Perspectives

What you see depends on where you stand.

When my daughter was in grade school we took her to Riverfront Park to see President Bush (the first) and Speaker of the House, Tom Foley. It was a rare thing for the two of them, from different political parties, to have a joint event. We thought it would be a good opportunity for her to see the two of them even if she later wouldn't remember the event. There was quite a crowd in the park and though we had a good spot to view the ceremony, my daughter was small enough that she wouldn't see any of it. Giving little thought to those behind us, I hoisted her onto my shoulders so that she could see more than the legs of the people in front of us.

Life is like that. Sometimes we need some help to see what is right in front of us. We don't have the height to see beyond the legs of those in front of us. It's easy to lose our focus, or our grasp of the goal, if we can't see past the close stuff.

The last few weeks since our decision to accept the opportunity to minister in Central Asia have been full of anticipation. We can think of a myriad of things that need to be done. Some of them can be done early and gotten out of the way. There are others that need to wait. We need some wisdom to discern the difference.

In the mean time it's important to keep our eye on the goal - we're to follow God's leading step by step to serve him where he leads. At this time, it's apparently Central Asia. Later is in HIS hands.

Worshipping the King

Suzanne and I had dinner last night with a friend whose mother attends the church. We has a far ranging discussion about our move to Kazakhstan, church and his mother's up-coming death.

His mother is a believer who came to Christ as an adult. She has seen a large number of family come to know Christ's forgiveness through her witness and prayers. We're looking forward to her "graduation party".

We spent quite a bit of time talking about church in general and reaching multiple generations. One indicator of a healthy church is intergenerational activities. We agreed that there are a few keys though this certainly isn't a comprehensive list:

• Authentic worship - the leaders have to be worshippers first and not "cheer leaders" of the service. They have to be in awe of the One Who is Worthy and not just following the schedule of worship.
• Quality - this is not to say that every aspect has to be professional grade, but that the Lord deserves our best. Shoddy effort or product won't enhance worship.
• Right Focus - Worship is about Christ. It's about who God is and what he desires of us. It's an opportunity to lay our lives before him in surrender and adoration. Worship is about Him - not about us. True worship may not make me feel anything - though I hope it does. True worship is when I've declared the goodness of God and surrendered to his purposes. It's not whether I've sung my favorite song, had a stirring conversation with a friend or heard a sermon that I agree with. True worship is about Him.

There are a lot of other things that can be said about worship. Suffice it to say that it is perhaps the highest privilege a believer has. That the Great God of the universe would allow me into his presence for anything - would take any notice of me - is an astounding thing. That he wants to relate to me, spend time with me, that he invites me into his presence is a wonder I'll never understand.