The Prodigal Son revisited

      I heard a message taught this last weekend that has really got me thinking and re-evaluating the way I think about the story of the prodigal son. Even if we don't know the bible well, most of us are aware of the story of the prodigal son and how it's always told. The story always focuses on the "evil" son who took all his inheritance and left his family to live it up in the world, at least that's how most of us have heard it taught. Most preachers/teachers stop at the son returning home and the father forgiving him and welcoming him back into the family. Yeah awesome, hallelujah and amen cause that's how most of us have been accepted into the kingdom of God rite? but what if we focused on the whole story rather then just the first part? There are two sons in this story remember? When we read this story Jesus meant for us to take into account both sons and their reactions but mostly the fathers reaction to his sons.
      When Jesus was telling this story he was telling it to a crowd which included the pharisees who were nothing but religious men who didn't understand the heart of the Father. You could say that the second son had a similar attitude. This is what has me rethinking things and evaluating my own heart. The second son was faithful to his Father, working hard, "slaving away and never disobeyed his orders." (Luke 15:29) This is why the son refused to celebrate his little brothers return. This son didn't have the heart of the father after all. Faithfulness alone, is just faithfulness. While it's a noble way of living, it's not what gets us what we think we are entitled to. God's grace alone and forgiveness is what gets us what we are entitled to...entitled isn't even the rite word...it's more what God wants to give us; our inheritance in Christ.
      I myself have falsely believed and have seen several other believers believe the same way, that if we are just simply faithful that God will celebrate us the way we should be celebrated! Many believers think they are entitled to something that they are not getting simply because they served faithfully. See the thing is we already have what we think we are entitled to...everything that is God's is ours, so why do we act in jealousy or with a religious attitude when someone who has been lost finds their way back home? why do we respond like the elder son and throw all their sins/faults in God's face or even their face? The last verse of this story really sums up what I am trying to say here, "My son, the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." (Luke 15:31-32) Jesus came to save the sinners, the lost the dead...he didn't come to save the religious. This is the Father's heart that the lost will be found the dead will rise and the blind will see. So which son are you more alike at this moment? Which son would you rather be? I know I don't want to be the religious one!

Seasons

     The last two years of my life have probably been the hardest I have ever had, dealing with massive disappointment and batteling depression and serious health issues. I found myself constantly saying "well if this had not happened" or "if this person had never done this" or "if I was in this position" or "if only I could be doing this" I was constantly looking at the what ifs and the shoulda-coulda-whatas! :) I was looking at past seasons in my life and wishing I could relive them or looking at what God has told me I would be doing in the future and wishing I could go there now rather then later. I found myself refusing to accept the season I was in even wanting to ignore advice from my pastor. If there is one thing I am learning from this experience though is to accept and charish the season you are living now. It's a daily learning process but if you allow yourself to wait for God and His timing then disappointment seems to fall to the waste side.


     When you refuse to accept the season you are in..it's like trying to stay awake at night and sleep during the day...It's like your body is always behind. When you want to sleep you can't and when your awake you want to sleep. It's backwards. You can't function in a normal life living while everyone else is sleeping. Instead we need to accept the time and place for everything. Night is time for sleep/rest. Day is for living, being awake. Just as there are seasons so our lives have seasons that we must go thru. Refusing to accept this does us no good but only keeps us in a constant state of disappointment. The key is knowing the timing of God for your life. God lives by timing and does things in his own time not in ours.

     Eccl 3: 1-8....1There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven-- 2. A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. 3. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. 5. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. 6. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. 8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

     When you know the timing and season you are in then you can enjoy everyday as it comes instead of always looking for the next season. I'm reminded of how everyone looks forward to the Holidays and the snow that comes with it...everyone says, "oh I can't wait for the snow I hope it's a white Christmas" but then the holidays are over and everyone can't wait for the snow to be gone but the sad thing is there are still 2 good months of snow left! ;) Looking forward to the next season in life is a good thing though as it keeps us moving forward, gives us renewed hope for what that season will bring. Learn to accept and appreciate the season you are in rite now, learn to walk in God's timing for your life not trying to rush it or slow it down...Live your life rite now, don't wait for the future or let it stay in the past...God's timing for you is rite now in this very moment...enjoy it and allow Him to move you.

Praise is the talk, Worship is the walk

Praise is the Talk and Worship is the Walk


A message by Anna Goldthorpe



It is my desire to share some things the Lord has taught me about worship. It is my hope that this is used to inspire us to evaluate our worship life. To come into His presence daily and to not ever become familiar with the God we serve.

John 4:21-24

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.” “But an hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

What does Jesus mean when he says worship the Father in spirit and in truth?

In Jesus’ time everyone had a distinct place they would go to worship, almost exactly like it is today. We all have our ‘church’ or ‘place of worship.’ The Jews go to their synagogues, the Muslims to their mosques, Christians to their churches/temples etc… We have a place to go and worship God. Jesus was simply saying to this woman that it’s not about the place you go to worship it’s about what you know you are worshiping. Jesus was saying that true worshipers don’t follow a set of man-made rules or buildings but know that they can worship at any time, any place.

Worship isn’t about a set of songs or waiving a banner or even playing an instrument; worship is more than that. It’s a heart condition, a lifestyle. Praise isn’t “fast” song and worship isn’t “slow” song! A lot of worship leaders have explained worship in this way, thus losing all the power and relationship that its’ actually supposed to bring. Worship is a lifestyle, lived through giving one’s self over completely to God. “True” worship comes out of a heart that is completely devoted and surrendered to Christ.

I once asked God, “What is the true meaning of praise and worship?” I believe it can be different for everyone but this is what He said to me. “Praise is the talk, and worship is the walk.” Let me set a foundation here.

• Praise = “to celebrate and boast”

Psalm 145:2 says, “Every day I will bless Thee, and I will praise thy name forever and ever.” This scripture is talking about blessing the Lord for his great and awesome deeds.

• Praise = “to commend”

Psalm 145:3 goes on to say “Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.”

• Praise = is inherited or passed down

Israel’s history shows that the people would share God’s wondrous works with their children; this created a trait of transmitting Christian faith to each generation. Simply put, praise is telling of what God has done, celebrating it, and lifting Him up for all He’s done and where He’s brought us from.

So, why praise at church with music and dancing? Well, for one major reason; it still transfers a spirit of faith from one generation to the next! Thus, bringing celebration and excitement about what God can do in the future, specially seeing what He’s done in the past.

Hebrews 2:12 says, "I will proclaim they name to my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing they praise." The word praise in this verse means "to sing a hymn" in order to make known to the congregation of Israel the purpose and plan that the Heavenly Father has in store for the congregation.

From time to time I hear people say, “Even though I have never heard him/or her say I love you, I know they do by their actions towards me.” This always saddens me because I know that it is a basic human need for others to love them and we long to hear the ones we love tell us they love us. It’s the same with God, He longs to hear us say to Him that we love Him and then show Him we do by our actions. Praise is exactly that, it’s verbal. Our children long for our praise when they do something well, as parents we love to give it to them because we know how important it is for them to hear it from us. Praise is verbally telling God how amazing He is and marveling at His wonders.

We have seen that praise is the response of the righteous for what God has done, but worship is the response of the righteous unto God for who He is, the admiration of His person.

Worship is the walk....

Worship is actually walking out the praise that you have given to God. You cannot have one without the other. If you only have have one it will be incomplete. Praise and worship when partnered together bring your words in line with your actions and enables you to fullfill Philippians 1:21 which states, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

Worship means to prostrate oneself in homage to royalty, bow down, crouch, fall down, humbly beseech, reverance. Worship involves an action rather then words. There are countless verses in the bible that talk about how worship involves bowing before the Lord kneeling before our Maker.

• Psalm 22:27 says, "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall bow down and worship before you."

• Psalm 95:6 says, "O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker[in reverent praise and supplication]

• After seeing the Lord pass before him before writing the 10 commandments on the tablets, Moses bows to the ground in worship of the Lord Exodus 34:8, "and Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship."

• After the spirit of the Lord made know his plan to Jehosophat, He bowed down. 2 Chronicles 20:18, "and Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord."

When was the last time you fell to the ground bowing in the Lord's presence? Worship is action rather then word, it's a heart response to the presence of God. When the spirit of the Lord draws near we should have no other response but to bow before Him in His presence, thus saying to the Lord we give you reverence, we humble ourselves before you.

When we are truely worshiping the Lord, we are laying down all our desires, all our needs and all our wants and only focusing on Him and what He wants. This brings the true character of Christ into our lives. When we present ourselves as a living sacrifice walking in line with his will and giving up our own, this is our spiritual act of worship. Worship becomes our walk, Praise becomes our talk.

To be Worshippers God seeks

     Worship today in many churches can almost be a formula. “We’ll do two fast and two slow,” this seems to be the most popular way of worship for a lot of churches. There is a purpose for the order, after all God himself tells us to have order in our services. 1 Corinthians 14:40 says, “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” I am not against having orderly services. What I am trying to understand and learn more of is having the heart of God when it comes to worship. I have been a worship leader for over 15 years and have led worship in various settings and in 4 different countries, and what I have seen and experienced the world over is that when people come with the heart of God rather than trying to follow a specific formula of “we’ll do this song exactly 2 times and this song for this long…” that God shows up! Yes, we make our plans and try to follow them so that we stay in order with the service, but we must also make room for the holy spirit to move amongst us, after all the bible says that where 2 or more are gathered in His name, he is there in their midst.” Mathew 18:20. In the preceding verse (19) Jesus says that when two or more agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.


     If we want God to show up in our worship we must agree together for his presence to be amongst us rather than focusing on our little formula and perfectly smooth program. The key for God to show up is unity and having a heart that longs to be close to Him. I am constantly drawn to the verse in Isaiah 29 which states, “these people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (v. 12-14) I myself have been guilty of this several times. I have stood in the front leading others into worship but my heart was far from God. My focus was on how great our team sounded or how awful someone was singing and sometimes even on worrying about what the pastor was thinking about how our team sounded. Even now as I write this my heart grieves looking back at the times when my heart was not focused on God, my lips were saying all the rite things, yet my heart was far from God.

     Our main purpose as worship leaders is to bring the people into agreement about one thing, How Great Our God is. Our job is to be in unity with one another and to bring everyone else into agreement. This way God will answer when we call upon Him, He will do what we ask of Him if our hearts are for Him, in agreement with one another in unity. The more I lead worship, I only become more convinced that my job is to bring the people into agreement proclaiming the Greatness of our God for that is what softens the heavy heart. God may we honor you not only with our lips but with our hearts for you, that we may proclaim your greatness to the ends of the earth!

What can I offer?

To live in America is to live in blessing. I have a roof over my head, food in my stomach, clothes on my back, access to descent health care and a great education. As a teenager, I thought I had it all and often took advantage of that fact. My future was shining brightly, and I felt I had so much to offer the world. That is, until I went on a missions trip with my youth group to the Philippines. From the moment I first stepped out of that plane to the moment I visited a hospital, I realized that what I had to offer really wasn’t very much.

Our first mission’s job was to visit a local hospital. I expected it to be like any hospital in America; white, clean, quiet and bustling with busy doctors and nurses. Our guide/translator led us to the room where we would be spending our time visiting with sick patients. As I walked into the tiny, one window room crammed to overflowing with sick and injured children, I was instantly overwhelmed with emotion. Here I was, sent to offer them some kind of hope and yet I felt so helpless. The room was dirty, loud with the cries of children moaning in pain, and smelt as if I had walked into a sewer. It was all I could do to keep myself from covering my nose so I wouldn’t offend them.

As my guide led me to the other side of the tiny room, I saw that most of these children were lying on what looked to be merely plywood covered with one small sheet. There were even those who had to share one of these makeshift ‘beds’. All of the sudden the smell seemed to get worse as if a gush of wind had blown into the room. My guide sat me down next to a bed with a big mosquito net draped around it and I finally was aware of the source of the offensive smell. A tiny frame of a body lying there in front of me, I could not tell if it was a male or female as this child had tried to commit suicide by fire. My guide informed me that ‘she’ had in fact done this to herself because voices told her to. I sat speechless for several minutes not knowing what I could say to her that would offer her any kind of hope. The nurse who was fanning her to keep her cool from the massive burns, stared at me as if to say ‘go ahead white woman, astonish us’. It wasn’t until I felt an impatient tap on the shoulder from my guide that I snapped out of the trance of feeling helpless. Finally, I knew what to do, it wouldn’t be astonishing, but it would be the most sincere thing I have ever done in my life. I stood up and leaned in to take her hand in mine, the nurse gasped, as she didn’t expect me to touch her. Surprisingly her hand felt cool but shriveled like melted wax. I quietly asked her if I could pray for her, the only thing I felt I had to offer her. The sound of my guide asking the same question in a language she would understand filled my ears. Then the answer, ‘Yes, she would like you to pray for her’ in broken English. So, I prayed, the most passionate, heart-felt prayer I think I have ever prayed in my life.

To this day, I don’t remember the words I uttered in prayer that day, but I will always remember that whatever I said had some sort of effect on her because I watched one tear escape her eyes, burnt beyond recognition. I walked away feeling as if she had given me more then I had given her. She had made me realize how blessed I really was and that whatever I chose to do in life I would know exactly how lucky I am. I am more than lucky…I am blessed.

What's an augmented view?

If you do a basic search on the term augmented, google will display several pages and definitions of the term.  Most of them are musical, which I'll admit is the definition I was thinking of when first thinking about this blog.  The musical term means-a musical intereval made one half step greater than a major or perfect interval.  The non musical term means-to make larger, enlarge in size, number, strength, or extent; increase.  The definition that really caught my eye however, was augmented reality meaning- a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whos elements are augmented by virtual computer generated imagery.  So, basically when something is augmented it is taking what you are seeing in real life and transforming it to virtual imagery.  My blog will capture what I'm seeing in real life pertaining to God, music, politics etc, and transpose it to a virtual view of some sort.