March 14, 2008 by Matt.

Ok, so I just finished the book I had been reading and decided it was time to actually read the Purpose Driven Life and complete it. So, I read the intro, the dedication and look up some of the scriptural references in these parts. Then, I get to chapter one. If you have read this book before, you probably remember the first words, “It’s not about you.” Whoa, that’s kinda harsh. Anyways, as I read this single sentance I am reminded of how God has told me this many times over the course of the past year or so. I firmly believe that it ws my coming to this realization several months ago that lead to my oportunity to lead worship. I also believe that this realization has lead to a transformation in myself. It began with a powerful message on pride delivered by Beth Moore at Passion ‘07, then lead to me leading worship, then to me being called to full time ministry and contiues to carry me towards that place. I am finding it easier and easier to remember that it is not about me when it comes to things at church. Hoever, I have yet to apply this to other aspects of my life. I need to remember that it is not about me when I am at work or at home. My frustrations at church were a result of me making it about me, the same is true of the things that frustrate me at work or at home. I must remember that even at work and at home it is not about me, but rather everything I do should be to glorify God. I should be grateful even when things don’t go as I would like because it may lead to an opportunity to minister to someone, or a chance for personal growth. AND no matter what, it WILL represent an opportunity to glorify God. It is simply a matter of how I chose to respond.

So, by now you know that my blogs tend to come with a challenge for my readers. As I extend these challenges to you, I am also accepting the challenge myself. So, for this one I challenge you to identify the things in your life that you make about you. When things frustrate you remind yourself that it is not about you.

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March 14, 2008 by Matt.

Ok, so I have been hoping that at some point during this 40 days that I would be able to bring you some words of wisdom. Some things that God had revealed to me. Well, I have something.

So, long story short I decide to start at the beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, In the Beginning….. One of my goals in doing this was to document as many forms of worship as I could find with the goal being to demonstrate  that what we tend to call worship today is very limited

So, as I read I noticed that the phrase, “called upon the name of the Lord” kept coming up again and again. So, I began to wonder what that was about. As I looked at the cross references I landed on Psalms 116:17, which says, “I will offer to the the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.”(KJV) For me this confirmed that to “call upon the name of the Lord” was to worship him, even as much as to give sacrifice was to worship. Then, I thought hey, animal sacrifice was a very common form of worship in the Old Testament. Jesus’ death and resurrection eliminated the need for this. However, what better way to worship then to sacrifice. So, to start down that path I grabbed my dictionary and began to look up sacrifice. Then I said to my self, “Self” how can I understand the relationship between sacrifice and worship until I understand what worship means. So, I turned to “worship” in my dictionary.  and this is what I found……

The American Heritage Dictionary defines worship first as a noun: 1a)Reverent love and devotion for a deity or sacred object 1b)The ceremonies or prayers by which this love is expressed. 2.)Ardent devotion; adoration… Then as a verb: 1.) To honor and love as a deity 2.)to love devotedly 3.) to participate in religious worship.

So, even by today’s modern standards this sounds like more then just music. Considering this I began to think of this in terms of my love for my family. When we sing we tell God how much we love him. This is important; in the same way that it is important that I tell my wife and my son that I love them. However, the way I live should show them that I love them. Sometimes when my wife tells me she loves me, I will tease her by responding, “I know.” While I am only teasing her, the truth is that she lives her life in such a way that I do know that she loves me, even before she says it. In the same way, how we live should show God that we love Him. Are we telling God how much we love him on Sunday mornings then living a life that says differently. Does our life show “reverent love and devotion” to God. Do we daily display “ardent devotion” to Him through our actions?

To take this a step further I looked up ardent so as to understand what “ardent devotion” meant. Ardent is defined as being: 1.) characterized by warmth of feeling; passionate. 2a.) Burning; fiery. 2b.)Glowing; shining.

So are we living a life that shows a burning; fiery devotion to God. Or are we just telling him “I love you as big a the sky, which by the way you created and I think you are sooooo awesome for having created it,” and calling ourselves worshippers.

So, now a challenge for you (and for me). The challenge is to live a life that shows how much you love God. Live a life that shows “burning; fiery” devotion to God. Live a life that shows “glowing; shining” devotion. Do this so that when we go to church on Sunday and tell God how much we love him through our singing and music, then we might here Him respond with a smile, “I know.”

I think this may start a series where I take the definition of worship that I gave above and dive deeper and deeper into it. If you are interested stay tuned, you can learn with me and hopefully we will grow together as well.

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