Selah

Alright, so I guess at this point I'm supposed to post something about New Year's resolutions or something like that. Part of me rebels. It says, "Yuck! Do I have to do that?" The other part says, "Just shut up and write something profound."

Hmm...

Here's the deal. A few weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, Beth and I were on our way home from church (yeah, I know, the whole "we are the church" thing...). Beth asked what I had planned for the rest of the day. I said, "Well, I'll probably try to get a few hours of work in, " to which she replied, "When was the last time you just took a whole day off?" I couldn't remember.

So that day, we just spent the day together, out and about, doing no particular thing. It was great!

Later it dawned on me. You know, I have been so busy doing the Lord's work that I hadn't given myself the luxury of just resting in the Lord. Nor had I spent much time in quiet reflection, allowing God to speak to me.

Throughout the Psalms there is a term which shows up from time-to-time. It is the Hebrew word "selah". It's generally believed that selah means to pause -- probably a musical term, but one which has spiritual implications -- benefiting the singer, after pouring out his heart to the Lord, by giving God a chance to speak to his spirit.

Psalm 46:10 quotes our Creator: "Be still and know that I am God..." Of course we know that He is God, because we read about Him and see His handiwork in creation and sense Him when we pray and glimpse His glory when we worship Him. But how often do we know He is God in our stillness? Do we allow him that chance?

It is in those "selah" moments that we allow God to have His say. As we meditate on His word and on His person, He will speak. How can we expect to hear His "still small voice" when we are only talking or singing and not pausing to let Him?

So I guess this is my resolution -- to be still and know...

Happy New Year!

On the Lighter Side

After yesterday's post, I felt that I should lighten things up a bit.

So it's just less than a month that we leave for Ireland again. I'm getting really excited about this trip. It think it will turn out to be as significant as our last vist -- maybe more so.

We have several workshops that we are conducting in local churches in Dublin and Cork. If you don't know what our worship workshops are like, you can find out on my October 15 post.

We also have a bunch of people to meet with to share about our ministry and establish relationships.

There is much to so before we go. We will be out-of-town for a week beginning Friday and then there's someting else.. um... let's see...

Oh - Christmas!

Then we have a lot of potential supporters with which to meet, and I need to get a lot of work in to have enough money to pay the bills while we're gone. All this before we leave on the 9th!

Whew!

In our weakness He is made strong.

How many more?

This little diatribe isn't a reflection of bitterness, but simply an observation of questionable practices by Christians -- saved-by-grace sinners, of which I am the chief. These are questions I am asking myself...

How many more people for whom Christ died will we consider not worth the effort?

How many more times will we ignore the broken hurting person right in front of us because we feel uncomfortable with "that kind of person" or their situation?

How many more lives will be damaged by the attitudes, practices, predjudices, and pride of Christians?

How many more people will we, the church let fall through the cracks because they dress, talk or act "differently" and therefore "it must be a spiritual issue"?

How many more times will we attempt to remake a person on the outside before we allow God to do that from the inside?

How many more non-believers will we shun and look down our noses at with disdain and say, "I thank you Lord that I am not like that person"?

How many more believers will we deceive into believing that we have it all together -- that "if we were doing any better, we couldn't stand it"?

How many more people will we assume are unsaved because they are doing something that we have labled as sin?

How many more ways can we justify treating another person poorly in the name of Christ?

How many more issues can we invent that divide the Body of Christ?

How many more offerings will we attempt to bring to the Lord while we hold hatred, malice or ill-feelings toward a brother or sister?

How many more "I love you, Lord"s will we sing while being unloving to others?

How many more social or humanitarian issues will we ignore because we fear being associated with liberals?

How many more things can we, as believers do to invalidate the Gospel in the eyes of the world?

Just a few things to think about.