by Emily Howsden | Jul 1, 2019
As the Fourth of July nears, something on my mind lately is the confusion of worshiping one’s country vs. worshiping the God of the universe who has given us true freedom from our sins.
I’m not here to say that we can’t be a patriot. We can be patriotic, as we respect our veterans and be thankful for earthly freedom. In fact, I myself am from a long line of veterans, and I am extremely proud of their sacrifice and the freedoms for which they fought. I would consider myself pretty patriotic.
I am here, however, to ask that we take a look into our hearts. Are we unwittingly worshiping our country more than openly worshiping our Lord and Savior?
In every Baptist church I’ve ever attended, the Fourth of July service is a bit of a production. The military songs are sung; there is recognition of veterans, and many patriotic songs are sung. However, something that I’ve noticed in my adulthood and found issue with is the outright worship of one’s country in such services.
For example, think about the song, “God Bless America.” It is not really a worship song.
The first two commandments of the 10 commandments say, “(1)You shall have no other gods before me, (2)You shall not make yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or In the waters below.” (NIV)
I’m not here to say that I haven’t ever had an earthy idol that has caused me to break either of these commandments. Admittedly, I’ve put things before the Lord in my sinful nature.
What I’m asking you is, have we mistakenly made our country your No. 1 God? Have we therefore made our country an idol?
In your loyalty to country, have you forgotten that Jesus calls us to be a friend to the widow, the orphan, the oppressed?
I want you to read this passage of Scripture closely,
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Now read the rest of the passage carefully…
“You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name. He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome wonders your eyes have seen” (Deut. 10:17-21).
What I’m challenging you to do today and this Fourth of July, O patriot, is to examine the nature and zeal in which you celebrate and serve our country vs. the nature and zeal in which you celebrate and serve our God?
Please hear me out. I’m not saying we can’t be patriotic, or to be patriotic is a sin. What I’m saying is, where do your priorities and passions lie?
Do you pledge your allegiance to your country and flag, or as a believer in Christ do you pledge your allegiance, above anything else, to the Creator of the seas and the skies and all of his commands?
by Ryan Smith | Jun 27, 2019
“In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All
things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was
made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4).
It is difficult
to imagine a more sweeping exaltation of anyone than John’s opening words
describing Jesus. Packed concisely in a matter of sentences, John displays Christ’s
infinitude, His omniscience, His power and His transcendence.
John’s point is
clear: There is no one like Jesus in knowledge, authority, power or prominence.
When we think of a
religious teacher, we may think of a guru at the top of a mountain to whom
followers trek through dangerous conditions to hear a piece of sage wisdom. We
may think of a charismatic prophet, holding an audience in the palm of their
hand as they declare, instruct and command. We are captivated by those from
whom wisdom flows like a stream to parched sojourners, looking for answers.
Jesus was
undoubtedly full of wisdom and truth. He held the captivated attention of
thousands as He preached. Many came and found great refreshment at the
ever-flowing fountain of knowledge and revelation that Jesus provided. Indeed, John’s
picture of Jesus requires us to concur with Peter as he exclaimed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life” (John 6:68-69).
Yet even here, we
find a peculiarity about Jesus. Peter spoke these words in response, not to a
command from Jesus, but a question.
Why would Jesus—the
One who knows every thought and word before it is uttered—ever ask a question?
What is amazing
about Jesus is that He asked many questions. In fact, questions were His
preferred method of interaction. The very first words of Jesus in the book of
John are indeed a simple question in response to two men who were following
Him:
“What are you seeking?”
Jesus asked over
100 questions in the Gospels. Consider these:
Why do you worry about clothes? (Matt. 6:28)
Why are you so afraid? (Matt. 8:26)
Do you believe that I am able to do this?
(Matt. 9:28)
Why did you doubt? (Matt. 14:31)
Who do people say the Son of Man is? Who do
you say I am? (Matt. 16:13, 15)
Why do you ask me about what is good? (Matt.
19:17)
What is it that you want? (Matt. 20:21)
Those are just a few
of the more than 40 questions that Jesus asked in the Book of Matthew alone.
This phenomenon leads us to understand something about Jesus. While Jesus has
every authority and answer, interacting with Jesus is not a one-sided monologue—often
the Christian life is one of questions.
There are many
times I am tempted to think of Jesus as a disengaged teacher or a genie in a
lamp. I go to Him when I have a question or need. Rarely, however, do I think
of Jesus asking me a question. Yet in the Scriptures, people seeking a sign or
a word from Jesus often received something unexpected—a conversation of
introspection.
I often want
exclamation points from God. I want big, bold, fast and awe-inspiring.
Yet I need to
remember, more often than not, Jesus interacts with His followers through
question marks.
Why? Because
questions provide answers that answers alone cannot. Questions cause us to open
parts of ourselves we would prefer to remain hidden. Questions expose our
motives and require our time, attention and thought.
If we come to a
season of confusion or doubt in which we look to the heavens and all we see are
question marks, this should not lead us to conclude God is distant or
disinterested. Instead, He may be engaging with us to walk down a road outside
of our own knowledge and comfort.
He may be asking
a question that will take us deeper than an answer ever could.
It is in these
times we cling to God’s Word and remember the surety of the Gospel.
Like Peter, we
come to Jesus proclaiming the He alone has the words of life. Yet we must be
content—even glad—when those words end in a question mark.
by Caleb Moore | Jun 26, 2019
Okay, so you probably clicked on this title expecting me to
say something crazy. Just to let you know upfront, the title is total clickbait.
“Clickbait” is a term created for crazy headlines that are
so dramatic or crazy that you find yourself clicking on it just to see if it
can promise what the title claims. There are some very common titles used for
this. Lines like, “What happens next will surprise you.” Or “This one food
could save your life.” One study showed that almost 20 percent of headlines are
click bait.
This type of hyped branding works on some of our most basic
instincts. We want to be shocked and moved out of our routine, and we are fans
of certain types of drama.
Men and women respond very differently to click bait. Men
are more likely to watch someone get hurt in a comedic or even serious way
while women are more interested in fitness and food trends.
Oxford Dictionary defines clickbait as “content whose main
purpose is to attract attention to a particular website.
This means that the goal of these types of titles is not to
actually educate you on the topic promised but to simply increase the amount of
traffic to their site. The more traffic they have, the more money they make
from advertisers.
In order to compete with each other, websites have had to
create more and more outrageous titles. I once saw one that said, “Man tries to
hug a wild lion, you won’t believe what happens next!”
The popularity of clickbait titles tells us that we
currently value entertainment more than content. It’s not as though nobody
knows the intention these titles; most of you can automatically tell what is
and what isn’t clickbait.
Yet, we still slide our mouse over the title and press the
button. We have become so entertainment driven and so used to things being
devoid of good solid content that it has found its way into the church.
I know it’s possible because I have seen it happen. A pastor
creates a sermon series with a crazy title and then delivers content that could
just as easily be found in a self-help book. There may be a Bible verse
scattered here and there, but the main result isn’t godliness; it’s people being
entertained by music and funny stories for an hour.
I have nothing against self-help speakers, well-crafted
music or catchy titles, but I do think we suffer from a lack of solid biblical
content in many churches.
The upcoming generation of believers is going to need more
than catchy slogans. They will need to be able to articulate their beliefs in
schools and universities that are hostile to Christianity. They will need to be
able to contrast their beliefs against other faiths to show the truthfulness of
Christianity.
All of this can be accomplished simply by teaching biblical
truths at a deeper level. We must help the next generation understand Scripture
in a fuller way than we currently do, or we will be enticed by clickbait
churches who are more about entertainment than truth.
by Emily Howsden | Jun 24, 2019
Chances are, if you’ve walked into most any church, you’ve seen several volunteers almost immediately. Whether it is a greeter, a nursery worker, someone who sets up the coffee bar on sundays, volunteers are everywhere.
To the nursery workers, thank you. Week in and week out when I drop my son off for the church service, the same precious women take care of him while I get to listen to the sermon uninterrupted.
A simple thank you seems inadequate, as I admittedly don’t drop my child off with just anyone. But these women, and on occasion men, put my mind at ease when I pick my child up and he has been cared for and, 9 times out of 10, is peacefully sleeping. Thank you!
To the volunteer children’s workers, thank you. Thank you for listening to little ones recite Scripture that they will hide in their hearts for many years to come. Some of my favorite memories as a young child in church came at the hands of precious volunteers that loved me and made me feel important, and most importantly, taught me about Jesus.
Children can be really hard to be around at times, and they test your patience more than you might expect, but the work that you are doing when you volunteer in children’s ministry is work that is pointing little hearts and minds towards the Kingdom of Heaven. Thank you!
To the youth workers, thank you. Thank you for taking vacation time from your job to go to camp for a week, sleep in an uncomfortable bunk—if you get any sleep at all that is—and spend time out in the heat, playing funny games and making a fool of yourself. Summertime can be hard for parents when it comes to finding meaningful activities for their students. I know it means a lot to have someone willing to go and love your children and take care of your children while they are away at camp.
Every Wednesday night at a church youth group, there are
inevitably a group of volunteers serving snacks, ready to talk to a student who
might be struggling and need someone to listen to them, and most importantly,
point those students to Jesus. Your hard work and dedication doesn’t go
unnoticed, you are helping raise the next generation of churches across the
world. Thank you!
To the volunteers who stay long after everyone else has gone home, whether that is helping clean the church, preparing food for an event, or organizing outreach events to show love to the lost and broken world, thank you.
A lot of added stress go into planning every church event. That is just the nature of event planning, but because of you, a family might feel loved and accepted for the first time. Because of you, someone may hear about Jesus for the first time. The added stress and loss of sleep pale in comparison when you count the cost of others learning that they are loved by Jesus Christ.
To every other volunteer not mentioned in any above scenario, thank you. As our interim pastor yesterday mentioned in his sermon, the church exists for two reasons: To tell the lost and broken world about the hope in Jesus, and to make disciples.
Every act of volunteering helps accomplish one of those two goals.
If you haven’t volunteered in your church, or any church recently, I would strongly urge you to take a look at your own heart and ask yourself why it is you’re coming to church, to serve or be served? I guarantee you, there are plenty of opportunities at your church. Step in and go help others learn about the Lord.
I should caution you, though. When volunteering at your church, there is a high possibility that you’ll have fun. Brace yourselves!
by Emily Howsden | Jun 17, 2019
What does a dad look like to you? To me, a dad is someone I can always trust, depend upon in good and bad times, someone who cares for me/their children more than themselves, would do anything to help someone… the list goes on.
This idea of a dad was modeled for me best in my own dad. My dad is the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off of his own back. He is the hardest working and most honest person I know. He is also goofy! When it comes to making anyone laugh, he has no shame!
My dad is also my, and all five of my siblings’, biggest fan. No matter the activity, he is guaranteed to be there, and will absolutely tell everyone near him that he is our Dad. He is proud of us.
Thankfully, I can say these same things about my husband, who is daddy to our little Silas. From the get-go, Casey said he was going to be intentional about spending time with and nurturing his relationship with our son. And he has done just that, as Silas approaches his first birthday.
No task is beneath Casey, no diaper outside of his wheelhouse. He takes joy in nurturing and caring for our son. Every morning Casey gets Silas ready to go to his babysitter, drops him off and picks him up, due to our work schedules. Lately, he has said, “Getting Silas ready in the mornings has turned into quite the adventure.” And he’s not wrong. The little guy is busy!
One thing is sure about the love of a Dad, and the love that I see the Dads in my life exhibit: Nothing their children could ever do would stop them from loving them.
Their love as a Dad is unconditional. Children will disappoint Dads; it’s inevitable. But what doesn’t change is how they love them.
This type of Dad/child relationship is best modeled in the
relationship we have as children of God. Nothing we could ever do would change
his love for us. It is unfailing, never ceasing, and steadfast.
Have you ever done anything that makes you think, “Surely this time I’ve messed up so badly, He can’t forgive me, He won’t love me anymore”?
I’m here to tell you that I’ve thought that at times, but we have a good, gracious and loving heavenly Father. We are His children, whom He sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins. He made that big of a sacrifice, so that we could be joined up in heaven with Him one day.
Nothing you or I do can change His steadfast love. Surely, we will all do things that disappoint Him. We have to humble ourselves about our shortcomings, and admit to Him our sins, turn from evil and hide His Word in our heart.
When we do those things, we will run a race that our Father in
Heaven can proudly proclaim, that’s my son, that’s my daughter, in them I am
well pleased.
by Kim Arnold | Jun 5, 2019
“But while God wants us to worship Him, we cannot worship Him just any way we will. The One who made us to worship Him has decreed how we shall worship Him. He accepts only the worship that He Himself has decreed.”
A.W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship? A Call to True Worship, p. 133
God
has set forth in his Word how we are to worship him. Jesus told the Samaritan
woman what consists of true worship, in which he said, “Yet a time is coming
and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and
truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and
his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).
So
what does it mean to worship God in spirit in truth? Worshiping God in spirit
means engaging your heart in worship. If I worship God in spirit, I humble
myself before him and employ my affections in worship.
Worshiping
God in truth means engaging your mind in worship. When I worship God in truth,
I stand in accordance with the inerrancy of Scripture and believe that God is
everything He says He is in His Word. I do not reserve the right to worship
only the attributes of God that I find appealing. Worshiping in truth means
worshiping the God of the Old Testament, which is the same God in the New
Testament.
In
the worship model in Isaiah 6, we see that Isaiah describes his vision of God
governing His people from His throne. Throughout the reading of this chapter,
the overarching posture of worship from Isaiah is that of humility.
Isaiah
begins his understanding of true worship through God’s revelation to him, and
this revelation was completely different from anything Isaiah had ever
witnessed. Our God is powerful and omnipotent, and in the space of a second of
time, He revealed himself to Isaiah, rendering Isaiah dumbfounded in how to
express the glory of his Uncreated God.
Only
through the work of the Holy Spirit can we worship God the way He requires.
Tozer describes the worship cycle as, “Worship starts with God, pierces the
heart of man (through the Holy Spirit) and then returns to the God who started
it all. True worship maintains this divine cycle” (My Daily Pursuit:
Devotions for Every Day, p. 49).
Worshiping
God in spirit and truth also includes an important and often overlooked element
in worship, which is beauty. In society today, the term “beauty” is viewed as
subjective, meaning anyone can determine what is beautiful. If I say that a
garbage can overflowing with trash is beautiful, who are you to tell me that it
is not? Does this line of thinking sound familiar?
However,
God tells us what is beautiful in His Word, and then commands us to “think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).
When we read in Isaiah and Revelation about glimpses of worship around God’s
throne, God is surrounded with beauty. Rev. 4:2-4 says, “At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven
with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of
jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.”
We
do not determine what is beautiful. God sets the standard for beauty, which is
rooted in the very nature and character of who He is.
Our
responsibility comes in discerning what is truly beautiful, based on God’s
standards. His beauty resides above creation, whereas our definition of beauty is
diluted by sin. Humility is required to determine what is truly beautiful in
worship, and only through surrender of our conceptions and desires can we see
the beauty of God.
In
summation, to worship God in spirit and truth (which is the true definition of
authentic worship), worshipers must humble themselves before God, engage their
hearts and minds in worship and submit freely to God’s authority.
Tozer
said it best when he said, “I will say that when we adore God, all of the
beautiful ingredients of worship are brought to white, incandescent heat with
the fire of the Holy Spirit. To adore God means we love Him with all the powers
within us. We love Him with fear and wonder and yearning and awe” (Worship:
The Reason We Were Created, p. 93-94).
Oh,
that we would all make this the goal of our worship.
For further reading:
Worship in Song: A Biblical Philosophy of Music and Worship by Scott Aniol
“A Catechism on Judgment in Worship” by David de Bruyn