October-November 2008

Brethren in Christ Core Value #3

Worshiping God

We value heartfelt worship that is god-honoring, spirit-directed, and life-changing

Less than two weeks following our August ’93 move to Ephrata, PA, my wife, Connie, daughter, Sylvia and I cared for some business enroute to Messiah College. The car was low on fuel and I planned to fill it up before getting on the highway, but in the whirl of activities, I forgot. Later, while traveling on the turnpike, we saw a Pizza Hut advertisement, “Are you running low on fuel? Pizza Hut just ahead; next exit.” Connie observed, “Yes, we are low on fuel!” Then I remembered! In fact, the gauge was way down past empty. We all nervously prayed for the next exit to come quickly, Well, we made it, and our little Escort drank up just over 12. 5 gallons of gasoline. I was surprised. I didn’t think it held that much! We checked the manual and sure enough, the fuel capacity was 11.9 US gallons. In our thanksgiving and praise we felt a little like Philip who was found at Azotus! (Acts 8:40)

In realistic reflection, however, I know without regular fill-ups a person will soon run on empty, and one can only run on empty for a very short time! Worship is the “fill-up” we regularly need to experience vital, alive, dynamic and fruitful lives. That is why “we value heartfelt worship that is God-honoring, spirit-directed, and life-changing.”

However, it can happen to the best of us. When a cold, rainy Sunday morning rolls around, worship doesn’t seem as important as staying under the covers. And being in the great outdoors on a beautiful summer day has more appeal than group worship in an auditorium. Yet from the Ten Commandments, to the songwriter David, to the believers in Acts, to Revelation, the Bible presents worship as essential. In Psalm 27, David speaks of seeking after one thing: to go to God’s house in order to worship Him. Why? Because the refreshing renewing fullness of God’s Spirit is essential. So even though I like to do it my way, sooner or later I discover life is not a do-it-yourself project. At that point God breaks into life and our mind shifts from focusing upon other things to preoccupation with God!

A few years ago, the WWJD slogan was very popular. While the question “What Would Jesus Do?” is an important question, the crucial question is “What is Jesus Doing?” Heartfelt, God-honoring worship not only gives the perspective of WWJD, but links us up with God in the present and the spiritually pregnant opportunity of getting involved in what Jesus is doing now, which is the most exciting adventure of life, with eternal dimensions! Worship is the result of realizing my deep need and God’s infinite resource through His Spirit. However, worship is not you and me focused; worship is God-focused. Yet we do experience His transformation. Friends, when we worship with our entire being from the heart, we discover (John 14:6) “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” is sequential. You get on the way, you get truth, and you get life-change worth living, in and through the Spirit of Christ. Life change happens in focused Holy Spirit directed worship. We do not just drift toward life change! As D. A. Carson says in his book, For the Love of God, “Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to the Bible, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” It is so easy to drift. It’s so easy to drain. Life is draining. Our spiritual resources become depleted. The fruit of the spirit becomes obscured. The passion for Christ-likeness loses just a bit of its magnetism. “I need to look out for number one.” My focus becomes more dominate than God, His call, and His direction in life.

Friend, do you sense the needle on your spiritual gas tank is indicating you are running low? “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God…” (Psalm 95: 6-7)

In expectation of “...heart-felt worship that is God-honoring, spirit-directed and life-changing”,

Bishop John

 

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