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.

Posted in Thoughts on Things | Print | 3 Comments »

March 9, 2008 by Matt.

Ok, so I started this 40 days thing with the goal of growing closer to God. Well, some other interesting things have happened. First let me say that my wonderful wife has been very supportive, having only watched a little over 1 hour worth of television herself. I never asked her to do that, she just knew what I was doing and decided to support me in that way. Well, I have found that after just short of 1 week at this that my family seems to be growing somewhat closer. As I look back on the week I realize that this isn’t directly related to the lack of TV. We aren’t actually spending any more time together, but the time we spend together is more meaningful. We have actually spent more time working together to get stuff done around the house, and have spent more time talking.

Do, I think that TV is bad for relationships? I am not sure, but I do believe that time spent in front the TV is generally not quality family time. Kim and I have agreed that with a few exceptions we are not going to turn the TV on until 8:00 when the shows that we actually enjoy watching TOGETHER come on. Prior to that we are just scanning the channels looking for something to fill the time.

So, I would challenge you my faithful readers. Turn the TV off. If there are specific shows that you enjoy watching with your family, then go for it. But, when those shows are not on, turn it off. Spend that time helping one another with work around the house, or talking, or playing games as a family. I think in the end you will find these activities to be much more satisfying. I am not suggesting that you sing off of TV forever, or even for 40 days, as I have. But, try keeping it off until those shows that you enjoy watching together come on. Try it for 1 week and then let me know how it works out for you.

Posted in Thoughts on Things | Print | No Comments »

March 6, 2008 by Matt.

OK, so as you know the goal for this 40 days is to remove the things that distract me from God. Well, I thought that finishing the swing set would be a good place to start. So, I decide that Tuesday I was going to drive Kim’s car to work and then swing by Home Depot and get the last couple things I needed to finish this thing. Then I find out that we were supposed to be getting some major thunderstorms (having not watched the weather I had no idea). Well, long story short it has either rained, or presented a serious threat of rain every day since I started this venture. That is every day except Monday. Well, I didn’t want to work outside on Monday because I had rehearsal that night.

Hmmmm……Is God trying to tell me something……..Hmmmm….Perhaps………..

 Well, I don’t know for sure if there is a message hidden in the rain, but I do know that if it keeps it up I need to stop trying to build a swing set and consider building an ark. After all, I am supposed to me at this for 40 days….

OK, so since it is raining, or at least threatening to, again today I am going to dive into some bible study instead. Hmmm……maybe that’s the message hidden in the rain.

OK, God. I am listening. I will get into your word and see what you are trying to tell me. In the mean time you can keep sending the rain, we need it anyway.

Posted in Misc Ramblings | Print | No Comments »