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What does it take to worship God?
I received a link to an interesting article entitled “If Muslim’s asked Europe for ‘empty’ churches” (you can find it here) and it’s an interesting development happening in Europe. Europe’s history is with Christianity but the indigenous population has in majority left their faith however major immigration from North Africa and the Middle East has brought Islam to their foot steps. So much so that on Fridays, the traditional day of worship for Muslims, mosques don’t have enough space to contain everyone and their worshippers are overflowing out into the streets causing traffic to be backed up or rerouted. This is normal practice for where they come from but to many Europeans, its disruptive and illegal. So the solution that’s being raised – let the muslims use the ‘empty’ churches to get them out of the streets.
Now I know there are many churches in North America and especially in South America, Africa and parts of Asia that do have these problems of running out of capacity but there’s very few in Europe. While many towns have a church, not a whole lot goes on there and no where near where it will fill up except for the occasional musical performance (because of the acoustics) or wedding or funeral. So what does it take for people to want to worship God so much that they’ll pour into the streets to do it? My thinking on Islam is that for most muslims, its just engrained into their culture, community identity, and social structure that they are compelled to participate in worship & prayer but in a way, do so under duress. Christianity has been like that too (and in many ways, still is) as we have seen in the last 2000 years and for Europe we see its remnants in the empty churches scattered throughout the land now being converted into museums, concert halls, dance clubs and now possibly mosques. But is worship & prayer to God to be a cultural thing? Are we to go through the week marking off our to-do list : grocery shopping – check, picked up Tommy from football – check, went to the worship center & did something required – check, ….?
In my wrestling with this (and I’m in no way an authority here), I have to think that to really worship God (creator of the universe and all) it has to be something more from the inside (that He put there; created there) that erupts out in an outward expression. It can’t be something that comes from the outside (i.e. culture, expectations, etc) that moves us but a deep down movement within us that explodes out in the form of worship and prayer. Otherwise it’s just an act and doesn’t reflect our true core being.
What’s your thought of worship?
Being one in a million
For those of us with a western mind set, individualism is a huge value. Star Trek (and many other social inputs) pushed into our minds that “the good of one, outweighed the good of the many” even though it’s not the logical viewpoint. We thrive on being individuals who have unique talents, traits, personalities or even just our hair that are different from everyone else. When I was in high school, I would wear a tuxedo shirt, bow tie and tails jacket along with pants and my black Chuck Taylors (no socks mind you) to church. Why? To be an individual – I wanted to be set apart from everyone else in a very visible way (I also wanted to see where my parent’s boundaries were). We all want that feeling of being special.
Then there are times that we just want to be a part of the crowd. We just want to fit in and not be different. We don’t want any of the things that come with being unique. Now is one of those times for me. As I was in the pre-op meetings this last week and the doctors told me (as they have to do) the various chances for different side-effects and possible outcomes of my impending surgery, they were using terms of “1 in 5000″ and “1 in a million” along with vomiting, red marks, loss of feeling, paralysis, etc. Now is not the time for me to find out I’m unique in one of these ways.
This last week, we watched as a crowd moved past the confines of an individual. No matter what you think of what happened in Egypt, we watched a historic event as individuals sacrificed time, income, and, for some, their lives to be a part of a crowd that has sparked the beginning of something different for their country & their area of the world. This will affect us all in some way or another. It was the crowd that made the change happen but the crowd is made up of unique individuals each doing their part.
God made us unique. We are each a very special individual but God also put us together to be a part of something more. We are drawn to being a part of crowds (yes, even us introverts). We want to be something more than what we can do on our own. But what is it that God has designed us to be a part of given our uniquenesses? What has God designed you with all your specialness to be a part of that is greater than yourself?
This is not rhetorical – please let us know!
What is love?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4-8 year olds, “What does love mean?” The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:
“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore so my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” Rebecca – age 8.
“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy – age 4
“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” Karl – age 5
“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” Chrissy – age 6
“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” Terri – age 4
“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay.” Danny – age 7
“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.” Emily – age 8
“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby – age 7
“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.” Nikka – age 6
“There are two kinds of love, Our love. God’s love. But God makes both kinds of them.” Jenny – age 8
“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.” Noelle – age 7
“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” Tommy – age 6
“During my piano recital I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.” Cindy – age 8
“My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.” Clare – age 6
“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” Elaine – age 5
“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.” Chris – age 7
“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” Lauren – age 5
“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” Karen – age 7
“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” Jessica – age
today’sTHOT============================
You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
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What would you say love is?
* – This came from Mikey’s Funnies. Check it out.40 before 40 – well not quite 40
I’m in my 40th year. At least that’s how my great grandma would have said it (she lived to be 101 years old or in her terms – she was in her 102nd year). She always said that that was how the Chinese said how old they are (I don’t know if that’s true but as a kid, you didn’t question great grandma). I think it was because she was proud of how old she was. When she fell and broke her hip, the medic was trying to take her pulse but couldn’t because she wouldn’t stop urging him to guess how old she was. Ok, I digress.
Anyway, I came across a blog where a guy was taking about his “40 before 40″ list – it’s like a bucket list (things you want to do before you “kick the bucket”) however these are the things you want to do before turning 40. Then he says he’ll have a 50 before 50 list and so on. This got me thinking about what I want to do before I turn 40. So I started to write my list and it was difficult for me as I wanted to put things I knew were feasible to complete before 40 but also realized that I didn’t have much time left either (I think most people make this list when they have more than 12 months to complete them). Ok, so here’s the list I’ve come up with so far:
- Eat Ethiopian food again (at least once)
- Influence one more person directly to follow Christ
- To write a piece of code or software that is so useful, it gets ripped off
- Influencing one more person to go into full time missions
- Teach my son a positive character trait by example
- Make my wife feel that tingle like when we first dated (at least once)
- Excite a co-worker about being a part of what God is doing in Europe
- Understand Islam and those that follow Islam more
- Get into a snowball fight (and win?)
- Make a viral video (but not be the subject of a viral video by mistake)
Can you help me come up with more? If you were to write a “10 before 10″, “30 before 30″ or “60 before 60″ (etc), what would you put on it?
PS – We just celebrated 4 years of being on the mission field!!!
Year End Snapshot
I know a lot of people are reviewing this past year and making plans for the coming year. I know I have done some of that as well however I want to take a moment and just do a snapshot of my life right now:
- I actually have some cash in my pocket (not everyone can say that!)
- I’m still joyful for the time I’ve been able to spend with my family over Christmas (not everyone can say that!)
- Even though I’m on holiday, I’m writing code today and its working (not everyone can say that!)
- I love my job!!! (not everyone can say that!)
- I’m excited that I get to spend the night partying with some friends who have stuck with us through a lot of stuff – good and bad (not everyone can say that!)
- I’ve just received two emails about some “successes” in the planning stages of a couple projects that will affect at least a hundred, if not more, co-workers in spreading the Gospel (not everyone can say that!)
- I know that I am deeply loved not just by family and friends, but by God (not everyone can say that!)
It’s said that as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, what you have on your heart at that time will go with you through the next year. Eleven years ago, I went into the new millennium with a few week old baby (she was some friends’ newborn and we had just recently gone through a miscarriage) lying on my chest, the next year our son Alex was born. The above list contains the things I will have on my heart tonight. What will be on yours?
An American Thanksgiving
This last Thursday was weird and natural at the same time. We along with many families that live in the US were celebrating Thanksgiving. Since Krista and I have taken over my parent’s house, we got to host this grand event. Ok, let me rephrase – Krista hosted the event and I stayed out of the way. We started the day (or I should say, I started the day as Krista was already up getting the turkey cooking) with the Turkey Trot 5K – a running event. (I’m pleased to announce I wasn’t last in my category or overall and even did a personal best – Krista and my sister both beat me which they should have – they’re awesome). Afterwards we all met up at IHOP for breakfast – small breakfasts because we knew what was to come. Then it was back home where Krista finished up preparations and I set the table.
The part that got a little weird was when I was carving the turkey. All of a sudden, I got the sense that this was right; that it was normal. I felt like an American again. I know that sounds weird, but living in another place for even a few years that when you come back to your home culture – you feel out of place. Everything is familiar but its not the “normal”. An example was when we knew we could go to the bank and to cash a check but couldn’t remember how to do it (in Germany, we don’t have checks). But as I was carving the turkey and anticipating the time with our family and a friend (a German friend who was experiencing her first American Thanksgiving), there was this peace and I felt just “American”.
As I talked to a long time missionary today and explained the feeling, he told me that at some point, when you live between two cultures, you find a way to live naturally in each one separately. I think I’ve just experienced that.