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Will Your Worship Persevere?
This past Friday night Cathy and I gathered with our worship team for fellowship and instruction. We gave everyone a little book by Matt Redman (Britain’s most popular worship leader and songwriter) called, “The Unquenchable Worshipper.” Matt says: “The heart of God loves the offering of a persevering worshipper. Though overwhelmed by many troubles, they are even more overwhelmed by the beauty of God…This world is full of fragile loves-love that abandons, love that fades…love that is self-seeking. But the unquenchable worshipper is different. From a heart so amazed by God and His wonders burns a love that will not be extinguished. It survives any situation and lives through any circumstance…” (Matt Redman)
Will your worship persevere in tough times?
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The Unquenchable Worshipper: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship By Matt Redman |
Pastor Gary
Vineyard Christian Fellowship
Fort Myers Churches
WHEN YOU HEAR THE TITLE (SAMARITAN)
What image comes to your mind? Most in the Christian world immediately think of the “Good Samaritan”, you remember, the man who went out of his way to help the poor guy by the side of the road which the Priest and the Levite not only ignored, but walked out of their way to avoid. This simple parable, spoken by Jesus to “an expert in the Law” created a total change in the image of the “Samaritans”.
You see, at that time, the Samaritans were basically hated by everyone. They had, at the least, a “scandalous reputation”. But think about it, as far back as I can remember (and I’m not a young lady) the term Samaritan has been associated with positive, kind and loving acts. We hear the term used on the evening news when the reporters cover stories like Katrina, the Tsunami and the current flooding in N. Dakota, as total strangers come to the rescue of those in need. Organizations whose primary focus is humanitarian (meeting practical needs) often have “Samaritan” in their title
Now, I don’t know exactly when the image changed but sometime after Jesus used the Samaritan in his parable they became “respectable”.
Here’s my point: If the actions of one man (we are not positive that this story was a reality or only used to make a point) can change the reputation of a whole group of people for generations to come – how important is it that we, as individuals, take care that our actions not only line up with what we say we believe, but even demonstrate what we say we believe. I am sobered to think that what I do today could have serious implications for my descendants as well as for my legacy as a Christian, both positively and/or negatively.
Whatever image others have of us could, with one simple act, be either marred or shinned. Philippians 2:15-16 “so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation’. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”
Cathy
Fort Myers Vineyard Christian Fellowship (Fort Myers Churches)
Over a Billion Will Celebrate
It’s really astounding to me how in a few days over a billion people will celebrate and commemorate Easter. It boggles my mind that something which happened over 700,000 days ago can still fire up a passion in people to get up early, (some before sunrise) and go to a house of worship or some public arena to be among those whose attendance on this day proves the fact that Jesus Christ is still the most popular person in all of history. There is no other comparable at the core of any other religion or cult. He is absolutely matchless!
Jesus Christ, never traveled more than a couple hundred miles from his home. He never married, never attended college, never wrote a book, matter-of-fact, the only record we have of him writing, was in the sand, and no doubt the first rain washed that away. He died homeless and poor.
More songs have been sung to him and more books written about him than anyone who has lived on this planet. At least a hundred films have been made about him. There are even Jesus wrestling federations, such as Wrestling for Jesus, The Christian Wrestling Foundation and Ultimate Christian Wrestling.
The Scriptures record nearly forty specific miracles that Jesus performed. In Mark’s short Gospel alone, roughly one-third of the verses deal with miracles. The popular Jewish historian Josephus reported that Jesus was a “doer of wonderful works.” But it’s His resurrection that has captivated millions for the last 2000 years. Thomas Arnold (professor of modern history at Oxford), said “No one fact in the history of mankind…is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort” than the fact that “Christ died and rose from the dead.”
Gary
Fort Myers Vineyard Christian Fellowship (Fort Myers Churches)
Reflecting
I was just reflecting on the verse of the day (April 5th), 1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or anything in the world, if you love the world, love for the Father is not in you. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful people, the lust of their eyes and their boasting about what they have and do – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” I am trying to get a good mental picture of what that looks like in practical everyday life. Like you, I am guilty of saying things like: “I love that place, that food, that song, that color, those shoes, that outfit”, and so on. Do you really think that’s what John is forbidding here? Can we not enjoy and even find some satisfaction in any “earthly” things? Are we to be numb or dull to all that the world contains and only light up when the conversation turns “spiritual”? Or is it possible to enjoy people and places and food and entertainment and even shoes and outfits to the glory of God?
If we consider another scripture, 1 Cor. 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”, we may get a better perspective. So with that in mind, my image of “not loving anything in the world” has changed somewhat. What about yours? Perhaps what John is trying to teach us is that finding our satisfaction and enjoyment and even “love” for anything other that Christ will result in death, whereas, finding our pleasure and satisfaction and even “love” in anything — only to the point that it can glorify God is acceptable, even good. In other words, God desires that we “love Him with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength, and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. The key is that we not tamper with, interrupt, or find another recipient for the love and allegiance which belongs to God alone.
Cathy
Fort Myers Vineyard Christian Fellowship (A Fort Myers Church)
Weaker or Stronger?
With the economy in a free fall, Washington rocked by a new scandal almost daily, and a nation gripped by fear, what passages of Holy Scriptures have been the greatest comfort to you? Has your Christ-centered faith become weaker or more muscular?
