We’ve been chosen to clap and cheer July 6, 2009
Posted by wheelsms in Scripture, Worship.add a comment
Seven-year-old J.J. was so excited. The day had finally arrived when he could try out for the class play at his school. Though he had difficulty reading and speaking without stuttering, he had practiced the part and was hopeful he would get picked to be in the cast. His mom and dad were concerned that his young heart would be broken if he were left out.
That night, J.J. met his dad at the door when he got home from work. “Guess what, Dad!” he shouted. “I got a part in the play. I’ve been chosen to clap and cheer.”
WHAT IS WORSHIP?
Worship is responding to God for what he has done for us. He created us, redeemed us, and is in the process of helping us grow to be more like Christ. He is the center of our existence and the purpose of our lives. As a result, our hearts should cry out in praise for who he is and what he has done.
NINE WAYS TO WORSHIP
In the psalms, David provides us with nine expressions of worship. We can worship with our voice, our posture, and our hands.
- Speaking – Psalm 34:1. “I will praise the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.”
- Shouting – Psalm 27:6. “I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy.”
- Singing – Psalm 47:6. “Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing praise to our King, sing praise!”
- Bowing – Psalm 95:6. “Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”
- Standing – Psalm 119:120. “I tremble in awe of You; I fear Your judgments.”
- Dancing – Psalm 149:3. “Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and lyre.”
- Playing instruments – Psalm 33:2, 3. “Praise the Lord with the lyre; make music to Him with a ten-stringed harp.
Sing a new song to Him; play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout.” - Clapping – Psalm 47:1. “Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with a jubilant cry.”
- Lifting hands – Psalm 63:4. “So I will praise You as long as I live; at Your name, I will lift up my hands.”
BOTTOM LINE – Clap and cheer for the one who gives you life. (Psalm 106:1-2)
The joy of interrupted preaching July 5, 2009
Posted by wheelsms in Family & Friends, Fun, Preaching.add a comment
There I was, minding my own business, when I was blindsided by an unexpected interruption I didn’t have time to deal with.
I was in the middle of preaching a sermon this morning. Ironically enough, I was making the point that God often interrupts our normal routines to teach us about himself. All of a sudden, an IM chat box pops up on my computer, and through the miracle of PowerPoint and digital projectors, it is on the screen in front of the congregation. It’s my daughter, Amanda, in Nairobi, Kenya, wanting to chat! ;-} (She is 10 hours ahead and didn’t realize where I was and what I was doing.)
I closed the chat box and explained to the congregation what it was and that Amanda and I had been chatting at that same time the past few days. I hoped that by ignoring her message, she would get the hint that I was not available.
But no, a few minutes later, a second box pops up with the message, “Oh, you must be preaching.” I typed in “Yes” and sent the message and then closed the box a second time. I think a few people in the congregation wished I stopped preaching and started chatting with Amanda.
In all the years I have used PowerPoint in preaching, that’s the first time that has happened. Guess I will have to turn off the Wi-Fi from now on.
Oh well, it gave people a good chuckle. One person commented that it showed how connected I was to my kids. That’s not a bad outcome for an interruption.
Leading with integrity July 5, 2009
Posted by wheelsms in Leadership, Quotes.add a comment
“Do what is right, not what you think headquarters wants or what you think will make you look good.”
H. Norman Schwarzkopf
The beauty of God’s creation July 4, 2009
Posted by wheelsms in Flowers, Photos, Trees.add a comment
The flowers and trees are certainly evidence of God’s creativity and glory (Psalm 9:1). What a great gift to enjoy!
A leader that people will follow July 3, 2009
Posted by wheelsms in Leadership, Scripture.add a comment
I was reading Psalm 78 this week and I was reminded of a devotional I wrote a few years ago when I was a free-lance writer for Walk Thru the Bible Ministries. It reminded me of the type of leader that I should strive to be.
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All morning, an instructor had been explaining leadership to a class of police recruits. Calling a man to the front of the class, he handed him a piece of paper on which was written: “You are in charge. Get everyone out of the room without causing a panic.” The recruit was at a loss for words and returned to his seat. The second man summoned tried: “Everybody outside. Go!” No one moved. A third man glanced at the instructions, smiled and said, “All right, men. Break for lunch.” The room emptied in seconds.
What is it that causes us to listen to some people and ignore others? What characteristics make it easy for us to be loyal to someone? To make the question more personal, How do we become a leader that people will follow?
Is the key to leadership being placed in a Position? Do we associate authority and influence with those who reach the corner office or have an impressive title? Is the secret of leadership to have totalitarian Power? If we speak louder, carry a gun, or bully people, will people follow our leadership? Should we work at developing a winsome Personality or charismatic appeal? Will charm buy us a loyal following? Will Position, Power, and/or Personality give us the following we desire?
One man who knew a thing or two about leadership was David, the greatest king in Israel’s history. Psalm 78:72 gives us some insight into what made David a successful leader. “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them” (NIV). David was a Shepherd Leader, who led with Integrity and Skill.
SHEPHERD LEADERSHIP
2 Samuel 23 records David’s leadership in the early days. He drew together the lonely and disaffected, and then shepherded them deeply and lovingly. One night when he and his troops were surrounded by the enemy, he let it slip that he was thirsty. He mentioned how he longed for a drink from his favorite watering hole. Inspired by love for their leader, three members of his team risked their lives to sneak behind enemy lines to bring David a jar of water. When they gave him the water, he was so moved by their expression of love that he poured it out as a worship offering.
An effective leader cares for his or her followers, and values their sacrifice.
INTEGRITY OF HEART
In order to be a leader, a man or woman must have followers. To develop a following, one must win the confidence of those he/she would lead. Since leadership is ultimately based on trust, it follows then that the supreme quality of a leader is unquestionable integrity. This quality is a non-negotiable, whether one leads on the assembly line, in the boardroom, on the football field, in the classroom, or in the army. If our associates find us guilty of hypocrisy, we will fail.
When people see their leaders stretching the truth or ignoring problems, they lose confidence in that leader. Followers don’t expect their leaders to be perfect, but they do expect them to be honest.
There should never be any discrepancy between our public life and our private life. We should always have a ready answer for the question, “Who are you when no one is looking?”
When people live lives of integrity, their followers assume they are trustworthy to lead. Integrity will gain a leader the benefit of the doubt from followers who do not yet see the vision as clearly as the leader does.
SKILLFUL HANDS
If you are looking for a leader to follow, look for someone with a caring, shepherd’s heart as well as someone who lives with integrity. If you want others to follow you, demonstrate those same qualities. In addition, a leader needs to show he or she has the skill necessary for the task. They need to demonstrate that they know what they are doing. This type of skill is probably best seen in a proven track record.
Some try to claim a position of leadership without first earning the right to be heard. They are like the job applicant who said, “Please don’t misconstrue my fourteen jobs as ‘job hopping.’ I have never quit a job.”
Since people are much more apt to support leaders who demonstrate faithful service, we need to develop a track record. If you don’t have a track record, start with some small projects that can be completed successfully. When people experience a string of small victories with their leader, they will be more willing to attempt something larger.
This was the path that David followed into leadership. He went from defending his father’s sheep to killing giants (1 Samuel 17:34-37). Those victories translated into a promotion in the army (1 Samuel 18:5) and later the praise of the city (1 Samuel 18:6-7).
Some people may be drawn to a cause by a visionary leader. But more people will risk their lives for a leader who will love, care, and shepherd them. If a man or woman can shepherd a group of people, then he or she is a leader, and they will lead people to accomplish great things.
If you want to be a leader that people will follow, shepherd your followers with integrity and skill.
Staying close – part 2 July 2, 2009
Posted by wheelsms in Family & Friends.add a comment
Speaking of close communication, I was able to “chat” with my daughter, Amanda, yesterday though we are worlds apart. I’m in Seattle and she is in Nairobi, Kenya, 10 time zones apart. Due to a slow internet connection on her end, we were not able to “video chat” but we could still do a “text chat.” Things have come a long ways since my first ministry trip to Russia in ‘92 when I was completely out of touch for 19 days. Ah, the joys of technology. What a great gift from God!
Staying close despite the distance July 2, 2009
Posted by wheelsms in Family & Friends, Parenting.add a comment
How do you maintain family closeness when everyone is in a different location? Once the kids go off to college, how do you encourage them to stay connected with each other’s lives? Assuming that they use Facebook and text one another, maybe the real question is, How does mom & dad keep up with what the kids are doing?
With three children in college and our family spread out from Seattle to Los Angeles to Boson, these questions are far from hypothetical. They are the reality we live with daily. And not just during the school year. With the kid’s summer plans involving trips to Africa and the Adirondack Mountains, it is even more of a challenge.
One of the best practices our family has engaged in the past few years is a family phone call on Sunday evenings. Initially, it started out as a simple phone call to the one who was away at school, with the rest of us on various extensions at home. As more started to leave the nest, we graduated to a three-way call. Now, with our family in four different locations, we are up to a conference call. We discovered a service called FreeConferenceCall.com. As the name says, it is free. The only charge is a normal long distance charge on our home phone and the minutes used on the kid’s cell phones, which is part of our package. As some of us now have video capabilities on our computers, we will probably graduate further to video conferencing.
Since communication is one of our family values, it is important for us to stay connected. While they are various tools and resources available to help us, it really comes down to making time for one another. And so far, it is working.
Cut it down and burn it July 1, 2009
Posted by wheelsms in Flowers, Preaching.add a comment
For the past two weeks, I have followed the advice of Nozzles the Elephant when it comes to gardening–”Cut it down and burn it.” In the classic story of “Golden rocks and the three pears” performed by Jungle Jam & Friends, The radio show, “Cut it down and burn it” is Nozzles’ advice when the gang discovers a pliffin pluffin ploffin pear tree that is not looking so good.
In a similar vein, we have, or perhaps I should say “had,” some rhododendrons in our front yard. They have not been looking very healthy for the past year. They were extremely overgrown, dusty, bug-eaten, and dry looking. This spring, they were all leaves and no flowers. So, the decision was made to “cut it down and burn it.” Since we can’t burn anything anymore, we did the next best thing. We severely pruned it back to the ground and filled up three weeks worth of yard waste bins.
Our hope is that by pruning away the dead and unhealthy parts, it will regrow as a healthy plant. And in another year or so, it will once again produce beautiful flowers.
There’s gotta be a sermon illustration in here somewhere.
The adventure is just beginning June 29, 2009
Posted by wheelsms in Family & Friends.add a comment
The stretching portion of my children’s summer activities is fully underway now. Caitlin left on Friday to lead her first backpacking trip of the summer. She and another Sherpa will be leading a group of high school students on a nine-day trip for the La Vida Center for Outdoor Education in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. Amanda left L.A. this morning for Africa where she will spend the next month in Nairobi, Kenya, and Pretoria, South Africa, on a business/missions internship with Enterprise International, an arm of CRM. Jonathan continues to grow as he spends the summer living in L.A. and working on campus at Biola University.
The stories they will tell of being stretched, discovering new strengths, facing weaknesses, learning to work with others, making new friends, gaining answers to prayer . . . I can hardly wait to hear about what God does in and through their lives over the next few weeks.
