He Is So Good

At times over the years I would hear people talk about how they are, "looking forward to heaven" or how they, "wish they were in heaven now". I did not agree with their sentiment.

In fact, for a long time, I was pretty upset with the idea of heaven. Partly because of the enormity of eternity, it scared me when I tried to imagine it. It felt like I was falling.

The main reason I was not real excited about heaven was because heaven was described as worshipping God all day long.

With my viewpoint of worship at that point... heaven sounded more like a punishment.

I grew up in a pretty traditional church, where we sang mostly hymns led with a piano and organ. I have since found other styles that I tend to prefer, but I still love many of the classics; however, my issue was not the style of worship.

The issue was my perspective of worship; or more accurately, my perspective of God.

I viewed God as big, powerful, holy, angry, and terrifying. My interactions with God, started and ended with, a long list of profuse apologies.

Worship for me, was trying to sing God's anger away. It was not pleasant for me, and I am not so sure God was super excited about it either.

Worship, much like Christianity, is much simpler than many make it out to be. Christianity is about relationship; a relationship with Jesus. Worship is one part of that relationship.

When you sing a song about how good God is, that should reflect your observation of God's goodness. When you sing about God's love, that should also reflect your appreciation for the love God has shown you.

God is not self conscious, needing your affirmation to remind Him He is doing a good job. God is not angry with you, and the purpose of your worship is not to sing God's anger away.

Worship is about your response to God in your life. If during worship you find yourself awkwardly standing there mumbling through the words, hoping they do 4 songs instead of 5; I would suggest this is not a style issue, it is a you issue.

The real issue is your perspective of worship; or more accurately, your perspective of God.

Follow me on this thought.

When we walk with Jesus daily, we are constantly reminded of the goodness and the love of God. His work in our life leads us to talk to others about Him, and causes us to sing about His goodness.

Worship when done from a viewpoint of relationship, becomes so easy and freeing, regardless of the style of music. Heaven becomes an exciting reward. It's an eternity of worshipping God!

That sounds good to me, because He is so good to me.

Wouldn't You Rather Be Happy?

I know we are approaching the season of celebration, family, and giving. Yet, it seems that during this time, some of us struggle to even crack a smile.

For many of us, there are days where smiling would take as much effort as running a marathon.

Let's be honest though, those days are not every day.

So if you are struggling to get happy and stay happy, I hope to help.

Let me start off by saying, smiling is not happiness. People who smile when they are unhappy, look like someone who is lifting something very heavy.

You aren't fooling anyone.

You aren't helping yourself either. In Proverbs 17:22 it says, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." 

God isn't asking us to fake it. Joy is more than just the impression we give those around us. Our end goal is not to make people see us as a joyful person. Joy is for us too.

As this verse in Proverbs eludes to; joy builds us up physically, emotionally and spiritually. A lack of joy has the reverse affect. It kills us from the inside.

Part of the difficulty in finding joy in our life, is many of us attach joy to circumstance. If things are good, we feel good, if things are bad, we feel bad.

That is not a good way to live.

We are putting the control of our health in the hands of chance and circumstance.

Chance and circumstance are not your friends, they don't care about you.

In the Bible there are quite a few verses that instruct us to be joyful whether in all kinds of circumstances; Romans 12:2, James 1:2, Philippians 4:4, and 1 Thessalonians 5:16.

God wants us to detach our happiness from chance and circumstance.

Why?

True joy, true happiness comes with being close to God. We can be close to Him regardless of what's going on.

In Psalms 16:11 it says, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. 

Joy comes from being in God's presence. As we walk through life close to Him, we are constantly reminded of the love of God. We are never alone. When we can remember that, when we can keep that on our mind, we will have joy.

So stop trying to force a smile, it isn't working; and stop looking for happiness in circumstance. Circumstances change all the time.

Find your joy in God's presence, He will give you perfect joy.

Sure, control over your circumstances would be nice, but when you think about it, wouldn't you rather be happy?

It Will Make Things So Much Better

Ever wonder how you could be an encouragement to your Pastor? Allow me to help you with that.

One of the first Pastors I ever worked with, was Burney Heath. He is one of the most wonderful men of God I know.

Burney helped me with many of the practical parts of Ministry. He was an open book to me, and his guidance helped me to avoid countless pitfalls.

I did still manage to find a ton of pitfalls; I can only image how it would have been without his help.

One of the things Pastor Burney taught me about was the Monday Slump. I don't know if every Pastor deals with it; but Monday's can be tough because of the high you come down from on Sundays.

Personally, I set Monday aside as the day I torture myself with all the things I could have said, or should have said on Sunday.

I exaggerate for your reading pleasure... sort of.

The pressure of bringing a Word from God to the people that He loves so desperately, multiple times a week, is pretty overwhelming. To counsel and encourage people during the week, to help bring adjustments where they are needed, all of this can pile up quickly.

Your Pastor needs encouragement, and God has placed you in your church to be the encourager.

In Hebrews 13:17 it says, "Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you."

This may seem over simplified, but it is powerful.

I was asked to share a couple weeks ago at our Wednesday teen guys group. They had prepared some interview questions, and one of them was, "What did you have to sacrifice to pursue your career?" I answered honestly and quickly, but didn't realize how my response sounded until I saw their faces.

I said, "I gave up everything. My hopes, my dreams of a future, my ambition. I had to submit everything to God, and embrace His plans for me."

It was the best choice I ever made. Being a Pastor is such an awesome calling. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Regardless, this is the investment each Pastor makes. That is the cost.

Try to keep that in mind when reading Hebrews 13:17.

So what can you do? Have confidence in your Pastor as you follow them.

Just like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1 "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." Follow your leader as they follow Christ.

I know it sounds simple, but trust me. Follow your Pastor, follow them with confidence. It will make things so much better.