Words on Worship

We all live two lives.  As my friend Lance Witt says in his book Replenish, we all have a front-stage life and a back-stage life.  Obviously, the front-stage life is the one everybody sees.  "It's where we are noticed, where the spotlight is on us, and where people applaud and affirm us."  But, we also have a back-stage life. The back-stage is often private, dark and messy. No audience is back there, and there is no spotlight, which means there is no glory either.  But, if we neglect the back-stage life, eventually the front-stage life will fall apart.  What happens back-stage facilitates and powers what happens on the...

My little boy once asked me, "Do I have to use soap EVERY time I take a shower?"  Of course my answer was "YES!"  The water of a shower does wonders, but it's the soap that washes the dirt away thoroughly. And just as soap gets the dirt off our skin, so the blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sin. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Everyone sins; that's just a fact.  But when we sin, we must repent and turn from it...

There are over 23,000 types of trees…and every type has roots.  The root system of a tree usually grows between two to four times the width of the tree, establishing a foundation for growth and fed by the water and minerals of the soil.  The better the soil, the stronger the roots, the healthier the tree.  You can't see the roots, but they determine the health of that tree.  And so it goes in our lifestyle of worship.  Jesus warns us about seed thrown in stony areas where the soil is bad (Matthew 13:6).  There is no place for roots to take hold, and so the...

We are in the heart of spring now, and for many of us, that means we get out and start cleaning all the outside areas of the house that had been neglected throughout the winter.  Isn't it amazing how messed up things can get when we just ignore them? You know, the same applies to our lives. We don't have to intentionally fall into some great sin to wake up one day and realize that our simple inactivity has allowed apathy and complacency to enter our lives, and slowly, but surely we are no longer passionate about living a life of...

It's May Day!   For many, it signifies international workers day in recognition of that fateful day in Chicago's Haymarket Square, when a peaceful demonstration turned violent.  The issue at hand was workers protesting their right to an 8-hour workday and the chance to be off work on Saturdays.  It's a long story, but largely because of these efforts, we have 8-hour workdays, 40-hour work weeks, child labor laws, and we can celebrate weekends in this country.  So what does this have to do with worship?  Well quite simply, I want to challenge you to worship God while you are at work.  Worship is not just...