Words on Worship

In a day and age where the word "love" is flippantly thrown about in reference to any thing from football, to food, and family, it is sometimes hard to get a real understanding of what real love looks like. So what does love look like? Well it's like Saint Augustine said, "Love has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like. The Bible reminds us in 1 John,...

Yesterday we talked briefly about worshiping humbly before our God.  We cited Jesus as the preeminent example of humility as He left his throne in Heaven to come live among us as gentle servant and suffering Savior.  The humility of Christ was authentic and deliberate.  What an example for you and me!  It would do us all well to practice this kind of humility.  Humility is not having some mindset of self-deprecation and self-loathing, but rather it is knowing your strengths and being honest enough to recognize and admit your weaknesses.  Of course, Jesus has no weaknesses. But you and I do.  So humility starts with being honest about who...

Philippians 2:5-11 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.  Paul begins these verses by reminding us of the deliberate decision Jesus made to leave His throne in Heaven, renounce His privileges of deity, and dress down in human flesh in order to become a humble servant.  If ever there was a model for humility, Jesus is it.  So as we strive toward a lifestyle of worship, it would do us well to imitate Him as much as possible.  Obviously, we don't have a throne in heaven, but we do have a platform on this earth...no matter who we are.  Each one of us...

The word "integrity" comes from the root word integer.  An integer is any whole number, or a number that has no fraction.  So, as Henry Cloud explains in his book Integrity, a life of integrity is truly a life lived in wholeness or completeness.  For instance, if I want to have a complete marriage, then I must be wholly committed.  If I'm faithful to my wife 99% of the time, then that means I am not completely faithful, which shatters my integrity with her.  People of integrity live consistently. So it goes with our lifestyle of worship.  We must live lives of integrity.  Whether it be in the...

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that simply said, "Honor yourself." Although it is biblical to have a positive self-image and to treat your bodies as a temple unto the Lord, I do believe we have gone way overboard in our culture with this mindset.  The thought is always to look out for "Number 1" before we consider anyone else.  If you question this, then go stand in line at Toys-R-Us during the Christmas rush.  Or just drive down a highway during rush hour in any major city.  We live in a selfish society…and it's contagious.  We can so easily get caught up...