Vashawn Mitchell:Nobody Greater

Get your Ipods and MP3 players out and put this one on the top of your playlist.  Enjoy!

Created 2 Worship

Sometimes we just need a little reminder of why we are here. This song really ministers to me. Enjoy!

Unchurched Christians?

Nearly two-thirds of all unchurched adults—people who have not attended a church activity in the last six months—identified themselves as “Christians,” according to a recent study by the Barna Group.

The survey revealed that 28 percent of the population—some 65 million adults—have not participated in any church activities or services in the past six months. As many churches try to attract this group to worship on Sunday, the study showed that the makeup of unchurched Americans may be surprising.

For example, 18 percent of unchurched Americans say they are born again, that they have “made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today” and that they will go to heaven only because they have accepted Him as their Savior. Two-thirds (68 percent) say God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe. However, slightly more than one-third (35 percent) agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all its principles, and only 15 percent say their religious faith is very important in their life.

Demographically, among the unchurched, women outnumber men, baby boomers and older generations outnumber younger generations, and conservatives outnumber liberals.

Why does such a large group of people who believe in God avoid church? The Barna Group claims that a previous study may shed some light on the question. The study showed that 37 percent of non-churchgoing Americans avoid churches because of negative past experiences in churches or with church people. [barna.org, 4/12/10]

Hebrews 10:23-25 (NKJV)
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Many people have become disillusioned with the current state of the “church.”  Often, the unchurched have an innocence that we life-long, card carrying members have lost.  They tend to recognize that the church should be a movement.  The early church gives us numerous examples of that fact.  They also recognize that the church is not a monument.  There is nothing wrong with being proud of the facility in which you worship, but many take it too far.  However, they miss the mark on the importance of assembling ourselves together.  Sure, they have a personal relationship with Jesus, but how is that relationship being cultivated?  The fact is that we need each other.  We should be encouraging one another, organizing ourselves in order to win souls for the kingdom and so much more.  How can we accomplish any of these goals if we are not on one accord?  And what example are we for the lost if after we have been given the privilege of drawing near to God, thanks to salvation through Jesus Christ, yet we fail to do so?

Failure to assemble ourselves also makes us easy targets.  I can not help but think of National Geographic when a lion is on the prowl.  Beautiful antelopes or gazelles suddenly sense danger and they communicate the need to rally together and flee.  Meanwhile, the lion is always on the lookout for the slowest, weakest or better still, the loner.  Our enemy works the same way.  He would love to get us by ourselves with no one to encourage us or pray us through our situations.

Many will argue that the assembly spoken of in scripture was much different from our Westernized assembly and they are correct.  However, once we choose to join a body we should be useful parts of that body. Whether you assemble in the basement of a house, a mega-church, tent or college dorm it is up to believers to encourage one another.   Let us not be of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved!

Spontaneous Worshipper

Spontaneous worship.  Would you? Could you, without the prompting of the praise leaders on Sunday morning– just worship?  Could you really lose sight on yourself, your situation and the things around you and simply worship?  I’m not referring to the automated hand claps and victory laps that we have been programmed to think are “real worship.” Not just physical worship because the praise team just sang our song–it has to be more.  Our hearts and minds have to no longer be so cognizant of who we think we are.  We must make a decision to worship God for who He is!

Today, I ran across an interesting video that I believe captured worship. An up and coming musician, Carlos Whittaker, was attempting to record a promotional video for his upcoming release when a homeless man, Danny, walks up to him as he prepares to sing.  Danny appears to kneel in reverence as he worships through song. It is difficult to ignore the sincerity in both of their voices.  The result is amazing.

Carlos shares some more on his blog that is hard to pick up from the video:

If you listen carefully at the end you hear me saying this to Danny. “Keep trying to make it man.”

He looked me square in the eye… cocked his head sideways with a confused look on his face… and said, “Trying to make it? No man. I ain’t trying to make it… I’m making it. Jah puts his soldiers everywhere. Jah says, Yea though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death… So he places some of us, in that valley.”

What is so amazing is that this obviously homeless man understands that he might just be there for a reason.  I know that would be a hard pill to swallow for most of us.  Yet, with humility he seems to have accepted the call and continues to simply worship.  Could you?

What Do I Owe?

I am not a morning person.  I prefer to stay up late and sleep in.  However, as a responsible wife and mother I have learned to sacrifice many of my personal preferences for my family.  It is only right.  I have to make sure that I get rest because they deserve my best.

Likewise, as believers we often give God our leftovers instead of our best, our “first fruits.”  God deserves our best honor, respect and faithfulness.  The pressures of life often cause us to displace our priorities.  We make it to work on time, but we drag ourselves into every church service.  We will spend time studying and researching just about anything but the Word of God.  It becomes an afterthought.  We name the name of Christ, but we live carelessly.  “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  Matthew 6:33

In the first chapter of Malachi we find Malachi, which means my messenger, rebuking the people and the priests for failing to live according to God’s will and neglecting true worship.  They brought unclean sacrifices of sick and diseased animals before God.  They allowed sinful habits to monopolize their time.  Malachi challenged the priests and the people to re-evaluate their haphazard worship and disobedience.

God loves us even when we ignore or disobey Him.  That same loving God hates careless living and hypocrites. By giving God our leftovers we repeat the same mistakes as these worshipers.   It may require us to wake up earlier for our daily devotion with Him.  We owe him that and much more.  We cannot be in commune with God without sacrificing our will for His.  After all, he gave us His best, Jesus Christ, to whom we are forever in debt.  And what is more is that He has great blessings for our faithfulness.

Worship

I grew up in the church watching and sometimes mimicking the saints and their different methods of worship. Since it was a holiness church, most of those expressions of worship were what I deemed loud, over animated, and were solely meant for others entertainment. For example, the louder your “hallelujah” or the more unique your dance (shout) was the closer you were to God.

It was not until I was much older and I experienced God’s presence for myself that I understood why these saints emotions and the methods in which they worshiped ran the gamut. David writes in Psalm 27:8 that his heart told him to worship the Lord, so he did. Corporate worship encourages the hearts of the saints. According to Psalm 22:25, David promised the Lord that he would praise him in the meeting of his people. I’m glad that I finally recognize the voice of the Lord and know that God is honored by all who worship Him. Psalm 149:9 David danced before the Lord but when he did not feel like dancing he wrote psalms or played his harp. Worship is how we demonstrate our awe, adoration, and affection for God. While I may never “shout” or run laps around the sanctuary, my worship is for real.