American Idols - Pt. I and some Monday Reflections
That was a fantastic start to American Idols. The church truly came to Worship Jesus!
The stage looked the best it has ever looked. A HUGE THANKS goes out to Elijah Chester!
Adam Allison led Worship again. Our people really Worship under this guy's leadership.
The video element was off the chain awesome.
The U2 feature song was, well, ok. It just didn't fit at that point in Worship.
I struggled during my first sermon, preached my brains out during the second, and showed the second sermon on video to the third service crowd. They were so engaged. You have to love the power of technology.
The second Worship Celebration was slammed full. If at all possible, try out the first or third Worship Celebration.
All in all - God was honored, people Worshipped, and we have an incredibly relevant and powerful series on tap.
Ultimately, sin and idolatry is an assertion that life is about me, not God. It is like a little boy “Johnny” complaining that the party favors he receives at “Suzie’s” birthday are not good enough in comparison to all the gifts “Suzie” gets. However, the fact of the matter is that for “Johnny” to receive any party favor to begin with is an act of grace, given that it is “Suzie’s” birthday, not “Johnny’s.” Idolatry is subsequently, us screaming to God, “Life is a party for me!” when in actuality life is God’s birthday party!
Idolatry is therefore a worship issue. If, as described above, idolatry is an assertion that life is about me rather than God, then it can be said that idolatry is fundamentally an issue of worship, namely who deserves continued attention? Me or God? In other words, the question of who we will worship is fundamental to our humanity.
This idea of worship being at the root of our human nature meshes with what it means to be made in God’s image. C.S. Lewis has enlightened us to this idea of worship being at the core of our humanity when he says, “If I find in myself a desire which nothing in this world can satisfy, the best argument is that I was created for another world.” The implication is that we are all looking for something to worship and yet we never find that perfect something this side of heaven.
Even the great, American musician Bob Dylan understood that worship is at the core of our being when he stated unequivocally, “You are gonna have to serve somebody. Yeah you are gonna have to serve somebody. Well it may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you are gonna have to serve somebody.”
In the words of Saint Augustine, as it pertains to idolatry, “Idolatry is loving something in the place of God rather than loving God through something.” Simply stated, idolatry is misplaced worship.
I hope you will join us in Worship this weekend as we dive deeply into the life changing subject matter of Idolatry.
On Sunday, we start a brand-new series titled, "American idols." I can't remember a time when I was more amped up about an up-coming series. This one will, no doubt, impact us all!
Tim Keller, whom I am loving these days, says this in a sermon:
"The way we can figure out our idols is not to ask, “What are we living for” because that is too vague of a question. Rather, we ought to ask, “What are our nightmares,” “what can we not live without.”
Such questions allow us to see what has become our functional savior or justification...our idol.” (Tim Keller, “Gospel Realization” sermon)
As you think, pray and get ready for Sunday's worship experience, here are some questions I encourage you to reflect upon:
What are those things we think have to have to be happy?
What thing which, if you had it, no matter what else falls apart, you’ll be OK?
What thing do we turn to when chips are down and which tells us everything is OK?
What do we dream about and are working to obtain?
What do we obsess about obtaining or worry about losing?
What do we prize above all other things?
What do we give ultimate allegiance to?
Those are the questions that just might help us identify some of our idols.
Go ahead and study Exodus 20:3 - 6 in preparation for Sunday. I am praying for you and covet your prayers for me.
ABC ran a feature on newhope months ago. Afterwards, some national Television Executives took the feature and ran another story. The conclusion was what they call this, "Sizzle Film." To Him be the glory forever..." (Romans 11:33 - 36)
The 9 - 10 year old Carrboro Reds Baseball season starts tomorrow night! I can't remember a time when I was more excited about coaching. We really have an amazing group of youngsters. They are outstanding kids and incredible baseball players. We went to the Championship Game last year and have 8 returnees this year. Anything less than the championship this year will be disappointing. I'm just saying... I know - I know, winning is NOT the main thing. Dear sir or madam - it is the ONLY thing. :-) I'm just kidding!
Joshua, our youngest will be our Bat Boy. He puts the "icing on the cake" this year to a what promises to be one fantastic season of spring baseball! I can't wait until 7 pm on Thursday, April 15.
Check out Joshua's custom made shirt. Thanks Lynn and Jayne Warring - we love you guys!
PS - Let me know if you ever want to watch Little League Baseball - we can get you a schedule!
This morning I have been studying Acts 16:6 - 10. I am in the process of preparing a small group study guide for a national publishing house that will help small groups study and apply this particular passage. As I dug into the text, I was reminded and encouraged to be on the lookout for God's divine appointments each and every day. The Bible says this:
6Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." (Acts 16:6 - 10)
Notice in verse six, the Bible says, "Having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the Word in the province of Asia..." Have you ever felt like the Holy Spirit was keeping you from doing something? Conversely so, have you ever felt like the Holy Spirit was prompting you to speak a certain word or do a particular deed for the cause of Christ?
In verse eight, the Holy Spirit prevents Paul and his companions yet again by not allowing them to enter Bithynia.I love the response of Paul. He doesn't quit. He doesn't go home. He doesn't weep and throw a pity party. Instead, he keeps moving forward. I want to one day write a book on this concept. There is such power and potential in just being able to keep moving forward in life! If we are going to fall in life, the least we can do is fall forward. Far too many people get knocked down and never get back up. Far too many believers get discouraged at the events of life and simply, "Throw in the towel." When we do, we short-circuit future power and potential for God's activity in our lives.
Not Paul and his companions - they just kept moving forward. God would shut doors in their lives and they would just keep moving in a missional direction for the cause of Christ! In doing so, they opened themselves up to future opportunities that the sovereign Lord knew were waiting for them just down the road! As a result, the Lord gave Paul a vision to leave for Macedonia and preach the Gospel there.
This passage really spoke to me this morning and challenged me to do readily accept those times when God slams shut the doors of opportunity. The Word also challenged me to keep moving forward with eyes of faith opened for those divine appointments that await me further down the road.
I was reminded of something I learned a long time ago, namely to talk to God about people before I talk to people about God. I want to start each day in prayer. As it relates to this particular passage, I want to pray asking God to open up opportunities for me to minister to others on His behalf. I want to become a better listener of that still small voice of the Holy Spirit directing me to stop or go, speak or be silent.
Ultimately, I want to experience those "Divine Appointments" God has for me along the journey of faith. In light of this text, the most important question we can ask ourselves is, "Are we listening and will we go?" Each and every day, I want to consider this question. If our answer is “no” then we miss out on the divine appointments God has for us that particular day. If our answer is “yes,” we then open ourselves up to lives of purpose, meaning, and ultimately divine appointments with Almighty God and His people along the way.
And who knows, we might just meet out there somewhere for one of those divine appointments. I sure hope so...
