The beautifully okay sound of worship

At church last sunday I remember being frustrated with the worship. All the instruments were quiet, but the vocals were loud. And there wasn't really any energy on stage, it looked to me like they were playing as if they were being paid to do it, but didn't want to. They're all quite talented, but none of them look like they really want to be there.

As I was stirring in my frustration at this (a megachurch can surely do better), I heard a man in front of me singing pretty loudly. He wasn't a bad singer, but it was clear that music/singing isn't something he often participates in. Something about his okay voice sounded beautiful to me. I pictured him as someone with a desk job of some sort. To see him unashamedly crying out with his voice, contributing to the choir of christ followers in making a joyful noise, just reminded me of the whole point of worship.

How many times and and how many ways to I need to learn this lesson before I finally get it!!

Sure, all of my original criticisms could bring people to a state of worship "better", but in the end it's all about the heart of the worshipper. You don't need a perfectly mixed sound setup for worship (otherwise how have people been worshipping before sound technology starting coming about?), you need a heart willing to offer everything to God, including your okay voice.

The analogies are everywhere. They're... omnipresent

The only way I can understand God being in everything is that everything seems to be an analogy for him

Being an engineer[ing student] has it's drawbacks. One of them is that you spend a lot of time staring very intently at a computer screen, a self-crafted sheet of scribbles known as math, or the notes of a professor who's english letters occasionally resemble greek characters. This is not very helpful for those who enjoy good eyesight.

My eyes have gotten a lot worse over the past few years. I get so focused on pretending the colorful pixels in front of me aren't just 1's and 0's that I literally begin to lose sight of everything around me. Likewise, if you're so focused on the immediate things in your life, you'll miss the big picture. Put well by Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

To take it further, if you always focus on the issues of the material, the physical, the things you can see, you lose sight of the wonderful beauties and mysteries that lie outside the realm most readily accessible to our senses.

"The only way I can understand God being in everything is that everything seems to be an analogy for him"

In all of the beautiful things...

As the time of day began to steal the natural light from my room, a beautiful sunset was offered as a non-negotiable trade. And what a beautiful sight. I had to see the sunset through a smudgy glass window with the interference of several trees and a building. If I chose to not look, I would have been ignorant of such an amazing event occurring 180˚ from my line of sight. If I wanted a better look, I could have walked outside, despite the biting cold whispering in my ear that it isn't worth it. But what a sight that would have been.

Isn't that just what God is like? Sometimes we don't even notice God, maybe because we don't always choose to look. Sometimes we see God through the smudged windows and tree branches of our lives, which seemingly blemish the character of God such that He isn't worth a second glance. But if we're willing to fight against all the things that resist our journey towards a more beautiful existance, it will always be worth it.

Such is the nature of relating things to God... the analogy breaks down, in that a sunset will never compare to Him. Still, it seems that a bit of God is in all of the beautiful things.

All Are Welcome

I've definitely read through Romans at LEAST twice before, but until today I never really noticed how in chapter 15, Paul cites so many references from the Old Testament of prophecies about God's plan to include Gentiles in the picture.

I guess it's just another way to show how stubborn the Jewish leaders in Jesus' time were. But I feel like the bigger point is that God knew that the beautiful event of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was going to do everything that is always talked about - reconciliation of sins, great teaching/preaching ministry, etc - but by including everyone on the mystery of God, would also take the world one huge step closer to every tongue shall confess... every knee shall bow.

Sorry for the run-on, I should get my brakes checked.

Just somethin to believe in

Today I saw a bumper sticker that said,

"Kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us."

and I thought, "wow, what a great example of a truth that misses the point"

I guess we all just really want something to believe in and be passionate about. It's sad when that something is just some thing.

Begone, Rationalizations

A thought just popped into my head.

To not make sense is quite literally to be ungodly ... to be the opposite of Godlike.

How did you possibly get to that conclusion? and why did it work?

Life is so complicated sometimes. As an analytical person, I'm amazed at the certainty with which non-analytical people make life decisions, or even come to conclusions. On one hand, it can seem shortsighted to make big decisions without sifting through the various facts or potential consequences. On the other hand, I sometimes admire the seemingly whimsical nature of how they make decisions. Sometime I get into an analysis paralysis of sorts.

Everybody is different, and would it be fair if people who's brains simply weren't analytical made poorer decisions in life? We all have different giftings, different ways of thinking, different strengths and weaknesses. I guess the key is to use these to the best of your ability.

After all, weren't we made to worship?

"Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise"