God in everything we do

I was watching this clip. Amazingness begins at around the 4:50 minute mark. You have to watch the whole thing to ramp up into it, though.

What struck me when watching was a question that will probably cling to my soul for a long time. What will it take for the presence of God to be heavy in all that we do?

The thing I really find amazing in worship is the presence of God. If you are unsure if you have ever felt the presence of God during worship, then ask for God to open your heart to His heart. You might like what you find or you might not.

Honestly, I had never felt the presence of God through worship until Urbana 2000. But now is not time for that story, this is a time to ponder a question, “What will it take for the presence of God to be heavy in all that we do?”

What if serving food at a shelter caused us to feel the presence of God?

What if visiting someone in the hospital caused us to feel the presence of God?

What if giving a verbal witness caused us to feel the presence of God?

What if you knew you were going to die for standing up for Jesus, but in the moment of doing so the presence of God was so strong that dispite the pain, there was a presence of God so real, so amazing that you knew it was worth it?

What will it take for the presence of God to be heavy in all that we do?

I don’t have any answers here, I just have the one simple question.

worship on earth like you can’t in heaven

One of the things I don’t hear is that you can’t worship in heaven* like you can on earth.

I was  listening to a teaching series by Dave Roberson on worship, in which he told a story. It got me thinking, “What is so special about worship on earth?”

1 Corinthians 13:12

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

In the future we will know as we are fully known. Taking this verse with all the description of worship we see in Revelation, we have a glimpse as to what our reaction will be when seeing the glory of God.

Next, we should consider John 16:33 when Jesus says, “In the world you will have tribulation.” It’s easy to be happy when things are going right.

It’s easy to worship God when it seems like He’s making life good, but when life isn’t good and we choose to worship God it shows something different.

On earth there will be times when we ask, “Where is God? If He’s so powerful why did He let such and such happen?”

Yet to believe God is all He says He is, to believe His plan and ways are beyond us when it hurts to live in this world is something that we cannot do in heaven.

When we worship out of that context, we have a chance to touch God in a different way then we will ever be able to do again.

Worshiping through all the difficulties that come as a result of living in this fallen world is a gift we can only give to God while living in this age.

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*Technically we won’t be in heaven. I’m not sure why this became our way of saying we have eternal life. If we paid more attention to the book of Revelation then we would realize that a new Jerusalem would be on the new earth. Therefore, we actually will live on earth, a new one of course. For ease of communication, though, I’ll just call it heaven.

hymns are not better than new worship songs

Have you ever wondered why people argue that hymns are better than modern worship songs?

When people say they have better lyrics it seems to make sense.

Here are lyrics to “How Great Thou Art”:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;

That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,

And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

No set of lyrics are perfect, but these are good lyrics.

But here is the real challenge: How many hymns do you know?

We go through less hymns than we do modern songs. When I think back to being a kid I still know more modern songs than old hymns.

So, are hymns better? No.

The reason people think they are better is because they have stood the test of time. Good lyrics are what is  key to a song standing the test of time.

The good ones keep being sung, while the old ones fade away. Have you ever looked at a hymnal? Those things are huge and we usually only sing a few dozen at most, and a dozen of those are Christmas songs.

This is the point if someone ever argues that hymns are better: hymns we sing are good because they have stood the test of time. Truth endures.

We are actively going through the sifting process. It takes many years to define a song as a classic.