Here's an interesting collection of info-graphics based surveys of Evangelical Protestants and the work of R.C.Sproul and Ligonier Ministries.

http://www.ligonier.org/thestateoftheology/

Does this provoke you to contend for the faith and worship in Spirit and truth?  Talk about it.

What if worship didn't look like worship?

It's been a while, eh?  No excuses.  Just a little something to think about...

THE IDEA:

Move regular people from the dry, thirsty desert of 6-plus days away from corporate worship to the place where they are "self-feeders", worshipping 24/7 in their homes, their workplaces, even while they sleep, wake, eat, etc.

BACKGROUND:

Bill Hybels spent over thirty years of ministry promoting a multi-milliion dollar organization (Willow Creek Community Church) and several years ago took a look back at the decades.  In a dramatic shock to the system, he realized that their Big Church Organization didn't make that much difference in their people.  He confessed this revelation to an International Leadership Conference being held at WCC with these words...

"We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become 'self feeders.' We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."   

Pretty sobering coming from the godfather of the mega-church.

Over most the past 28 years, Marcia and I have been a part of the ministry at Outreach Center Church, a small, non-denominational missionary fellowship, where we have served particularly as worship leaders.  Thankfully we contributed to what is a shared ministry with multiple leaders, teams of musicians, and trained worship leaders and musicians who have gone out to the far reaches of the planet.  

But, is that enough?

THE BURDEN:

Twenty-five to thirty minutes of worship on a Sunday Morning.  A little post service worship.  People that chose whether to come to church late (or not at all) based on who's leading.  An occasional extra service with a small band of worshippers.  Is that enough?

The Bible says "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (I Thes. 5:16-18).  Revelation paints the picture of "day and night" worship around the throne of God.  IHOP has taken this vision to heart and has built a 24/7 prayer room with intercessory missionaries dedicated to the service of this modern temple.  For a season in my life, I embraced and fleshed out this vision in a local HOP manifestation.  

Is that enough?

What about all the other people?  The non-musician/singers?  The folks working two jobs, with screaming kids, and barely time for desperate prayers and KLRC (our award winning Christian radio station) in the car?  These precious people are told (usually not in words) that our idea of Sunday services (or 24/7 IHOP sets) is worship.  Problem is they can't participate.  Sure, they can sing and clap their hands.  But at best they are spectators.  In some cases, they enter in during the 25 minute set, only to get yanked out of that place by announcements and an awkward greeting time.  At worst, they are groupies and fanboys for the best worship leaders and experiences, running out to Christian concerts, conferences, and the like.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT:

I see a decentralized, multi-faceted educational movement that trains and releases personal worshippers who don't need an organized church to get them to the throne room of God.  (Please don't make the mistake of assuming I have drunk the Kool-Aid of the anti-corporate church people.  I have walked on all sides of this debate.)  The arts expressed in a broader local church setting would be central to this...writing, singing/playing, painting, photography, video/film, etc.  Disciplines like fasting, solitude, giving, even exercise would play a part.  The key is to transcend what we have traditionally viewed as normal and release EVERYONE into personal, virile, transformational worship of God.  24/7.

The web seems like a great way to distribute practical teaching and demonstrations of a wide variety of means to the end.  Blogs and Vlogs, discussion boards, downloadable music tracks, etc.  Those of us with creative arts/worship giftings would help lead the Body of Christ beyond the Sunday rut into their quiet times, yardwork, comutes to work, family time, etc. 

THE GOAL:

Releasing worshippers who move from being church goers toward those who worship God in Spirit and truth.  Self-feeders.  As a lifestyle.  All the time.

Post your comments and thoughts.  Let's make a joyful noise together.

Worship The King

I am convinced that great worship is less about the people, the place, the playlist and more about the Person, the Presence, and the Shock and Awe that comes from Spirit intersecting with flesh. Over the years I have determined that this is really less about skill and more about a hunger for God that incrementally moves an ... See Moreindividual closer to the throne, ideally in a corporate setting. The key is that individuals must lose themselves (self-conscious giving way to being known) in the process, only to find themselves at the other end standing as one before the King. YES, there's a momentary flush of embarrassment...corporately. YES, there's the feeling of heaven touching earth. YES, we are all changed.

Funny thing is it often is so personal (isn't that just like God), that the person standing next to you simply didn't, wouldn't, couldn't go there. That's why I like OC's approach. One worshipping heart to another says, "That's OK. I'm still glad you're here."

Thriving in the House of Prayer

So here I stand ministering in the early morning hours. I begin to sing, my friend Joel offers Scriptural prayers, and with one heart and voice we engage in an hour of intercessory worship, ministering to the Lord. We are engaging the heavenlies. We are changing the climate and atmosphere. And there's nobody there to hear it...except the ONE in THREE.

The House of Prayer concept is not new. In fact, it's origins stem from the Law of Moses, from the King after God's own heart, in the Temple courts when the Babe was presented, from the mouth of Jesus, through centuries of persecution, the Moravians, through revivals, to this day. And my heart is responding to the call.


Let focus on the bold text above. Luke 2:36-38 says:

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

That is the picture of the House of Prayer. She didn't do that for 60 plus years for her own benefit. She did it because her prophetic calling was to serve in the Temple to herald the coming of the Messiah, the redemption of Jerusalem. And I believe she thrived!

Although my name isn't Anna, this is the anointed that God is opening up in my life. It's been a slow process (mainly due to my own foot-dragging) but now the heavens are beginning to open and the lot is being cast.

Please download my latest prayer/support letter and catch the vision with me. We can go there together. Let us thrive together, as we minister TO the Lord.

Selah

Evergreen and The Spirit of Thanksgiving

Friday morning after the triptophan induced coma from a hearty Thanksgiving meal. All is sluggish - the blood is thick. Sleep in. Skip the early morning sales frenzy. Be warm and filled.

Not exactly...

Yeah, I'm planning on skipping the sales. I'm skipping the "sleep-in" thing as well. I set my alarm and got up before dawn to take my place behind my guitar to worship and intercede for the Bride to be ready to welcome the Bridegroom. Yes, the IHOP in our community continues to worship even when the rest of the world watches football and shops.

The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

- Lev. 6:13

You see, the spirit of thanksgiving in me is manifest in giving back to God the amazing, sacrificial love that He has show to me. Evergreen. Always there. Welcoming me home.

Enjoy the holiday weekend. Just don't forget to worship God as well. Give thanks with your whole heart, mind, and soul.

Selah

Blessed Are All Who Wait For Him!

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
– Isaiah 30:15-1

I've frequently gravitated to the phrase "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength..." I like the idea of a quiet place to worship God, a solitary place to pray, a restful trust in the Lord of all.

Too bad my life more often resembles the cowardly knights from a Monty Python movie - "Run away! Run away!" In the face of interpersonal conflict, looming deadlines, tax returns, and spiritual warfare, I'd much rather flee the struggle and do something else.

But now the time has come to stand up for the Kingdom of God to come. And it will be a revolution -- not of violence in the physical realm. From the outside it might look a lot like the saffron clad monks of Burma. Quiet protests, prayerful resistance, reverential power.
They know the truth about the Karen people, internally displaced in the jungles of eastern Burma. Facing forced labor, rape and sexual slavery, torture and maiming.

Probably a lot like those young Americans with red tape over their mouths and the word "LIFE" written there, as they stand in silent protest over the ongoing murder of the unborn children. Abortion is still killing generations here and around the world.

And the LORD longs to be gracious to us. He rises to show us compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! The words "longs" and "wait" are from the same Hebrew word meaning -- to wait for, long for, like in an ambush.

The Sovereign LORD sees the hearts of all who wait for Him and stand for His justice. Will you wait and stand with them?

Selah

Lifter Of My Head

So I was walking in the Redwood Forest with a couple of friends and I found myself constantly looking up. The ancient trees were calling my attention upward, straining to see the top, hoping to see the sky.

After some time walking, I was struck with the cliché "Keep Looking Up" and chuckled. It was almost involuntary for me. Compelled to look heavenward. I had no choice.

I believe in God -- Creator of the universe, Savior of my soul, Bright Morning Star, Coming King. But I confess that I am often buffeted by the waves of depression and oppression that the world throws at me. I am often sluggishly pursuing holiness under the cloud of my own guilt and sinfulness. I am human (not an excuse) and I'm a mess. I feel the attack and slander of the enemy. I feel like I'm all alone.

PSALM 3 says this:

O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”

Selah

But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.

Selah

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.
Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

Selah

So I walk through these magnificent specimens of deciduous growth and sing to God -- "Thou, O Lord, art a shield about me: You're my glory, You're the lifter of my head."

I'm going to keep looking up -- willfully when I can, and trusting God to be the Lifter of my head when I can't.

Selah