Posts Tagged "Worship Notes"

I’m reading the story of Joseph this week and it strikes me how his life was a continuous cycle of ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs. One minute he’s the favored son, the next an exiled slave in a faraway land. He’s up with Potiphar, then down in jail, favored in prison, then forgotten. Sure, God works it all out in the end but it was quite a rocky road to get there. Sound familiar? Every week, those of us who serve in worship gatherings have the privilege of ministering to people in all sorts of circumstances. Some are on top of the world, others feel crushed underneath. Some feel loved and accepted, others feel worthless and ignored.  The truth is, all of us come through the doors with distractions and wounds, clutter in our...

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” – Philippians 2:3 (NIV) Why did I get stuck with the stupid-looking life preserver? I’m out here in the sun, getting sweaty, giving up my time to invest in the lives of our youth from church, and they all get the cool zip-up life jackets while I get the one that looks like a throwaway prop from “Gilligan’s Island”.  Not cool! Oh yeah, and it chafes, too. It’s times like these that I have to stop for a moment and do some soul-searching.  I mean seriously, underneath all the fretting and justifications, what is really at the heart of my frustration? “I deserve something better than this.” More specifically, “I deserve it more then...

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” – Luke 6:38 She was NOT a happy camper. As I sat at the diner-style counter eating my eggs, it was obvious from her comments that this poor server had gone to clean her last table, only to find the prior patrons had stiffed her.  No gratitude, no thank-you, no tip.  I heard her frustrated queries to fellow servers, “Did you clean off table 17?”, “Did the people say anything?” and shared her sinking feeling as she realized her efforts give her customers an enjoyable meal had amounted to nothing. I checked my wallet: $13.  I estimated my bill: $8.50ish, plus a couple...

“But the king replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on paying you for [the field].  I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”– 2 Samuel 24:24a For the past few weeks I’ve been playing schedule ping-pong with some new friends who want to get my thoughts on some things.  Normally this isn’t an issue, but I have certain preferences when it comes to meeting with people, and they keep pushing back for different arrangements. Today, as I felt the creeping tendrils of annoyance begin to attach themselves to my soul, I remembered the many examples in Scripture where Jesus shows that serving others really doesn’t count for much if we’re getting the better end of the deal.  It’s the times when we’re inconvenienced,...

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I hope.” – Psalm 130:5 In 2001, my grandfather lost his words. He had been visiting family out of town when he had a stroke, and fortunately they were able to get him proper medical care that saved his life and prevented much long-term damage.  What they weren’t able to prevent, however, was extensive injury to the language centers of his brain.  He had spent his life preaching, teaching and sharing gifted words with thousands, and now the words simply wouldn’t come. Experts say that in cases like this, the mind is functioning just fine.  The person understands things perfectly, knows exactly what they want to say, but just like an arm that’s fallen asleep simply won’t respond to the brain’s...