Worship starts with seeing God. It’s an amazing thing that we get to see God at all, since no worship happens until we get a glimpse of God. seeing God begins with God, ’cause thankfully, God wants to be seen. And I am oh so happy about just that — because if God didn’t want to be seen, I would never see Him. And if I never saw Him, I would never worship Him. God wants us to know who He is

Worship is also a celebration of grace. Every second, of every hour, every day of our God-given lives is a celebration of grace. Every time we sing it’s a song of grace. every melody, every harmony, is a music manifested in grace. Every beat, every rhythm, every breath is a breath of grace. Every glimpse of God is a glimpse of grace.

For us to know God means grace. For us to lead people of God means grace! For there to be a people of God means grace; for there to be songs about God means grace. For there to be a gathering of believers like means grace!!

Nothing happens apart from the grace of God. And I think the degree that i am facedown in my life is to the same degree that i am aware of the grace of God.

I’m not in that place of saying, “we’ll were gonna meet with God, isn’t that great!” like we’re gonna meet with God like we’re gonna meet with somebody else… but I just hope that we would just carry in our hearts the amazement, the continual unfading amazement of what it means to be invited into the presence of God! –invited to know Him and to see Him as He is, it is about grace.

And we just breathe in and out the grace of God, every moment we are alive.

Dear ______,

There’s so much I want to say to you, but I’m not sure where I should begin. Should I start by telling you that I love you? Or that the days I’ve spent with you have been the happiest in my life? Or that in the short time I’ve known you, I’ve come to believe that we were meant to be together? I could say all those things and all would be true, but as I reread them, all I can think is that I wish I were with you now, holding your hand and watching for your elusive smile.

In the future, I know I’ll relive our time together a thousand times. I’ll hear your laughter and see your face and feel your arms around me. I’m going to miss all of that, more than you can imagine. You’re a rare gentlemen, _____, and I treasure that about you. In all the time we were together, you never pressed me to sleep with you, and I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. It made what we had seem even more special, and that’s how I always want to remember my time with you. Like a pure white light, breathtaking to behold.

I’ll think about you every day. Part of me is scared that there will come a time when you don’t feel the same way, that you’ll somehow forget about what we shared, so this is what I want to do. Wherever you are and no matter what’s going on in your life, when it’s the first night of the full moon — like it was the first time we met — I want you to find it in the nighttime sky. I want you to think about me and the week we shared, because wherever I am and no matter what’s going on in my life, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. If we can’t be together, at least we can share that, and maybe between the two of us, we can make this last forever.

I love you, _____ _____, and I’m going to hold you to the promise you once made to me. If you come back, I’ll marry you. If you break your promise, you’ll break my heart.

Love,
xoxoxo

I actually finished reading this chapter over 3 weeks ago, but didn’t get the chance to write this up until now. This is the 4th installment in my blog series on the book, 5 Paths to the Love of Your Life (ed. Alex Chediak, Th1nk Books, 2005).  I have been very much looking forward to posting this, since the topic and issues related to this fourth path could easily be controversial and a turn-off to many in today’s culture of dating — even within Christian and Southern Baptist circles.

When I began typing up the summary and reflection to this chapter, I actually had to pause and really examine my heart and intentions. Simply put, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the height from which I had fallen from grace — the distance so many of us Christians have departed from how Scripture commands us to treat one another in romantic relationships. Like the church in Ephesus, Jesus’ Spirit revealed to me this one sin that is somewhat hidden from our public Christian persona: that we have abandoned the love we had at first, namely Jesus Christ. And like in Revelation 5, Christ Jesus calls us to remember the place from where we have fallen; repent of our sin of idolatry — making all our earthly loves greater than our love for Jesus; and to return to do the things we did when we first fell in love with Jesus — communing with Him in daily devotion and prayer.

Having rededicated ourselves to Christ as our sole-sufficiency, let us now take a look of the long-forgotten betrothal path.

Chapter/Path 4 (Jonathan Lindvall):

The Betrothal Path

Definition

Betrothal is a covenant relationship that defines the process between singleness and marriage. The covenant is as irrevocable as marriage (no breaking up), but it does not authorize physical union. The betrothal period is a season of preparation for marriage — particularly preparation of your heart.

Distinctives

• Breaking up is unacceptable. Once you are betrothed, marriage is inevitable. Therefore, careful seeking of God’s will is necessary. Your parents should be involved in this process, helping you seek God’s Word and His leading.
• Human marriage is metaphorical for the church’s marriage with Christ. Although our wedding feast with our Bridegroom in heaven has not yet happened, we are betrothed to Him right now, and that covenant cannot be broken.
• Although the covenant is as irrevocable as marriage, sexual union isn’t permitted until you are actually married.
• If you date or flirt with someone you are not betrothed to, you are defrauding him or her, his or her future spouse, and your future spouse.
• In betrothal, the motto is not “Marry the one you love” but rather “Love the one you marry.”

Key Verses

• 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-23; Revelation 19:9 (bride of Christ)
• Matthew 1:18-20
• Deuteronomy 22:22-29
• 1 Corinthians 7:32-33
• 1 Thessalonians 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:9 (defrauding)

Key Benefits

• Betrothal helps protect against emotional and physical damage because you are giving your heart and body solely to one person.
• Unlike dating or courtship, betrothal is prescribed in Scripture. So if you’re looking for a way to follow Scripture more explicitly, betrothal is a good option.
• In Betrothal, you enter a committed relationship from the get-go, instead of anticipating or being insecure about a breakup.
• “Falling in love” is a by-product of betrothal instead of a requirement for marriage.
• Betrothal, like courtship, creates an environment for obeying God by honoring your parents.

Potential Problems

• You have to be careful when making this crucial decision because “the heart is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). You could make hasty decisions if you’re following your heart only and not tapping in to Christ’s words and will.
• Betrothal requires that a bride and groom make an effort to set good communication patterns during their betrothal, as they are to have had virtually no intimate conversation prior to covenant.
• Betrothal could be used as a manipulative tool for selfish people who are not surrendered to Christ. It is a good protection only when practiced by loving people

Personal Reflections

Read the rest of this entry »

Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past.
Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

-JFK

The WorshipGod Conference is a biennial event devoted to the theology, practice, and joy of God-honoring worship.

WorshipGod06 was held in August 2006. Audio messages from this and previous worship conferences are available at the Sovereign Grace Store. For more resources for worship leaders, visit the Worship Matters blog written by Bob Kauflin, our director of worship development.

WorshipGod08

The next WorshipGod conference will be held July 30–August 2, 2008, at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It will begin on Wednesday evening and end on Saturday (around 1:00 p.m.). Lunch will be provided on Thursday and Friday.

Registration will open online in January, at the following rates:

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27

It’s Christ in us that is the Hope of Glory.

What is your hope of glory?
The world has a lot of hope of glory, but it’s all external hope.

The world says that for you and me to be complete, you need to have something done to you.
You need to have someone with you. It’s all about relationships, for that’s how you feel complete.
You need to have circumstances right around you in order to have a sense of completion in life.

You gotta improve your view of you.

You must have something said about you.
You must have a position or title bestowed upon you.
You must have more things that are owned by you.
You must wear the right thing on you.
You must be complete by the things that are accomplished through you.

They are all external things.
They are all external modifications that the world says this is how you make your life complete.

But you’ve got bigger problems than that.
You need an internal transformation.