Life Check

Well, life has been busy lately...good busy! We've got lots going on at church what with the Worship Night this week and Ocean Grove Worship coming up in a couple weeks. But I am really excited about what God is doing in and through the ministry. God is really moving in musical worship at the church lately! It's really cool and exciting to know that people are praising God and actively seeking Him to rule in their lives!

Throughout this time, though, I am thoroughly enjoying this book Worship Evangelism by Sally Morgenthaler.

She talks about how God can move in an unbeliever when he or she is around believers who worship in the service and experience genuine encounters with God. She cites a lot of biblical examples, particularly in Psalms, that often say "I will praise You among the nations" or "may all the peoples praise You." I'm envisioning people who come into our service and are changed over time from baby Christians to faithful disciples of Christ.

I do not totally agree with all of her thoughts because there are going to be a lot of people who won't step foot in churches because of either feeling burned by churches before, a negative view of the church, or other personal sentiments or feelings. We do need to step out of our church "bubbles" (as Pastor Adam so eloquently put it) because Jesus told us to. But, I do think that there are some awesome ideas that are represented here that are important for us to recognize.

If we can embrace some of these ideas as believers and allow ourselves to be free in our worship to God, He could do some awesome things not only in us but THROUGH us! We do, though, need to be ready to let go of our inhibitions, pride, and allow God to use us to glorify Himself in our worship expressions. Of course, our worship is to be reverent, relevant, and biblical, but God is glorified in our praises...it is important to Him. It should remain important to us, as well.