Tag: Life

I’ll do what’s right for me

I’ll do what is right for me is a famous saying that many people we know have used.  I know I have heard it several times in my life.  It is usually used when someone disagrees with you about how something should be  done, and what actions are appropriate.  Sometimes it is used when changing careers, or changing spouses.  There are many situations it comes up.

We live in a society where standards are disappearing.  You cannot even get a grade is schools anymore. You participate or not.  You don’t pass or fail.  People decide for themselves how to act given the situation.  Even standards of behaviour have gone out the window.  Growing up you never swore around women or children.  Now days even the kids are talking like sailors.
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Working as a scale technician I have come to appreciate the value of a standard.  Every day I find myself looking at a scale which people say works correctly. And until I place my standards on the scale I could believe them.  Without having a standard to compare ourselves to we will never know if we are meeting the mark or missing it completely.  GPS has become a valuable tool for all of us.  It gives us direction and allows us to see where we are compared to where we think we are.  Standards are everywhere in our society.  We just neglect to use them when it comes to our personal lives.

Christians have gotten a lot of bad press over the years because of this very thing.  We have often missed the mark and without having a standard to guide us we have never known.  Christians have become some of the most bitter, judgemental and critical people around.  I know people who will not hire Christians because they cause the most trouble, do the least work, and complain and steal from the company.  We have completely missed our standard and done what we thought was right.  We speak out vocally against what we see is wrong in our society, and usually completely ignore what is wrong with us.  We have changed our tune to meet what we thought society wanted.  We have worked hard at being accepted the we have lost influence.  And it is because we have lost our standard.

A standard can never be changed.  It can never be disagreed with. Our situation has to measure up the the standard, not the standard to our situation.  When I find a scale that doesn’t match my test standards, I don’t question the correctness of the standard.  I adjust and repair the scale to meet the standard I have placed on it.  And it is much the same with us as Christians.  We have lost our standard over the years and have gone down many paths that God never intended us to.  It has spread division and spawned fights that have separated families, broken homes, and destroyed lives.  And it doesn’t sound like the church Jesus had in mind.

Jesus left us with one standard to follow.  And if we do it right we will fulfill every command that He gave us, and we will become who He called us to be.  Jesus said in John 13:34-35 “34 So I give you a new command: Love each other deeply and fully. Remember the ways that I have loved you, and demonstrate your love for others in those same ways. 35 Everyone will know you as My followers if you demonstrate your love to others.”

The Voice (VOICE)

We can become all that God calls us to if we actually align ourselves with the standard Jesus left for us.  For most of us that will me a recalibration of our values and thought.  But that is ok because that is what God is best at.  We don’t work up our ability to love we receive it.  1John 4:19 “We love because He has first loved us.”  We need to plug in again to our source, recognize our need to be recalibrated and then we can spread the love God has for the world.

Worship?

worshipFor most of us when we think of worship we think of gathering ourselves together within the confines of a building somewhere to pray and talk about God.  For many, many Christians in North America at least this has come to describe the first part of a service where we sing together.  Having been a worship leader for almost two decades it has for several of those years been my definition as well.

Worship has been a source of great contention and fighting in churches throughout history.  Charles Spurgeon even called the worship team “the war department” because worship has always been a subject which causes people to argue.  How many songs do we sing.  What kind of songs can we sing.  Are there musical instruments allowed?

I have begun to realize over the years that we have completely missed the boat in regards to worship.  Because worship was never meant to be about us.  Music isn’t even needed for worship to happen.  I have left many services over the years, ones that I have led, and others where I have been a participant, and have often heard people say “wasn’t worship powerful?”, and the opposite “worship didn’t do anything today.”.  I have had people say they didn’t like the music I chose.  I have had people refuse to take part except when songs they like to sing were played.  I have been involved in discussions where people demanded that chorus be used instead of hymns.

I think we have walked away from true worship and have begun to worship worship.  We value the songs, the lyrics, or the rhythms that we like and discard everything else.  We take part when we feel like it, depending on how spiritual , or how difficult or easy our week has been.  I have struggled to take part myself when I was feeling low or tired.  But worship was never meant to be about us.

When we allow our preferences and passions to determine our worship we focus on ourselves and what we want.  And worship was meant to be all about Jesus, letting our love and hunger for Him express itself.  Worship is about proclaiming God’s value and glory.  It is about focusing on and valuing God simply for who He is.

Worship is about our lives placed before our creator and exalting the one who made us, and redeemed us.  Wolfgang Simson wrote “worship has much more to do with Spirit-filled obedience (Romans 12:1-2) than with music and singing “worship” songs. Our worship must center on the unquestioning readiness to lay aside life, limb, possessions, family, house, friendships, evangelical respectability—everything—to see the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covering the earth as the waters cover the sea.  Worship is not so much what we do but how we do it; not so much what we say or sing but how we are a living sacrifice.”

We have allowed ourselves to walk away from the passion and power of lives lived in surrender and allowing our lives, hearts and voices to give expression to the greatness and awesome splendor of the King of kings who spoke the entire world into being, and knows every star by name, and still has time to know how many hairs are on our heads.  We serve an incredible and awesome God and we need to return again to the true roots of worship, and become the worshipers God is seeking after.  “Indeed, the time is coming, and it is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The Father is looking for people like that to worship him.“ John 4:23 GWT

When God doesn’t follow your plan

image What do you do when your plans come apart and everything seems to go wrong. When all your hard work seems to have been a waste and your left feeling wasted and confused by life. Every one of us has had times in our lives where this is exactly what has happened. Life for everyone of us has it highs and its lows. And sometimes the lows can be extremely difficult and painful. There are times in all our lives where life simply sucks. There is no other way to describe the feeling inside.

Often when things fall apart many of us tend to blame God, especially when things are extremely painful. The death of a loved one can be extremely traumatic. And often when we have prayed and prayed and prayed for God to do something and they still die we can become very angry with God. Or when a major business deal falls through. Or maybe it is the ministry you felt called to do has come apart. As Christians this can be an extremely sensitive area we face as we talk with people about Christ, because everyone, everywhere faces extremely difficult lows in our lives. Some more painful than others. I cannot say I understand the pain of a child or a spouse passing away. That is a pain I can’t say I would wish on anyone. But in my own life there has been some extremely painful experiences. Some where I wished I could simply just die so the pain would stop. No one is able to corner the market on pain. We all face it. The pain you face may be different, but it is still pain none the less.

The most common question people ask when things go wrong is “Why?” Why did this have to happen? Why didn’t You heal her? Why, why, why…. The why’s can be endless and are as various as the pain we face. We all wonder why, and then look for some reason to justify the reason for the pain we are in. I have heard many Christians as God why, and get very frustrated when there is no explanation. I know I have been angry at times when God explain Himself in my life. We may never know the answer to the question why.

In my own life I have come to understand that there is purpose in my pain. It may not be pain for a purpose, as many suppose. Sometimes it is just pain. I know that God may not have caused the pain in my life. The pain usually is my fault, or the mistakes of people I care about. We all cause a lot of pain for ourselves, and pain for those we hold close. So God often doesn’t cause the pain, but He did allow it. If God is sovereign He could have simply said no and stopped it from happening. So then the pain has purpose in my life. God always is able to use our pain and turn it into something beautiful. One of my favourite scripture passages is Romans 8:28 ” We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.” (The Voice)

The pain we face can have purpose. We will probably never be able to understand why because God doesn’t think like we do. His wisdom completely supersedes our wisest of wise. ” because the wisdom of this rebellious and broken world looks like foolishness when put next to God.” 1Corinthians 3:19 The Voice, and ” This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” 1Corinthians 1:25 NLT. Asking God to explain Himself to us is like a three year old asking for an explanation from their parents. The level of understanding isn’t even close.

We may never know the purpose of our pain in this life. But one thing I do know is God always has our best in mind for everything He does or allows, and it will all work out in the end. Sometimes the pain we face today is what pushed us to achieve the best we achieve tomorrow.