I had a worship thought the other day……

When we were part of the institutional church we had a scheduled day and time when we were supposed to worship.  You know, Sunday morning 10am or whatever the appointed time was for the fellowship we were part of.  You probably think I’m going to say that kind of “formal thing” is bad and artificial because I’m not part of the system anymore.  But in reality there is something good about a set time to be aware of His presence.  In effect the schedule at least makes us aware of our need to spend time with Papa God.  The breakdown comes in our complacency fostered by the feeling we have “fulfilled our duty” by being part of the appointed service.

Regardless of our form of fellowship, we should set aside times when we purposefully seek a deeper awareness of His presence.  It is this deep desire for more of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that brought the early church together from house to house in fellowship to grow together.  It just morphed over time as the traditions of men crept in and became systematized, formalized and organized into its current “normal Christian” expressions.  I would contend that they bear no resemblance to the early Church  what so ever.

So, in light of the premise that It’s all worship, we should be fully aware of His omnipresence in our lives as we breath in and out His name continually.  But hey, life happens and it is so easy to be caught up by the visible world around us.  We tend to live by sight, not by faith, because it’s the “natural” way to be.  Without Holy Spirit we depend 100% on our physical senses to experience life.  But the real substance of our being is Supernatural.  It’s who we are in Jesus, above the visible, natural world living in continuous knowledge of His presence and power working in our lives.

Be vigilant to stay actively aware of His omnipresence and His longing to be included in our every waking thought and action.

What propels the waves? A surge of energy from an unseen force of nature? The breath of God on the waters? A mysterious strength from the depths of the sea?   Waves continue unabated from the dawn of creation. A integral part of the symphony of worships set in motion as the Spirit moved over the waters so long ago.

They make me realize again how we are to be at worship continually in harmony with all of creation. Yes as if driven by the wind of the Spirit, moved by some urgent force deep within, responding to the force of Papa’s love poured out on us.
Waves take the hard places in the ocean and wear them down till they become the soft sands that smooth the weary feet.
Waves, sometimes soft and serene, quiet and peaceful. Other times raging, powerful and boisterous. All driven by that unseen force the dwells in the wind and sea. We too are driven by unseen forces which rise up in actions and deeds every day we live.

Let’s be aware of this worship we are continually engaged in and keep the focus of our worship on Papa, not distracted buy the boisterous waves or lulled into complacency by the gentle ones.

It’s really easy to associate worship and celebration.  It’s universal.  Not just some Western Christianity sort of phenomenon.  Worship in all cultures has at least a component of celebration at times.   But we celebrate all kinds of things and events in life and if you think about it we are worshipping in every celebration.

 So what can be considered celebration?  

We just traveled across the country to celebrate the life of a dear uncle.  No, it wasn’t a dreary gloomy wailing mournful deal, it was indeed a celebration.  The stories told at the wake, from the pulpit during the service, at the meal afterwards and on into the night in his famous Red Barn were a testimony to his life, a life well lived indeed.  

His example of practical blessing to so many around him was his faith, lived on the outside but never “in your face.”  He showed us how to celebrate every day…  I think he had ahold of something big, celebrate (worship) everyday by living a life of joy, generosity and love, and it will  spread contagiously to those around you.   

Thanks, Uncle Earl.  We miss you and look forward to seeing you again.

I’ve been contemplating serenity as a form of worship lately. This view off our balcony is so serene and peaceful it lead me to look up the word serenity.

1. The state of being serene; calmness; peacefulness.

2. A lack of agitation or disturbance.

3. A title given to a reigning prince or similar dignitary.

One of the benefits of worship is peace or serenity.  One of the benefits of salvation is “the peace that passes all understanding”.  Kinda makes you think don’t it ?

So if we are suppose to worship all the time and we have have serenity in us all the time, then aren’t we are there already, we just have to recognize it.  It’s the same way we have to step into our salvation daily and purposefully walk it out.  These attributes of the divine presence in us are always there just waiting for us to cooperate and let them out.  So, we really are enabled to worship all the time in everything we do.

Yeah, OK, life does it’s best to eat away at our peace, to chip away at the serenity we should walk in constantly. What we must focus on is that , in Christ we are already at peace, serene and impervious to the hostility going on in the physical world. The real you and I, the spirit man inside is quite capable of walking in perfect serenity always. Like so many things in this mortal life, it is simply a choice.

Let’s choose to live from the serenity within and walk in worship every minute of every day.

My worship journey has taken me down an interesting path over the last few years since we left the institutional church. The weekly rhythm and duties associated with being part of a of the staff of a “local fellowship” lulled me into thinking that I had sort of “put in my time” because I did all the stuff I was supposed to do according to the system.

I was so caught up in “doing the worship stuff” that I lost site of who was the object of my worship. If I’m brutally honest, the goal became the “acts of worship” in a way. My focus became the mechanics of it all, playing to the expectations of leadership, focusing on the “vision”, mine and theirs, and trying to make sure I was doing the “right thing” by everyone. Sometimes, in all of the busyness of ministry, I got my focus back on Jesus. No wonder things sometimes felt dry in the midst of it all and other times He broke through.
Since we left the system behind, I’ve seen my appreciation of the universal nature of worship expand over and over. It has nothing whatsoever to do with planning a set time or place of “worship” or orchestrating all the players and pieces to flow together to “get into the river”. It’s been about coming to the understanding that we are always praising and worshipping. I’ve been unlearning 30 years of Churchianity, experiencing the freedom to see Papa God everywhere, to find my Big brother Jesus in the creative expressions of everyone around me. To hear the sweet wind of the Spirit blowing in the simple rhythms of life and the complex orchestrations of nature.
Everything we do is worship of one sort or another. Let’s set our sights on Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the only One worthy of worship and live each moment for the Glory of Him.