you are not a god: You are God Alone!

Romans is a deep letter. In our TWOG4TPOG readings Jan 17-21, we read the first 12 chapters. But, there were days I would get stuck contemplating just one or two verses. Thursday, (Romans 10-11) was such a day.

Here are the verses I'm referencing:
"For I can testify about them (the Jews) that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." -- Romans 10:2-3 (NIV1984)

The Jews practiced their religion with so much zeal, the Scripture says, but they placed that zeal in something they created rather than something that God created. What a human thing to do!

This next week, we will kick off an 8 week series on LEARN where we will begin to learn and communicate the meta-narrative -- the BIG Story. Our first Sunday focuses on "Who is God?" As I read this verse in scripture, it reminded me that first and foremost God is God and we are NOT. Next Sunday, January 30th, we will sing a song that says exactly that. Here are the lyrics, penned by Billy J & Cindy Foote. I hope they will bless you as you spend some time focusing on God and who He is.

You are not a god created by human hands;
You are not a god dependent on any mortal man.
You are not a god in need of anything we can give.
By Your plan, that's just the way it is.

You're the only God whose power none can contend.
You're the only God whose name and praise will never end.
You're the only God Who's worthy of everything we can give.
You are God, that's just the way it is.

Chorus: You are God alone;
From before time began
You were on the throne;
You were God alone.
And right now in the good times and bad,
You are on Your throne;
You are God alone!

This week, my prayer is that we have zeal--that we pray and sing and live life with ZEAL. But, that we have ZEAL based on knowledge of the one and only True God! He is God alone!

Leadership

I read an interesting article this week in Worship Leader Magazine by Vicky Beeching about Deborah. She referenced the story of Deborah's leadership in Judges 3-5. Think about that time and place in history and the role of women at that time. Specifically, think about what it must have been like to be a woman in leadership at that time. Here's what it says about Deborah:
v.4 "Deborah, a prophetess,...was leading Israel at that time. She held court...and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided." Pretty amazing!

She had enough respect among men to arbitrate their disputes. She led the military with Barak and led their nation to victory. But the remarkable thing is not that Deborah was a woman, though this was unusual. The remarkable thing here is that she knew how to lead. Beeching says, "She wasn't just a political and military leader. Her role also involved helping people know what to do in life." Beeching goes on to say one of the most profound things that has stuck with me all week:
No matter who is in leadership or what their gender, the important thing is that leaders are called first and foremost to follow God. Whatever we try to accomplish is empty without His truth, guidance, and inspiration. Deborah reminds us that God is the true leader. Our role is to be in tune with His direction; then we are privileged to share that vision with others.

After she led Israel to victory, Deborah sang a beautiful song of worship. Here's one of the lyrics from that song: Judges 5:2 "When the people willingly offer themselves--praise the LORD!"

As we prepare for worship this Sunday, and for this year of Tranformation, my prayer is that we will first and foremost willingly offer ourselves for God's Kingdom. My prayer is that we will tune into His truth, His guidance and His inspiration so that we have the privilege of sharing who God is with others.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace.

Carpe Diem

One of my favorite movies as a teenager was Dead Poet's Society. It's a story about this incredibly shy kid, Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke), who attends a boy's school. He has an outgoing roommate, Neil, and an incredibly inspiring English teacher, Mr. Keating (Robin Williams), who encourages Todd to come out of his shell. The theme of the movie is Carpe Diem -- Seize the Day. This professor is encouraging the kids not to merely conform, but to transform their world--to make a difference. Each student does so in a different way.

I watched this movie over the holidays with my husband and son. It truly is one of those timeless movies. Even though it came out ten years before Ben was born, it spoke to him. The teacher in this movie, "O Captain, my Captain," wanted to inspire these kids to be true to themselves. He encouraged them to live life to the fullest. In a sense, he encouraged them to be rebels--to challenge conformity and think outside the box. He wanted them to wrestle with life, with ideas, and LIVE!

As I watched, I thought that often we as Christians can be like these kids in this movie. We can walk the way we think others want us to walk. We can shy away from sharing Jesus because ___ (fill in the blank) ...we each have our own list of excuses. We can put in our time at church on Sundays, and follow the "rules", but not ever really challenge ourselves to think, meditate on the Word and allow it to truly transform our lives. We can go through life without ever creating waves. But I'm not sure that's what God intended.

One of our focal passages for this preparation time in our church is Acts 17:1-9. It's the story of Paul and Silas in Thessalonica at Jason's house. The Jews didn't like Paul & Silas being in town, so they went to Jason's house to find them. The Scripture tells us "they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city." When they didn't find Paul and Silas, here's what they said about them: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here...saying that there is another king, one called Jesus."

My favorite moment during the entire Christmas season was one Sunday when we were selling t-shirts in the Welcome Center. Helping me sell the shirts was a new Christian, and while we were selling, he shared his testimony with me. He was going through a rough time, and a believer shared a verse with him, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matt. 11:28-29). The guy responded to the shared verse with, "Man, why'd you have to go there? I don't want to talk about that religion stuff." But the believer had already stirred up the soul of the unbeliever. This kid wrestled for a solid year with God, and finally surrendered his life to the LORD this past June.

That's the kind of trouble I'm talking about. The kind where all we do is be bold enough to speak the Truth that we know, and allow God to use it to penetrate a heart, and wrestle that heart to surrender. So, I'm praying that each of us prays for and expects these opportunities to come our way, and then are faithful enough to embrace each opportunity and stir up some trouble.

There's a song called "Until the Whole World Hears" by Casting Crowns. Here's a portion of the text, or you can check out the video online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6BW_5WosgA :

Lord, I want to feel your heart
And see the world through Your eyes
I want to be your hands and feet
I want to live a life that leads
Ready yourselves, Ready yourselves,
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night

I hope these words will inspire you as you put feet to God's commands. Carpe diem -- let's "seize the day" and shine the light of Jesus from now until the whole world hears!