January 2012


This one will be a short post — because it’s about being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. The famous words from James 1:19 have never been more true. Especially during an election year.

Instead of me writing a long epistle about the merits of quick listening and slow speaking (and slow angering), perhaps this would be the perfect time for those reading this to just pause…take a deep breath…and reflect on what this means. Where have we failed in this lately? How can we get better? Ask God to give you the strength to be a quick listener, a slow speaker, and a slow angerer.

Much trouble can be saved by saving many words…

Fair warning — this is a very cynical post. It doesn’t mean to assert that every experience is or will be this way, but the sad truth is that more likely are than are not.

I used to be a worship leader. That is, I used to lead a band standing on a stage in front of hundreds of people singing spiritual songs. It was a tremendous experience, and one which I cherish to this day. It’s a great feeling to feel the Spirit move in worship. But it’s also a great feeling to know that I helped the Spirit to move…or maybe that I caused the Spirit to move. Looking back on that time (now that some years have passed), I find myself questioning what it was that I actually accomplished. Did I really do anything that God wasn’t already planning on doing in that service? Was anybody really touched by God’s presence — or were they simply impressed with our musical ability? Did anybody’s life change as a result of our worship?

Or, just as a can of cheap room freshener can temporarily remove the smell of rotting garbage from a room, did we only manage to cover up people’s real problems for a short time with music and singing, just to have them return as soon as the service was over (and the “fragrance” dissipated)?

(more…)

I’m not real big on New Year’s resolutions, but if it’s something you should be doing anyway, then I say “go for it!” As for me…I’m going to try to write a new article every Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting today. We’ll see how it goes. If you start to become a fan of thechurchblog and notice that I’ve been slacking, please feel free to shoot me. I mean, shoot me an email!