Words on Worship

When my son Cooper was younger, we had a hard time getting him to eat his food at the table.  On one occasion, we could not get him to even eat three bites of his lunch that my wife had so lovingly prepared.  We grew very frustrated with Cooper and his stubbornness, so after quite a bit of negotiating, I had enough.  I told him he would have to sit at that table until he ate at least half his lunch.  Would you believe at 5:00 that afternoon, he still had not eaten?  It was a Sunday, and time for us to be back to...

You remember the story of Peter walking on the water? It was a terrifying storm out at sea.  The disciples are working hard to keep their boat upright, and then they see what appears to be a ghost approaching them, walking on the water. The next thing we know is that Peter jumps out of the boat and begins to walk on water towards Jesus.  But suddenly Peter begins to sink.  Was it because the storm was so rough?  I mean, everyone knows you can't walk on water during a storm, right?  Oh wait, you can't walk on water when it's as calm as glass,...

Have you ever felt the urge to cheat on a test?  Or run a red light?  Or maybe you watched something on TV that you knew was wrong, but stayed there a little too long?  We have all done something like this, and each time we do it compromises our integrity.  We must remember that as worshipers, it is our responsibility to live for Jesus in all things…the big and the small. Even if it seems like a harmless and minor little infraction, as believers we must maintain absolute integrity, both in public and in private.  You've heard it said before, but it bears repeating,...

Self-ambition can be a good thing.  But it can also get us in trouble pretty quickly, especially when our ambitions work outside of the will of God.  My friend Lance Witt in his book Replenish says, "There is a difference between exposing something and extinguishing something." Self-ambition is exposed in many of us when we work so hard to accomplish our goals.  But when those goals move beyond the will of God, it's time to extinguish them and seek His face to see where we went astray.  You will never be satisfied if your self-ambition causes you to succeed in the world's eyes and yet fail in...

I recently recorded a song by Matt Redman bearing the title “Jesus, Only Jesus.”  In fact, I like that title so much I named the entire project Only Jesus.  It will be available September 9 on iTunes.  The reason I like that title is because, as a worshiper that sums up what worship should be about…only Jesus.  Colossians 1 is such an awesome passage describing just how worthy Jesus is to be the sole object of our worship.  Paul reminds us in this passage that Jesus is the only one who can deliver us from darkness and save us from our sin.  Jesus is the very image...