From the Inside Out

This week, as I was beginning my youth band rehearsal, I had a kid (not in the band) say to me, "I need a minute to talk to you." I stopped and asked him what was up. He said, "You've been asking us what God is doing in our lives. I just wanted to tell you what He's doing in mine." We visited for a moment. It was great to hear about how He was listening to God's direction for his life. God was doing some great things in this young man's life, and he was so eager to share.

About 15 minutes later, we actually began rehearsal. We were halfway through a piece--just a normal rehearsal. Once of the players said, "Can we just stop and pray?" We stopped immediately and prayed. This young man felt the leading of the LORD to focus us and focus our hearts.

About an hour later, my youth choir came in. If you've ever been in a youth choir rehearsal, you may think it's complete chaos. I'll admit, there is that element. We began to sing. We were singing the song, "From the Inside Out". We got to the point in the song when it says, "My heart and my soul, I give You control. Consume me from teh inside out, Lord." I felt like we were just paying lip service. We stopped. We took a moment to pray. I asked them to focus on the things that they would praise God for right in that moment. Then, we sang the song again--not paying lip service this time, but worshiping from our hearts.

It was a POWERFUL afternoon of worship--probably one I'll never forget. These kids were so open, so unashamed before the Lord.

I went home, and read a story about the great violinist Joshua Bell. it said that Bell recently performed an experiment where he went into a Washington, D. C. metro station unannounced. He took his 1713 Strad violin (worth millions) and began to play the top pieces in his repertoire. A thousand people went by, and nobody recoginzed him or his talent, nor did they recognize the craftsmanship of the instrument. Finally, one woman recognized who he was and stopped to listen.

The point of the story was that, too often, we are so busy getting from one place to another that we are unaware of God's presence. We pass up so many opportunities with Him. The author used the passage from Matthew 11.

"Let him who has ears hear. To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance...'" Matthew 11:15-17 (NIV)

This was a wakeup call to me. I don't want to miss the Master playing for me. I don't want to miss a single opportunity to sit in His presence and learn.

WORSHIP. Take a moment to focus on these words to "From the Inside Out" by Hillsong.

A thousand times I've failed, still Your mercy remains.
And should I stumble again, still I'm caught in Your grace.

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades.
Neverending, Your glory goes beyond all fame.

My heart and my soul I give You control.
Consume me from the inside out, Lord.
Let justice and praise become my embrace, to love You from the inside out.

Your will above all else, my purpose remains,
the art of losing myself in bringing You praise.

When was the last time you heard His voice? When was the last time you lost yourself in praising Him? Find some time this week. Lose yourself in praise. It was amazing to me, as I began praising Him how my needs became so small, and the LORD -- His sovereignty, His grace, His provision, His greatness -- overwhelmed me. We worship THE Almighty God! What a privilege.

Imitate Me!

I'm reading a fantastic, challenging book right now by Bob Roberts, Jr. called Transformation. Transformation is a word we're going to be hearing a lot about. As a matter of fact, it is our (FBCA) theme for 2011. Our Pastor will be further unpacking the growth areas we've adopted as he teaches us how to be "Transformed along THE WAY."

Roberts talks a lot about how to measure spiritual growth. He issues a corporate challenge early on in his book. He says (p.24), "When people say the name of your church and the church you attend or in which you serve, what do they think? May it be that we love God with all our beings and are trying to live transparent lives of integrity. May they see us giving out all that we have and all that we are."

As I read this, I thought about our church and what people would say. I believe that, thanks to 150 years of healthy people that have gone before and healthy leadership now, many positive things would be said. But, then I took it a step further. "May it be that we love God with all our beings and are trying to live transparent lives of integrity." That statement hit me close to home. What facades do I put on? What areas of my life am I keeping hidden because I'm not fully walking the Jesus Way? This challenging word has caused me pause. It's caused me to re-evaluate some of the things in my life.

What would someone see if they looked into your everyday, unguarded life? Would they see someone who reflected Christ? We know that we are supposed to be like Christ. Ephesians 5:1 tells us, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." I often think about imitating Christ -- or the proverbial phrase, What Would Jesus Do? -- and, so often, I talk myself outof being Christ-like because, after all, none of us are expected to be perfect. Christ is the only perfect one who ever walked the earth, and the only one who ever will. What a cop-out on my part! Someone said recently that many of us [Christians] have learned how to "manage" sin. They said, "We believe it's okay to be a responsible sinner." In other words, as long as we're not committing the BIG sins, we're really okay, right? Our little sins don't really affect anyone, do they?

But Paul issues us (imperfect, human journeymen) a challenge of his own. He says in 1 Corinthians 4:16, "I urge you to imitate me." Is that something that you can say to others? Is that something I can say? People DO imitate us whether we say it or not. They imitate our compassion (or lack thereof). They imitate our commitment (or lack thereof). They imitate the way we love others, relate with others, etc. People watch and imitate.

Bob Roberts issues this challenge to us: "We [the Western church] talk about the qualifications for ministry in terms of education, ordination, rules, and regulations. However, isn't the main qualification for ministry the ability for a person to say, 'Imitate me'? Not that they are perfect, but that they are willing to live their lives as examples for others." (p.27)

Okay Bob & Paul...way to throw down a challenge! Is what I am doing, how I am living my life, how I love others, how I love God worth imitating?

I attended Barry Rock's class at DBU this past week, and here was one of the things he said. "The greatest problem in worship today is personal godliness. Worship means NOTHING apart from a transformed life." I believe he's right. I believe we (and I say this as a guilty party) find ways to justify or overlook our sin, and therefore stunt our growth as Christians and our ability to lead others along The Way.

This Sunday, we are participating in the Lord's Supper. Before the Lord's Supper begins, we have built in a small time of confession. Don't wait until Sunday. Find some time this week in your personal time with the Lord and lay yourself wide open. See what transformation He desires to take place in your life. Make it your prayer to be able one day to stand up in front of others and say these radical words, "Imitate me."