How You Can Pray For Me Right Now

Contentment
There are a lot of things I am discontent with and want to say "if…then I would be happy."  I desperately need to remember "what do I have if I don’t have You Jesus, what in this life could mean anymore?"  Here are some examples: what I own, what I don’t own, chequebook balance, lack of ministry teammates, type of ministry teammates, lack of specific spiritual gifts, lack of people with specific spiritual gifts, relational status…

Intentions
Every ministry season (September- August) starts with a lot of great ideas.  Visions of what the new year will bring.  They are good ideas and yet between time constraints, my lack of focus, other people’s schedules and who knows what else those ideas usually fall by the wayside, another good intention.  As always I don’t want this to be ‘just another year’.  I would like to see change and growth. 

Relationships over Programs
This is part of the intentions thing.  I want to connect more one-on-one/small group this year.  It’s so easy for me to get caught up in administration, which happens to be one of my gifts, rather than investing in people.  I really want to engage the teens in general and some more intensely.  Part of that is being really intentional with my schedule.  Part of it is putting myself at the end of the line of priorities, especially in the middle of an event.  This does not come naturally but it’s something I really want and know is important so please pray that I would grow in this area!

Thanks for praying!

Worship

I’m quite immersed in the ‘worship’ culture and yet I find the concept of worship to be elusive; intangible.  I listen to ‘worship’ music.  I coordinate a praise and ‘worship’ service monthly.  I teach others how to lead a ‘worship’ service.  I was a ‘worship’ leader this past Sunday at church.  I read Bob Kauflin’s blog WorshipMatters.  I’ve read several books on ‘worship’; how to ‘worship’; what is ‘worship’. 

In a sense I know what it is.  Or maybe I should say what it is not.  In recent years the point has often been made that worship is not just about Sunday morning, it’s about all of our life, which comes right out of Romans 12:1.  But I started wondering if in our efforts to make sure we don’t have a traditional view of worship, if we’ve made it more complicated than it is or, at the very least, specifically defined to OUR definition, which is of course new and profound.

I’ve been highlighting the word worship as I’ve been reading the Word.  It’s used without really explaining itself or giving it much fan fare.  While we make worship an event unto itself (despite our proclaiming that worship is about all of life) it seems to be used simply as an action that can often be skipped over in the reading of a story.  The Bible is full of worship and yet I don’t find the obsession with the word and concept that I’m seeing in my own life and Christian culture in general. 

So today I looked ‘worship’ up in my Bible dictionary and got this: reverent devotion and allegiance pledged to God; the rituals or ceremonies by which this reverence is expressed.  I find this to be a simple definition that takes worship out of the gray haze a bit for me.  It doesn’t demand emotional fluttering and even accepts the idea of ritual, which would mean that we cannot exclude Sunday morning as part of worship. 

 I’m especially struck by the idea that worship is pledging allegiance to God.  I’m going to keep thinking about that one rather than continue on here.  Maybe in the future I’ll have more to say?