Gospel in the New Year.

It’s January 1st… but don’t worry, I’ll spare you all the New Year’s cliches and personal anecdotes. Much of how we celebrate the coming of a new year in our culture is rather odd. We count down the last minute like time isn’t really just some arbitrary way of measuring the repeating of events. We gather in homes, in bars, concert halls and even in the streets to “ring” in the new year like it won’t come if we don’t welcome it. What’s up with the toast thing anyway? Why do we clink our glasses and drink “to” the new year? What does all of this mean???

Sure, I may be cynical but all of this and more runs through my brain each year as I trudge off to yet another party to hang out way past my bed time to watch a ball drop in New York. (which by the way is an hour ahead of my time zone…so I miss it in real time)

Last night I starting thinking out loud. As we were cleaning up the cups and plates just 2 minutes after midnight, in the anti-climatic glow of 2009, I asked this question: “Why is the celebration of the New Year a big deal in almost every culture?” Because it is! Think about it. Every different form calendaring has an inherent New Year’s celebration. So when the people in the room heard me ask this seemingly outlandish question and responded in awe, I asked it another way. “What is it about a new year that is so captivating to human beings?”

Think about it. No matter one’s religious, political, or cultural slant…we are all enthralled with the celebration of a new start, a brand new year. There is something so mystical about the clock striking midnight on January 1st that we gather by the droves to celebrate together. Why?

Why would people cram themselves into time square to listen to the Jonas Brothers? Why would senior citizens, who go to bed every night at 9:30 on the dot, stay up until 12:01? What could possibly drive the entire world to lay aside work, responsibility and schedule to consider the beginning of a new year some sort of holiday? (holiday = holy + day)

And then it hit me… it’s the Gospel.

Though we are fallen and depraved humanity we still have within us this divine imprint because we were created in the image of God. Because of this, I believe we have innate longings and drives that even sin could only mar yet not remove. This fascination with a new year is only a fascination with the Gospel.

Everybody wants a chance to start over. People love to sit down, look back at the past year, all the mistakes and failures and look to the future with hope that it will get better. And even though it is just a chiming of bells in a clock, somehow we believe the one second that separates December and January can cleanse our sins.

The truth is, it can’t. We prove that each year as millions make “New Year’s resolutions” and within a few weeks millions break them just as easily because we are broken and cannot save ourselves.

People need the Gospel.

People long for it. They run from churches and run from the Holy Spirit and His convicting of sin. Though proud humanity brazenly rejects the Gospel in every “Christianized” form, their actions betray their hearts’ deepest need.

The human condition cries out for redemption. The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:19 that God has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation by which God appeals to people, through us, to be reconciled to Him.

May 2009 be a year where we love the Gospel…honor the Gospel….live the Gospel…and preach the Gospel. To do this we must first preach the Gospel to ourselves daily, repent of our own sins and live in the wonderful truth that God saves sinners, even us. With and only with this frame of mind will we begin to live on mission… loving God because of the Gospel, loving people towards the Gospel, and restoring our communities and cities with the Gospel.

Emerge or Resurrect

(Originally posted December 9th, 2006)

Whether or not someone believes that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, Savior, or coming King, their opinion does not negate the fact that He did what He said He would do. In Matthew 16 Jesus claimed that He would build a church. Not only did Jesus the Nazarene continue to have a small group of adherents even after His public killing, but almost 2000 years later, He is still the most famous human being to walk the earth with millions upon millions of followers. His name has rung and will continue to ring throughout the ages.

And Jesus declared that He would build a church. And He did. And this Church has stood the test of time. Yes, it has had its moments and “dark ages,” but the Church has stood strong in the face of religious wars, enlightenments, scientific theories and other foes that wished to rid the world of her name. The Church is truly that bethel of strength that Jesus claimed even the gates of Hades couldn’t overthrow.

In a general sense, the Church is alive and active, functioning in the purposes of God and inching closer everyday to that Day when her Head and Husband will come to gather and judge. But is this the case in a more specific sense as we look out upon the landscape of Christianity today where we live? For years now, there have been two extremes that have done more damage than good to the image of the Church.

One extreme is dead and dying. Dead in the sense of spiritual fervor; this extreme denies the power of the Holy Spirit by claiming He no longer distributes His gifts. Their ‘worship’ services have a rote script of stand up, sit down, sing in perfect structure, bow, bend, bore. This extreme is dying (probably better than worse) in the sense that many of those who hold to this school of though have grown old in year and therefore are hopefully going to a place much more exciting than where they left. Between losing numbers through death and losing numbers because of discontent many doors to many meeting places have been shutting.

The other extreme has made an oxymoron out of itself. It has come to be defined by jewelry, fancy suits, big, colored hair, and prosperity messages. These plate-passing prosperity pulpiters claim that their religion which was started by a homeless man, deemed a man of sorrows, and whose adherents claim the desire of total conformity to is now somehow about each Christian’s personal comfort and possessions. Accompanying these ideas are those that spirituality is measured by “the power” that you possess to work miracles, heal the sick, speak in a heavenly language or to be the mouthpiece of God Himself. There is an air of a hierarchy they have created in the election of Christ.

Although both of these camps can be labeled as “extremes,” many Christians have been effected by one or both of them and therefore have a bad taste in their spiritual mouths and resist anyone and anything that in the slightest way resembles either one. Amidst all this, almost out of nowhere is a call to reform. It has been labeled the “Emergent Church Movement” or “Emerging Church Movement” and for many has been another option to the headache that has been created in finding a place to corporately worship, find fellowship, sow financially, and grow in one’s walk with Christ. Though this movement has many different “denominations” in a movement that claims no denomination, those who are in this movement have at least one thing in common. They are looking for “new ways” to do church and to reach the unchurched.

I share in many frustrations of much of those who have positioned themselves with this movement. Useless traditions that were never the plans of Christ have become the centerpieces or our worship services and the “weightier issues” that Jesus warned the Pharisees of neglecting have become our stumbling blocks. Extremes have tainted the waters of pure and holy worship and left many jaded and anti-organized religion.

But for those of us who love Jesus with all our hearts, souls, and minds, we must be about His business. We must stay grounded in the Truth of the Scriptures. We must never neglect to speak unapologetically about the “lost” and not the unchurched; even in the face of offending someone. We must pray earnestly to God and ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to come and resurrect what seems lame and lifeless to so many: the body of Christ, His Church.

We cannot let our generation emerge into a message stemming deep from the its roots of postmodern thought rather than the Truth Jesus and His Prophets and apostles gave us in His Word. We must seek to save that which is lost while at the same time viewing ourselves in sober judgment; found only because of God’s grace. We must understand where we stand before a Holy God: depraved and not good, unworthy and hellbent, guilty and not innocent, incapable of becoming good or saving ourselves. It must be from this understanding that our missiology stems: here and only here.

So I pray, let the Church resurrect to her Glorious state prescribed by Jesus her maker and let those of us who desire this resurrection strive to honor our Lord Jesus Christ above all else. Let our hearts’ desire be a movement of purity, righteousness and peace. And may God receive all the Glory. Amen

Trying not to sound unpatriotic

(originally posted June 30th, 2007… and I stand by it today)

I want to do my best to not sound unpatriotic or like some left-wing liberal flag-burning anarchist…but at the same time I want you to know my heart. This week is the Fourth of July. Its a day that we take each year to celebrate the freedom that was found at the expense of the hundreds and thousands of lives sacrificed so that a dream could have a future.

This dream was freedom. This freedom was one that these same brave men and women laid their lives down knowing they would never see. But they held the hope that their sacrifice would be one that would benefit their children and children’s children for generations to come. And it has. And for that I am so grateful. Any and every idiot has studied the years and events that surround our nation’s freedom. We know that the pilgrams came to America to find religious freedom. We hear the stories of the patriots that dreamt of a government that would not regulate their worship and wouldn’t tell them what rote religious rituals to follow. Any and every idiot knows that.

Yeah, so if you have gone to college you have heard the reverse. You have heard some over educated person with letters after their last name tell you that all the founding fathers…yada yada yada… were deists and not Christians…blah blah blah… that they wanted religious freedom so there wouldn’t be any religion not freedom within Christianity… more blahs, more yadas. Both sides have their history books that tell their side, both have websites, periodicals, and even DVD’s that tell history from their perspective. Blah…blah…blah…yada…yada…yada.

That’s just the introduction.

What’s really on my mind is this: tonight we were talking about how the worship service was going to go tomorrow. My pop in law said something about how the worship leader is going to do the pledge to the flag, the christian flag, and the Bible. Now I am totally up for people as a congregation reciting what they believe together. Even though the idea seems a little…uh…VBSish…or elementary as he put it, its still pretty neat I guess.

But here is what I couldn’t shake. Why? Why do the pledge to the flag during a worship service to Jesus? Jesus isn’t American. Nope…He isn’t. Ok, if you didn’t know that and are opening up a new window to go to wikipedia to make sure, let me spare you the trouble. He was Jewish. For some reason in the US we have painted Christianity to look like an American religion. Sure, we were founded on Christian principles and values. Sure, many of the founding fathers were Christians and gave God credit for winning the war and us having freedom. But they also gave God credit for the right to steal the Native Americans’ land and even Constantine…pagan of pagan’s before his supposed “conversion” gave Jesus credit for his victory in war.

Here’s my point: America owes Jesus…not the other way around. The only flag we should ever spiritually fly is that of the cross. Without the cross their would be no salvation. Without Jesus their would be no cross. Jesus doesn’t need to share the spotlight with a nation’s birthday. Of course, I say sing a couple partiotic songs…God Bless America if you want or something like that, but come on…most Christians don’t even know the doxology. Most Christians can’t tell you the Ten Commandments. Most Christians don’t know the books of the Bible. Most Christians don’t know what they believe and if they think they do, they can’t tell you why. Let’s spend our time and our pulpits and our microphones and our worship music singing to Jesus, preaching about Jesus, teaching about Jesus, and honoring Jesus.

Just to let you know, that’s my pop in law’s biggest struggle with tomorrow. “We have to honor Jesus through all the other stuff.” In no way am I saying he is doing something wrong and am I not knocking the church service. It just got me thinking on this subject and all these feelings about stuff rushed to my brain. I am knocking this Americanized idea of Christianity. I bet the average church “lifer” (someone who has gone to church all of their life) would get offended if you took the American flag off the stage…the one that has been there since before they started attending. I am saying that a lot of times in America, we put the stars and stripes above the cross and tomb.

I love my country. I thank Jesus for the freedoms I have. I thank Him that I don’t have to fear for my life when I worship Him. I thank Him that He allowed our nation to be founded on the religion it was so that we aren’t running around blowing each other up in the name of holy war. But every once in a while I am a little envious of those in China and other nations hostile to the gospel and to the church. There is just something so New Testament about the persecutions they face for their faith.

So as Wednesday approaches and you see the flags waving and the fireworks going off, thank Jesus for your freedom. Thank God for America. This peace of land is a nation because of its freedom and because of the cultures that have blended to make what it is. Be patriotic. We owe that to those who came before us and paved the way of freedom. But most of all thank Jesus for the price He paid and the freedom that was found in Him.

If you get some time…check out the song Love or Gain by the band “Lakes.”

Jesus isn’t done with the US. The the resources and freedom He has blessed us with, you better be sure that something is going to be required of us. Christians…be ready, be missional, and be purposeful.

Amen

john piper on the cost of knowing and showing Christ

piper posted this today at the desiring God blog:

I suspect Paul’s experience when he was caught up into paradise, while not absolutely normative, is at least a caution: Count the cost before you want to know Christ deeply or show him clearly.”He heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter” (2 Corinthians 12:4). But there was a price to be paid for this extraordinary knowledge.

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). The way this thorn worked was to “beat” Paul (hina me kolaphize). That’s the meaning of the word in each of its other four uses in the New Testament.

But Paul concluded that it was doubly worth it.

First, he did not regret the revelations.

Second, he discovered the price of knowing Christ deeply was also the path of magnifying him clearly.

Jesus told him, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). So Paul rejoiced and said, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Neither knowing nor showing Christ is cheap.

it is truly a magnificent and scary thing at the same time.  i pray that we have the attitude that knowing Christ surpasses any other thing that we could conceive in this life.

paradigm shift: methodology

how do we put legs on this shift?  I am a guy that likes practical things that I can do in situations that seem to be a little abstract.  in further discussion of this I was presented with three factors of a method for this shift by bill faulkner.  my plan is to do a brief overview of these three steps in this post then to take each of them individually and explain them a little more in depth in separate posts.  the methodology of a paradigm shift has three factors: the unchanging text, the ever-changing culture, and the capacity of your context or congregation.  I don’t know about you but these three factors turned on what seemed to be a hundred light bulbs in my head.  I am going to do my best to unpack them and I would love any feedback along the way.
the unchanging text: I think that it is safe to say that the number one problem in evangelicalism today is the lack luster, inadequate approach and love for the Word of God.  like I said in the introduction, biblical living will never become traditional because the more that we sink into scripture the more it changes us.  we must remember the text never, never, never changes but that does not mean that our methods in using it have to stay the same.  scripture is living and progressive, where it is the source of all that it is done, life will flourish.
the ever-changing culture: this is somewhat of an understatement because it seems like things are always changing around us.  the feat of trying to stay up with the latest and greatest will drain us of necessary energy that is needed to preach the Gospel.  but that does not mean that we should not keep tabs on what is going on around us.  granted, culture seems to move faster other places than some, nonetheless we must have a finger on it watching what is going on so that we can engage with it and interact efficiently.
the capacity of your context or congregation: speaking critically of myself, this is what I miss the most.  I want to blaze trails and move forward sometimes at the cost of those around me.  if we are going to effectively shift things to where they need to be we need to understand how much we can handle and how much those around us can handle.  don’t let this stifle personal growth but on the other hand don’t be so far out in front of people that they have no idea where you are or where you are coming from.  tap into the heartbeat of your context.
over the next three posts I will be unpacking these individually with scripture and examples.  I hope that we can see that things need to change but we have a God of order and not chaos and above all there is nothing we can do when it comes to change.  it has to be all about Him.  life flows from God.

don’t waste your pulpit

paradigm shift: introduction

until we change the culture inside, we will never change the culture outside -bill faulkner

i have been thinking about this statement alot this week.  i have been thinking how we must change the culture of the church back, back to one that is biblical and not traditional.  because what we must remember is that traditional and biblical are not equivalent.  you see the bible can never be tradition because it is ever changing the way that we live our lives.  it never changes itself but it should always be changing us as we learn to become more like Christ using scripture.  i am convinced that unless we start this shift we will continue to see churches dying and this “christian sub-culture” become more and more unbiblical.

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth,and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.  10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”matthew 9:9-13 esv

this is a great example here of Jesus shifting the paradigm in his Rabbinical Jewish culture.  he was not supposed to do this.  he was supposed to condemn these people and play the game of “who is more religious” with the Pharisees, but he did not.  and as always he offered beautiful commentary on the whole thing.  we have to remember that we are not here to boast our large religious egos rather in all humbleness we are to preach a saving message to a dying world.  church services should look like rebuke sessions and training centers and not ego-stroke sessions.  we need to be priming our congregations to venture out into the world that they are in everyday, living their life with no question of who they are living for and then ready to answer when they are asked what is different.  we cannot expect sinners to come to us.  just like Jesus we must be willing to go to the table with them.

i know this is scary for most of us.  “what will i say, how will i act, what will they think of me, do they bite?”  these are all questions that run through are head.  here is the deal: with the word in our hearts and on our lips and the sensitivity of the Spirit in our heads, we will be fine.  we must remember that this is not about us, for us, or because of us.  that is a great pressure reliever.  we are just simply to go and disciple.  that is our call.  we must begin to examine the culture of the local church and the global church. we must see the things that need to change and the way we do that is to use scripture as our measuring stick.  if it does not measure up to scripture, we change.  i am not talking about be a bull in a china shop, but i am talking about instigating and facilitating true, honest, God centered and fueled change.

i am going to explore this in a number of posts to come.  i am going to unpack some scripture and some practical steps that have been passed on to me.  on a micro setting we must take this statement and change the culture inside our heart so that others can be change as we encounter them.  i want to see change in the name and for the sake of the Gospel.  who is with me?

Quotables: Alvin Reid

“You will be more like Jesus based on the lost people you reach than the saved people you impress.”

Ouch! In his book, “Radically Unchurched: Who they are and how to reach them,” Alvin Reid of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary sets some ground work for the mission that we should be on in our lives. What a wake up call!  How many of us know the names of denominational heads, mega-church pastors, pod-cast preachers and book authors but fail to know even a fraction of as many names of those lost people that we are discipling for Jesus Christ?

We have lost touch with our spiritual reality.  As an American church we have largely become a hotel for saints instead of being the hospital for sinners that we are called to be (also pull from Reid).

Let’s look at our example.  No not Paul, not Peter, not even Jeremiah or Isaiah.  Though all these men were radical in their devotion to Jesus, our example must ultimately be the God-man Jesus Christ. What was one of his favorite nicknames?  A friend of sinners? Thought this was a derogatory insult from the teachers of the law, it is actually the mission that Jesus passed down to us. To reach them, we must love them.  To love them we must know them.  To know them we must befriend them.  O that we would be worthy of such a title as our Example!

The past 6 days have been grueling.  I have been spending a large amount of time with a couple struggling to follow Jesus and keep their marriage together. At first I was being worn down.  Nagging ideas and thoughts about doing “better” things with my time and spending my personal time on myself were taking me to the point of frustration and almost anger.  Until last night when I saw that my influence, my time, my words had actually caused a couple to turn to Jesus, to desire discipleship which in turn brought an entire family (sister, nieces, nephew) to the point of repentance and desire to become followers of Jesus.

Exhausted, I drove away from church energized, refreshed and full of gratitude that God would use me to disciple people. If you are currently in ministry… don’t grow weary in doing good. If you aren’t in ministry, you better get there… it the calling of every believer, everywhere.

I’m a pretty young guy.  And I have found myself at times, I know I’m not the only one, trying to prove myself when it comes to my ability and experience. The first words from the very same couple mentioned above who I am in contact with everyday now were, “You’re awful young aren’t you?” If you’ve ever heard that you understand what a shot on your pride it can be. In one comment they have discredited your training, ability, experience, knowledge, relationship with Jesus, and desire to follow Christ’s commands.  I just smiled and nodded with the response, “I guess so.”

Networking is good.  I did some of that at the 2008 Exponential Conference in Orlando last week. Listening to podcasts, reading books and attending conferences to learn is great.  But we had better begin to examine our time and intentions.  Are we spending more time and energy trying to impress the saved and less discipling the lost?  If we are, we’re all backwards, need to repent and change it up.

a change is a comin’

this week we are having our spring refreshing services. they are going really well and i am getting to be in the presence of alot of cool people. preaching this week is dr. bill faulkner. bill is the executive director of missions for the greater orlando baptist association. he is an excellent communicator and expositor. i am really enjoying listening to him. i also get the privilege this week of working with chris vieth as he leads worship. chris is the minister of worship and music at tabernacle baptist church in decatur, il. he is such a blessing and has really encouraged me and taught me alot about leading a blended contemporary service.
our theme this week is “let it rain: a time of refreshing”. it has already been that and much more. chris has done a wonderful job of picking songs pointing the the dependency and supremacy of Christ and bill has been urging our congregation to be more missional, scriptural, and totally centered on the Gospel. so all of that to say this…
bill was preaching out of matthew 9:35-38 and john 4:31-42 on becoming and being a missional church. he was talking of the importance of sowing seeds in out communities and not in our church buildings. so as we were in a time of reflection and commitment at the end i felt the Holy Spirit urging me share a dream with the people that i had on march 13th. i had not shared this with anyone, only notating it on my phone with a short paragraph. so i did and this was the dream: i was at a wedding and dressed for it. and for some strange reason it was my wedding. but it was not my real wedding, as in not the one where i got married to kim, this was a new wedding. a new venue with new people and a new bride. kim was there and i remember feeling terribly awkward but in a saddening way she was okay with it and in a saddening way i did not really want this but i was going through with this marriage anyway. i felt terrible anxiety about the whole situation. then i woke up.
i got up and decided to ponder this and i half jokingly asked the Lord what this dream meant, not really expecting anything to come of it. but he answered. i was prompted to go to revelation 2:2-5. this was a verse that i have used many times on other people with a sense of pride, thinking that i was better than them. this is what it says, “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4But I have this against you, that you have abandoned he love you had at first. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” after reading this i knew it. i knew what i was guilty of and i notated this, “i am a fierce contender for the Gospel. i love it and live for it with all that i am. but many times i am good at nothing more than lipservice.” and for whatever reason i stored this away, until tonight.
i have felt over the last month and a half or so a change coming in my heart. i am feeling what paul describes in romans 2 as the kindness of the Lord leading me to repentance. i look at this dream and i know that i have put so many other things in front of my relationship with Jesus and have neglected knowing him through his word. and i have been expecting some sort of harsh punisment for this. but the Lord has been changing my heart through his kindness. i am experiencing brokenness through simplicity and God revealing my faults subtly. i have a renewed passion for knowing God through his word more and more. i have a renewed passion for leading my wife in knowing God through his word. i am amazed how this dream and its affirmation in scripture have not disturbed me to the point of depression but rather the gentle hand of my Father has guided me to repentance. i am truly amazed at this!
so a change is a comin’. pray for kim and i as we start to seek the Lord and his direction for our future. everyday i am more and more confident of the calling on our lives to plant a church and specifically for to preach and teach the Gospel with my life and words. we are not really sure what this looks like right now and we are learning so much in litchfield right now. we have found a home town and a church family for life. i cannot say enough how much we feel loved here and how much we want to love here. it is a great place for us right now for however long the Lord will have us stay.
a change is a comin’ in my heart, to be well studied and disciplined and to let the word live out in me and to teach this and translate it to my wife so that she can teach it and translate it to others. i praise God for his gentle hand of love that disciplines me with the most astounding outpouring of love. we serve the God of all gods who desires for us to know him fully and he has given his word so that we might draw close to him.
even though i feel that this dream was a personal warning, i feel that it also can ge translated into a warning for the body of Christ as a whole. there has been a loss of our first love. we have abandoned Jesus for programs, books, and status. we have whored his glory in the precious facade of our own gospel so that we might be lifted up for our sake in his Kingdom. i am so guilty of this but i pray that the Lord continues to stir the hearts of those that he has called, that we all might feel the weight of the Gospel in all we do.

idle worship

  on april tenth’s episode of american idol, the final eight contestants sang that famous praise and worship anthem of modern times, “shout to the Lord”. now i am faced with many emotions at this point. i am sure that there are some of you out there that it gave goosebumps and chills to and for some of you it might have even brought a tear to your eye. before i go on i want you to know that i believe that God’s word, spoken or through song, does not return void. the gospel was proclaimed through song in front of perhaps millions of people and i am guessing that most of the television audience had never heard that song. praise God for that! 

  here is my dilemma: i witnessed something that i feel that i fight every Sunday morning, idle worship. all of the singers were working on their stage presence, they did a good job conveying the song with their posture. i really want to know if they knew what they were singing. did they really take this song to heart the way they have taken countless other songs to heart this season, or was it just another performance? as the performance was coming to the end, i found myself tearing up. tearing up not because i was overwhelmed at the song but because i was overwhelmed at the fact that i do not know if those singers really know to whom they were singing. how can you really convey the line, “nothing compares to the promise i have in You”, if you do not know of that hope? 

  here is my point.  i feel that we as followers of Christ tend to do the same thing when we find ourselves in a corporate worship setting.  we become idle in our worship.  we sing songs like this with a prescribed emotion.  we know how we are supposed to act, when we are supposed to raise our hands, or shout amen!  i am desperately in need of a refreshing.  i believe the Church is in desperate need of refreshment.  i think as a whole we have become idle in our worship.  we have become idle in that following Christ in holistic and not just singing or amening on Sunday morning.  it is a vibrant walk that stretches us but always renders us speechless when we are faced with the greatness of a sovereign God who in face has allowed us to participate in His plan of redemption.  shout to the Lord indeed!  shout of His goodness and mercy. 

  Jesus i pray that you send a freshness to our hearts so that we may worship you actively in all that we do.