The 8 Distractions to Corporate Worship

1. People walking around.
2. People talking to each other. 
3. People looking at their watches. 
4. People yawning.
5. People frowning.
6. People sleeping. 
7. People texting.
8. Cell phones ringing.

The Presence of God: Future, Present, and even Past

Lord, you who are eternal. The eternal future, through Jesus the Christ, you have chosen me to share with you. Even the current, today this moment, you have chosen to make your presence real. You are always present as Teacher, Savior, Comforter, Shepherd, and Lord. How my soul thrills at you Hand now and forever.
How my soul yarns to comprehend eternal past. Now and always will be are so simple compared to always has been. No beginning, what a truth that make my thoughts ache. How wonderous and deep you are.
May I in my weak, sick, sinful condition be ever aware of your precious presence. How different, and pleasing to you I would be.

Giving Thanks 2013

Pastor Rick and I were in one of our weekday afternoon prayertimes when he mentioned that he could not believe how fast 2013 has been going. As I thought about that I realized how much I needed to thank God for this year. I am thankful for the 34 years that God has kept me in His hand. That Amazing Grace and Steadfast Love that empowers me to love my co-workers, and neighbors. That unending forgivenss that reminds me to give and seek mercy and forgiveness continually. And especially to strive to love God and love my neighbor.

I am greatly thankful for the Second Greatest Gift God has given me. For nearly 25 years, the Lovely and Gracious Lisa has been my best friend, and partner in the lifelong pursuit of God. She has challenged me to holiness, bound up my wounds, and has made me laugh with joy constantly.

One of the greatest trophies of strength and grace in the later year is my 84 year old father Bret Blair. He served 26 years side by side with my mother in loving faithful ministry. For the past eight years he continued to serve as a widower. (Reminds me how thankful I am for the lives of Marie Schroeder and June Oliver)

I do not know how many notice and appreciate the greatness of Pastor Rick Oliver. Also I wonder the same for his loving and devoted wife Donna. Together these two have given themselves to serving God and people. No body travails to prepare, deliver and live out the bible as much as Pastor Rick.

When God instituted the local body of believers, His Church, He was creating something very precious. A place where believers meet to worship God, fellowship with one another, and receive discipleship training to serve God and others in a growing Christlike manner. I am especially thankful to those serve and challenge me in this ministry. For Doug Hayes who faithfully rides the van with me on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. For Bill and Lisa Uporsky who lovingly serve in the Wednesday night Teen Club.

As we enter 2014, we are going to probably face challenges that will test and strengthen our faith. We might lose a loved one along the way. Face physical and/or financial problems. And even fall for the temptation of sin. The one, the greatest, and only real comfort will be is that God will nor leave us or forsake us. That is the Pre-eminent Thanksgiving Praise of all!

Before Sunday's Sunrise

Father, today as we prepare to worship you together with other believers. May we remember that there is no worship without recognizing Your Perfect Holiness and Love. And like the first humbly recognizing our sinful weaknesses at the same time meekly submitting our strengths to Your will. Help us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. And love our neighbors more than we love ourselves.

Before Sunday's Sunrise

At lunch today we had on of those Seminar and meals. It was about Hellanistic and Homiopathic Healthy Lifestyles. I found it to be very informative and even somewhat biblical.
Particularly in something called Tap Thereopy. Now in the thereopy itself but in the instuctor teaching it. During the time of her presentation I noticed she would tap under her nose. This was no big deal, and I was not wondering why she was doing. I just noticed it. When she got to the Tap Thereopy part she showed a "map" of the head where the effective spots to tap were. Again I noticed that spot under the nose. She even mentioned that Tap Thereopy was so conveniant that you could do this anywhere anytime and people would not know you were doing it. So I raisef my hand and asked if she was doing it in her presentation? She asked me what I meant. I said that I noticed her tapping under her nose. She actually was surprised not because I noticed, but because she did not know she was doing it.
After thinking about, I myself kind of admired her for this. She not only taught a subject on methods of stress relief, but she also unintentially modeled those methods in what might have been a stressful situation for her. In a real sense taught more in reflex than she did in recital.
So it is for us. We face all kinds of stress at home, work, school. How we respond in reflex will be determined by how much we repent of old natural sinful responses and put on new unnatural Christ like responses.

Before Sunday's Sunrise

Yesterday the annual FasCar Rally. This morning a lost hour due to daylight savings. Of course later today two opportunities for corporate worship. God is truly is the small daily details. My prayer and hope rests in His attentivenss to supplying the grace to accomplish even the routine.

Before Sunday's Sunrise

2Cor 5:17
For every decision or change made for Christ, sooner or later will come a challenge to the seriousness of that decision.
What will be so important, such an emergency that will make the trade off seem worth it?

Greater Compassion in Fellowship

Acts 2:42-47
42And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

1. Harmony in belief and teaching. The local bible believing church as a group of people is different than any other group. You go into just about any and you will find people with different strengths and weakness. Those who are good and mechanics and those good at academics. Some who can sing some who can't. Some who are outgoing others who are introverts. Some who grow up in Christian homes, others who never saw the inside of a church til an adult. What makes the local church unique is what joins them together is not a hobby, income status, ethnic background, but a strong belief in who Jesus Christ is and a desire to become more like Him.
2. Harmony in participation.  Because there is such diversity in the local church each member bring a different contribution to the table. It should be the goal of every believer from the pastor to the member to see each use the God given talents and abilities to not only further the church but the community around them. As Paul wrote in Romans that none should be exalt or demoted among one another, but be appreciated and encourage to be a part of the local church. How the church of Jesus Christ would greatly flourish with the participation of each of it's members of all ages.
3. Harmony in devotion to one another. Here I believe is where the "rubber meets the road". If you are a born again, blood washed believer in the Sinless, Only Begotten Son of God, Jesus the Christ, then how can you obediently love and go out into a world hostile to the Gospel of Christ, endure the verbal insult to Jesus and not want to run to a group fellowship of not only believers of loving believers for encouragement, teaching and prayer??? In this fellowship you will have different levels of maturity. Those who were save decades ago, and those saved last week. Each will be at a different place in Christ and demonstrate a different response to temptation, trial, and success. With different personalities will come irritations, preferences, and convictions. What should unite us all is the love of Christ for each of us, and the interdependence that Christ expects us to have for one other. I finish this blog post with a list below of all the things we have in common in Christ. Ask yourself: How compassionate and committed are you to the Fellowship with God's People?


(1) crucified together with Christ (Gal. 2:20);
(2) dead together with Christ (Col. 2:20);
(3) buried together with Christ (Rom. 6:4);
(4) made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:5);
(5) raised together with Christ (Col. 3:1);
(6) sufferers together with Christ (Rom. 8:17);
(7) glorified together with Christ (Rom. 8:17).

Greater Passion in Worship Part 4

Exodus 20:8-11 ESV

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

1. Close out all tradeoffs of the eternal for the temporal. God has created us for a purpose to bring glory to Him. One of the areas that we are to glorify God is in the profession (employment) that He has called us. It is just as high and important to call by God to be a garbage man as a pastor of a local body of believers. He has also given us a creation to enjoy with the purpose of giving Him glory individually, family and corporately. Like all other areas of our lives our sinful natures will take something good and make it evil by our heart and actions. When God created the worlds in six complete 24 hour days, He set aside the seventh to rest (Sabbath) He set the example for us the priority of work is not a 24/7 exercise of our lives. I coined a phrase a few years back that got me in trouble with a portion of our church congregation. The term was vocational adultery. The belief that one can be so engaged in the pursuit of a career, and/or money that family, church and worse God are neglected. God's purpose for the Sabbath was to force us to remember that our time on earth is limited and to spend time on careers, pleasures, or other human pursuits at the exclusion to worship of God individually and corporately was and still is a bad trade off.

• Do you willingly and even look forward to working in a constant overtime situation that keeps you and family from consistent corporate worship?
• Do you engage yourself and family members into activities that are scheduled regularly at the times of corporate worship.
• Do you make an effort to ask and seek for time off to corporate worship if you work a job that does schedule you during corporate worship?
• Does it genuinely ache in your heart when you are forced by your profession to work during corporate worship?

Greater Passion in Worship Part 3

Exodus 20:7 ESV
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

1. Cry out in word and deed the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I find it ironic that the one name that God commands us to not take lightly or dirty up it is His own. But we cannot go through a day without someone, who is angry, frustrated or in pain, using the name above all names to vent their emotion or feeling. Certainly we who are saved by the blood of Christ should not be guilty of such language. In Proverbs 30:3 we find a clear application of taking the (profaning) the Lords name in vain beyond just the vocal misuse of His name. My dad would constantly warn me that not only did what I say, but also what I did would always reflect on the name Blair. I was born a Blair and nothing would change that, but I could make the name Blair pleasant or repute just by my behavior. I am born again into God's family, and praise God I am secure by Jesus in this Family (Christian). But my behavior will reflect on the name of Christ in both speech and action. 
• Does my speech bring the name of Christ down by cursing, gossip, revenge, envy, unthankfulness, complaining, sarcasm, or just plain thoughtlessness?
• Does my speech lift up the name of Christ by, praise, forgiving, thankfulness, compliments, teaching and loving admonishment, and truth spoke in loving benefit towards the other person(s) in His name?
• Do the actions of my life bring down the name of Christ at work, on the highway, at home, in public, by selfishness, laziness, rebellion, or apathy?

• Do the actions of my life lift up the name of Christ at work, on the highway, at home, in public by kindness, diligence, obedience, or genuine concern for others in His name?

Greater Passion In Worship Part 1

Exodus 20:1-11 ESV

And God spoke all these words, saying,“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
        “You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Have you ever wondered why it is that when someone is angry, frustrated or in pain that the words "Ooooh Adolf Hitler" rarely ever seem to be uttered? Or how about "Oh Maria mother of Fidel Castro"?
I ask a couple of co-workers this question the other day at my place of employment. The looks and answers were quite enlightening. For all the answers of blaming the culture, family, or just plain co-incidence, they seemed to scoff the idea that the answer lies in the heart of each of us who are in rebellion and war against God.
When it comes to the purpose of our very existence the ultimate top of the list is our individual and corporate worship of God. Worship is at it's simplest definition is giving to God acknowledgement, devotion, and effort, to His glory and praise.
The first four commandments of the famous ten seem to be a good starting point for our goal of Greater Passion in Worship in 2013. Below are just some applications where some improvement and growth can come.

1. Clear out all competing gods. One of the biggest deceptions that we all seem to have is that we all worship all the time. Whether we realize it or not we in our heart give honor, praise, and time to something(s). It could be employment, sports, hobbies, entertainment, activities, people, or groups of people. God makes Himself very clear that He shares glory and praise with no one. We who claim Christ as Savior are in a life time warfare with ourselves to cast our these gods that seek to steal from the one true God who deserves our undivided attention. Sometimes comparison, commitment, or compromise will clue us in on our heart's attention. 
• In comparison does a headache keep you from group worship but not something else more fun, or "important"?
• Is your commitment to the group worship dependent on feelings and circumstance?
• Do you make compromising deals with yourself and others in name of doing a good activity?

Greater Passion in Worship Part 2

Exodus 20:4-6 ESV
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

1. Cleanse out all desires contrary to God. "Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love." That hymn writer was very honest with God and himself about the condition and desires of our heart. Even in our pursuit to to worship we try to out think God by making assumptions as to the best or only method of worship. For years I lived in the selfish belief that there is only a specific kind of music that pleases God and certain others could not possibly please Him. I was confronted with some convicting questions as to what the bible said and did not say about music. The most convicting was the use of the term sacred and unsacred music in the bible.
• Can you worship with fellow Christians who worship differently without being critical?
• Can you worship without being distracted by those around you?
• Can you change and maybe even eliminate worship methods that are unbiblical?
• Can you change and maybe even eliminate worship methods for the benefit of other believers growth?

Happy New Year - A Fresh Start

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

As I tap this post out on my notebook, it is less than nine hours till our time zone celebrates the coming of 2013. It seems strange to consider 2012 in the rear view mirror, that is a reality of "ready or not here I  come". 

I am one who retrospects, introspect, and every other kind of spects. I can't help connecting this to God doing the same on the seventh day of Creation. As God introduces the concept of the Sabbath, it is somewhat ironic to call New Year's a kind of Sabbath. I look back on the successes, failures, in events and relationships of 2012 with an eye toward 2013 of how can I learn improve and grow for God's glory and other's  benefit.

The fruits of this meditation has harvested in an outline of goals in three areas. These areas I hope to focus in more specifically in the coming days or weeks in this blog and postings on facebook, and twitter.

Next Time:

Goals in 2013

1. Greater Passion in Worship

2. Greater Compassion in Fellowship

3. Greater Application in Discipleship