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie or almost to much of a stretch right? Really, who would believe this nonsense? I admit when compared with the truth of the world it sounds like a stretch and really simple - but if you take a step back and think about it, where did we come from? Is there a higher power or God? There has to be! There has to be something greater than we just appeared here or earth or chance. When you see how a baby is born, or when you see a sunset, or when you see spring flowers, this is not by chance; there has to be more.

Obviously at some point or time we have all felt like a failure - we all realize that there must be a standard of what is right and wrong or otherwise to one person murder would be fine and to another it would be wrong. There must be a standard. So if there is a God and We are Fallen and there is redemption How do we receive life that lasts forever?

This is the hard part, we must surrender everything and follow Him. We are a slave in life on earth: We are either slaves to sin and a life that never brings true pleasure but leads to hurt; or we are slaves to Christ in which we put aside everything that we think might bring us pleasure and we seek to live a life that Honors God. We're still failures, we still fail, but when we live a life of "following God" where we Love God and Others above ourselves; we have eternal life. We are forgiven of our sins by fully surrendering to live a life of following Christ.

Does God love failures? Absolutely. God loves failures so much that He has given His Creation Redemption from our failures.

If this post is confusing or you want to know more feel free to comment or email me with any questions you have.

Jonathan

Who Is In Control of Tragedy?

Who Is In Control of Tragedy?

Last Thursday when I made the drive from Fort Worth to Midlothian it was a beautiful day. After a few days of rain there were actually some blue skies. That quickly changed after lunch when Nathan and I noticed that the clouds were really dark. It wasn’t long after returning from lunch that someone notified us that there was a tornado coming toward the church and we needed to take shelter. Being wise in our old age, our first notion was to go outside and watch the tornado. Even though the tornado was not massive or causing severe damage, apart from movies I have never seen something capable of causing damage that close. I was amazed at how calm and blue the skies were behind the storm but yet there was a wall of about 75% of the sky that was black, it was eerily scary. It was a small storm that could have been disastrous had the tornado touched down a small distance in any direction other than it did.

Two weeks ago one of the first friends that I made when I moved to the Fort Worth area was killed in a car wreck. He had a summer job at Christian summer camp in south Texas and was headed there after a relaxing weekend back home. It was a beautiful day with blue skies so he had taken the top of his Jeep while riding down back roads when for some reason or another he lost control and his jeep flipped and he was killed. There were no dark clouds, no tornados, no signs of any danger in the air, yet His life was taken. It was a beautiful day that could have been a great day but yet tragedy occurred.

Who decides when tragedy will occur? It is obvious that we have no control over whether tragedy will occur when a tornado appears or when we take a drive down a country road on a beautiful day. We are not in charge of what tomorrow will bring, God is. Why then is it that we try to micromanage what tomorrow brings while forgetting where we are and what we are doing today? I know I am guilty of this. Focus on where you are today, and how in this very moment every fiber of your body can scream out “JESUS IS LORD!”.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

James 4:13-14

What Stability Is There Apart From Christ?

What Stability Is There Apart From Christ

Life is chaotic. If you really sit and think about it, our lives are oxymorons many times. We say we want stability or some sense of consistency when the truth is we have no control over anything. In fact the truth is, if life was a board game we don’t even get to make the moves, we’re just dependent upon the one who does. Why is it then we are always battling and fighting for some type of imaginary comfort? Maybe you don’t, but I can so easily fall into the trap of desiring a life that is comfortable, where I have all the steps and processes figured out. When the reality is we can’t plan for anything because we have no idea what the future holds.


I’ve been reminded this week how chaotic life is. If you’ve watched the news maybe you have too. Tornados throughout Mississippi which radically changed lives for many people, an oil spill in the Gulf which will radically change the economy and industry of many people’s lives who were dependent upon the seafood industry, an immigration law in Arizona which has causes riots and protests that are unlike anything I have seen in America in my lifetime, and most recently record flooding throughout the entire Nashville area that has altered and taken away thousands of people’s homes. Just this week all of these events have altered millions of people’s lives in some form or fashion. Do you not think that they had a plan? Do you not think they desired comfort and stability? I’m sure that the devastation of their homes or industries was not included in their plan of comfort and stability.


Isn’t it ironic that we can see daily that we have no control over what tomorrow brings but yet we still try to live like we do? I will admit I am one of the worst people about worrying about what tomorrow holds, especially recently. But what good is it to worry? I have no control over what the future holds one way or the other, and if I really sit and think about it, I’m glad I don’t. It seems every time I try to impose my plan upon my life everything gets worse real quick, but when I become fully reliant and submissive to God’s plan for my life, it turns out perfect. Do you struggle with the desire for comfort and stability? Do not be fooled, comfort and stability are a myth that many people lost this past week. Life is chaotic, the only comfort and consistent stability is God and His Love.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Matthew 6:25-27

Where Are All The Sinners At?

Where Are All The Sinners At?

I love people. I love people of all different ages, races, backgrounds, statuses, and locations. I love to talk to people, to get to know where they are from, how they grew up, what interests them, and what they are good at. Living in such a huge metroplex such as DFW I cross paths with thousands of people everyday whom each have a story, interests, and have something unique that they are good at – now it just so happens in our society these people are hidden in the shelter of a car and I never have opportunity to talk to them or to get to know them because we are crossing each others paths so rapidly on the road. But just think about it, how many interesting people I could have passed on the highway and never known about it because I was traveling in such a hurry, I could have passed famous pastors, pro athletes, political figures, or famous singers, I will never know.

Now think about how many people one passes in a typical trip to all of our favorite supercenter, Wal-mart. The lines are so long that more times than not you spend more time in line than you do in actually gathering the items that you purchase. I know this never happens to any of you, but for me this usually leads to impatience and grumpiness of there are not more lines open so Wal-mart can take my money quicker.

This past Sunday my pastor used a phrase that he often does describing our church as place that is not a hotel for Saints but rather a hospital for sinners – I’m not sure if I heard much of the service past that point because I begin to really ponder and become convicted on how as a follower and imitator of Christ I don’t know any sinner’s that are not Saints. If I truly desire to be a follower and imitator of Christ then I would want to be describes as He was as a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Mt. 11:19; Mk. 2:15-17). I honestly in the past three years have lost all contact and friendship with anyone who is not a Saint. It was easy because I go to school at a seminary with fellow ministers, I live in an apartment complex at the seminary with fellow ministers, and I work at a church where all of the members are proclaiming followers of Christ. So where are all the sinners?

I often wonder why our churches do not experience much growth through conversions but yet only through the transfer of membership. If everyone has fallen in the same trap that I have fallen in then there is my answer. We must know sinners in order for them to be exposed to the gospel.

So here is my new commitment: While at the grocery store or in wal-mart instead of grumbling about the long line or the lack of lines open, I will take the opportunity to get to know the person in front of me and behind me. I will find out their interests, where they work, what they enjoy, and whether or not they know the Savior. I may not get to find all of that out nine out of ten times, but my commitment is I will get to know sinners and befriend them.

Maybe you have fallen in the same trap that I have where all of you friends and people that you spend time with are all fellow saints? It is not bad to be around fellow Christians – in fact we should be – but we should also as imitators of Christ be associated and friends with sinners. We don’t become friends with sinners just for the purpose of sharing the gospel with them but because God has commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves regardless of whether they accept the gospel or not.

So...Let's befriend some sinner's who aren't saints.

And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Mark 2:15-17

Jonathan

The Definition of Worship

A Book Summary

Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel

Part 1: The Definition of Worship

One of the most influential books that I have read in the past year is Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel written by Dr. Gordon Borror. Dr. Borror is the current chair of the music ministry and worship department at Southwestern and has a unique perspective and understanding of ministry having watched the churches progression over his fifty-two years in ministry and education. I hope that you enjoy this summary that will occur over the next four weeks.

When I say the word “worship”, what is your reaction? Is it that is what occurs on Sunday morning at 10:45? Or it may draw your memory to recollect a certain church building you grew up in. Or you may picture robed priests with incense and candles? Or maybe you think of a room surrounded with candles led by an acoustic guitar? Or you may remember a tent on a humid afternoon singing revival hymns. We all have imagery that is associated with a nostalgic time of worship where the presence of God touched us in a real way and demanded a response – either at that very moment or in some habits that we needed to rectify. “What, then, is worship? Worship is an active response to God whereby we declare His worth”

Why worship God? When we worship God we receive and have opportunity to respond in fulfilling our purpose in life. “Worship is about God, and worship is what God desires from us.” God is actively seeking true worshipers. So what is true worship? Worship is revelation and response. In today’s church we have strong expository preaching and as a result the church has become great at hearing the word. However many times we forget to respond. Worship is not just hearing but it is doing the word. Do not just Hear the Word & Receive but also let’s Do the Word & Respond. Worship means to respond to God. If we fail to respond, worship has probably not occurred. Consider Isaiah 6; throughout this passage the prophet receives revelation and responds until ultimately the Lord reveals His plan and a need for a messenger with the prophet responding “Here I am, Send Me”. Our response may not be exactly that as the prophet’s was in Isaiah, it might look like a change in lifestyle, repentance of a certain sin, or a change in perspective; regardless of what it looks like, there must be a response.

A response that I have been mindful of lately is intentional fellowship. I’ve said it before, but the honest truth is on the outside I don’t have much in common with a majority of the people in the church I attend. That is the way it should be – a Church is a unique group of people that are only assembled because they have ONE Unifying factor, which is “Jesus is Lord”. If this is the case and the church believe this, then why is it that often when the church gathers for fellowship the only talk that occurs is about the weather or other types of “filler” conversations? If Christ is truly the only unifying factor, why does the church not talk about what He is doing in our lives and how He is growing us?

A few weeks ago on a Sunday Morning I was reminded how important it is that we have intentional fellowship and share one another burdens by an older man in my church. I had just returned from a whirlwind trip to Mississippi in which I had seen my grandmother alive, seen her die, and led out in her funeral, I was loaded with emotions and just desired for the Sunday to be over quickly. An older man came to me hugged me and truthfully told me he cared for me, loved me, and was praying for me. He didn’t have to go out of his way to do that, he didn’t have to open up my emotions, but he did. He could have taken the easy road and come to church and left church. Why would he take time to share my burdens? He did this because he is a servant & worshipper. How do we worship God day in and day out? Through responding by Loving God and loving others.

Love = Service = Worship.

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Source: Borror, Gordon, and Ronald Allen Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel.

Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1982

Who Determines Right & Wrong?

Let me first preface this article with saying I think that it is important as Christians that we be knowledgeable of the non-Christian agenda in the world today. We must know who the people are that we are trying to reach before we can ever reach them. Not that we ever lower the standards of a life that Glorify's God for the sake of being relevant, but at some point and time we have to go where to where the lost are for the sake that some may come to faith and Christ can pull them out of the bondage to sin in which they are enslaved.

With that being said I want to throw a new word out for you that most of you may not be familiar with: "Open-Marriage". This is a word that I was not familiar with until recently. An Open-Marriage can be defined as a marriage in which the partners agree that each may engage in extramarital sexual relationships, without this being regarded as infidelity. You may say, "THAT'S CRAZY!" like I did when I first heard of this arrangement but the fact of the matter is these types of "agreements" are on the rise.

The hope/reasoning in the "open-marriage" agreement is that a large portion of marriages fail because of the lying and distrust that goes along with being unfaithful sexually in the marriage. Therefore if we just accept that we can be with other sexual partners and don't have to lie about it then at least our marriage will last and not be filled with lies and distrust.

The first time that I heard about an "open-marriage" agreement was actually at a church - Fellowship Church in Dallas. Last September there was a filming of a Nightline Debate "Are We Born To Cheat". One of the panelist had found the answer through an open marriage agreement. The second time I have heard about this agreement was through an article on CNN where a lady was being proposed to join an open-marriage agreement. The lady did inevitably turn the agreement down but I just want to throw out some quotes from her rationality of whether or not to participate in this type of relationship:

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"Telling the truth shows your partner respect, as does following agreed upon rules -- for example, keeping your partner in the loop as to where you have been and who you have been with."

"The goal of an open marriage is to never have to lie -- to create an environment where you can be open about anything.."

"Basically, the thought is that if you truly love your partner, you want them to live their fullest life -- flings and all. Flings are simply superficial sensory delights. There's no difference between your partner enjoying a pizza with anchovies without you and your partner enjoying a blonde with blue eyes without you."

"In a good open marriage, you are simply creating a buffet of sexual experiences, so nobody feels like they are starving for new sensations. This honesty enables couples to avoid the emotional downward spiral of hidden affairs because the need for secrecy is removed."

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This is where the world is in it's rational. This is a generation who has grown up in broken homes and seen how their parents marriages didn't work and now are striving for answers to how to just make a marriage work. This is a world who has turned to the movie theater to define "love".

True biblical love is a verb. It requires action through the form of service and selflessness. The only way that we can understand how a marriage is to work is through looking at God's relationship with us. God has taken us - sinful and dirty - and made us His Sons and Daughters. If God could do that for imperfect you and I then we love our spouse in-spite of our imperfections.

Who Determines Right and Wrong? God.

How will they know if we don't tell them? Better yet how will they know if we don't show them? The world is not looking to the church for answers today - why would they? Our divorce rate is as high if not higher than the world around us. Everyday you hear of leaders in the church who have fallen to sexual temptation and their marriage is in shambles - Why would the world listen to the church if we can't live what we believe? There is a far deeper problem in the church today in the lack of intimacy that we have with the Father.

Look at how God has loved you, sinful and unclean - and love others, including your spouse in the way that God first loved you.

The Proper Perspective

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus Ephesians 2:4-6

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” Rev 14:13

In life we all have certain perceptions and perspectives. Prior to two weeks ago I had a certain perception of death but I had no perspective on it because I had not experienced that as a reality with anyone really close to me. When you experience death, the true absence of never having the opportunity to see a person again this side of heaven, it changes your perspective.

When I left Dallas a few Sundays ago I knew that my grandmother was ill but I did not fully encompass the fact that she was near death till I got to speak to her on Sunday Night. My grandmother was not only a strong believer but she lived what she believed – a rarity in life. She was truly the most selfless person I have ever met, a woman who fed, clothed, and loved total strangers, she didn’t just talk about the gospel or sing about it, or read about it, she lived it. Even as my grandmother was preparing for death she wanted us to read her scripture and sing her songs of the faith that was not just a story or past time to her but was her life. It was because of my grandmother being a Godly Christian Mother and Example that I was able to have a mother who was a Godly Christian Example so that I can be a father who sets Godly Christian Example one day.

As we finished the funeral on Thursday I can truly say that my perspective on life was changed through death. My grandmother was not a very financially wealthy person, she didn’t have many awards or accomplishments, she never went to college and never had a long successful career, but at her time of death one can only hope to impact as many people as she did for the kingdom. Testimony after testimony at her memorial service told of how she had utilized every breath to point back to the one who had given it to her.

Thus my perception of death has changed and impacted my perception of life. The questions that I have asked myself the past week I will ask of you; What are you doing with your time here on earth? Is it wasted or are you using every second that you are given to make a difference in the eternity of those around you? I know I waste a lot of time doing things that are meaningless and do not place enough time in doing the things that are eternal. My perception of my life has changed through a new perception of death – my life is not my own but is given to me to be first and foremost worship God and to second point others to know God.Maybe you can evaluate your own life today as well and ponder upon how your life can better fulfill these purposes.

You should be the praise of every tongue, Jesus

You should be the joy of every heart

But until the fullness of Your kingdom comes

Until the final revelation dawns

Send us out

-Matt Redman-