Your Very Word Spoken to Me

It seems as lately I'm always posting after a Sunday morning service. I can't help it. I mean the Lord is moving in our body at Riverstone. This morning was no different. Worship was Emmanuel, God with us! There is really no other way to describe it. The Lord showed up and fulfilled His promise that if we draw near to Him, He will most certainly draw near to us. And let me tell you, He was near! The main set started off with Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle [awesome], then we went into Lord of Lords by Hillsong. The bridge of that song moves me into His throneroom like no other. It is a cry that we will be singing for eternity..."Holy Lord, You are Holy...Jesus Christ is the Lord!" Enough said. After that we did With Everything, another song by Hillsong. Even though we've done that song a lot lately, it still is a very intense and powerful song. The last song of the main set was a song off of Chris Tomlin's new cd, "Hello Love." The song is called "Exalted (Yaweh)." You know there are some songs out there where you want to keep singing it over and over again [a lot of Chris Tomlin's songs are like that...what can I say? He is an anointed song writer]. The chorus of this song goes as follows:

"Yaweh, Holy is Your Name"

That's it. Simple yet so powerful. Again, we are joining with the angels and elders gathered around the throne proclaiming the truth that our God, Yaweh, is Holy!

The congregation was as engaged as I have ever witness them being in a long time. At the end we just sang the chorus without any instrumentation. I took out my in-ear monitor and just listened to them belt this out at the top of their lungs. It gave me goose-bumps [even as I type this I'm getting goose-bumps]. The only response I could muster up was to get on my knees and adore the only One who is worthy. I felt a little closer to heaven at that moment.

Afterwards we as a worship team gathered together and prayed. The Holy Spirit came upon me in a for real way. I literally started trembling. I was holding a Coke in my hand and I had to put it down because I was afraid I was going to drop it or spill it. I felt like there should be a word in tongues, but I didn't know if I was supposed to do it because I don't believe that is one of my spiritual gifts. Granted I know that the Lord can bestow spiritual gifts on a believer for a particular time and it's not one of their spiritual gifts. Does that make sense? So needless to say, I didn't do it and in hindsight I wish I would have. Any way that's not the point [even though the Lord wants us to be bold...and I dropped the ball...then I kicked the ball...thank goodness for grace!].

The Lord then spoke to me saying, "This is the kind of worship I desire. The kind of worship I look throughout the earth for. I long for worship that is grounded in complete abandonment of WHO I AM because I am the I AM. My heart is moved by genuine and authentic worship. But, this worship should not just be on Sunday mornings. Do not neglect your secret, private life of worship for this will prepare you for the public life of worship. Do not forsake the private. Do not forsake the intimate moments between Me and you, just Me and you; for I AM there. Do not lose the abandonment of worship during the week. For I AM there."

I am fearful right now trying to add anything more to what the Lord said. But take heed people. When a community of believers come together in unity to put a big fat exclamation point on what the Lord has done in our lives during the week ["exclamation point" quote compliments of Charlie Hall], the results will be a Spirit-led, Spirit-filled, miracle happening, soul claiming, spirit lifting, heart bowing, God-speaking, God-inhabiting service!

Do not neglect the secret, private place of worship! This is going to look different for each and every person, so I am not going to give you a "how-to" or "7-step" manual for what you should do during your secret life of worship. You know what moves you. You know what best puts you into His presence. Find it. Do it. You will no doubt see the floodgates of heaven open up and pour all over you. You will ooze the water and oil and fire of His presence. Doesn't that sound good?!

So what are you waiting for?

Grace and peace.

Side note: Check out Steve Hambrick's message from this morning. Oh my gosh, so good!

Great sermon...

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Philippians 4:4

Perfect follow-up verse to my previous post. Rejoice in the Lord...ALWAYS! Rejoicing, or worshiping, when things are not going good is the key to tapping into the river of life and comfort that flows from the Lord's throne. Then...then my friends will the peace of God, which overcomes any anxious thought, GAURD your hearts and your minds. Worshiping the Lord in times of plenty and in times of drought welcomes in the Lion of Judah [the word "Judah" actually means "praise"] to the gates of your heart and he is perched there, guarding against the flaming darts of doubt, of worry, of anxiety, of stress and of fear. Pause for a second and get that picture in your mind...a roaring Lion protecting your heart. Wow!

If you were not at Riverstone this morning, please go to Riverstone's website and listen to Mark Nysewander's sermon. It was excellent and so pertinent to today's world. You will be encouraged and blessed for sure.

Also, my good friend Brad posted an incredible speech by Sarah Palin. It is the subject of the speech alone that has captured my vote for Senator McCain and Governor Palin. Check it out.

Grace and peace.

I don't understand...

...life sometimes. I totally trust in the Lord's goodness and His faithfulness to make all things good and give good gifts to His children. But life, real life, is hard sometimes. I'm trying not to get too philosophical or whatever on you guys, but there are times where I have to just sit in silence and ponder on the age-old question...Why? One of my very good friends just lost his brother in a car accident...why? Sure there is a light that is going to come out of this apparent darkness, but why? Anybody feel me? The Lord does work in mysterious ways and the Lord is grieving with and comforting my friend. But sometimes I just don't understand. My friend is so strong in his faith in the Lord and as I was praying for Him today, I had a sense that the Lord is very near to him and is going to whisper encouraging, love-inspired words into his ears and heart. There's no better comfort than the Lord's comfort...

Anyway, you can look at the world today and ask that same age-old question about any one of them...

War...why?

Crime...why?

Abortion...why?

Hate...why?

The economy...why?

Hunger...why?

AIDS...why?

I think I could go on and on and on...and that makes me sad. For real.

But...BUT...I trust in the Lord's goodness. He is such a faithful God and He is bigger than any and every one of the many horrible, tragic, awful, painful circumstances we encounter or will ever encounter. Nothing is too big for HIm and nothing ever, ever, ever surprises Him. Pray, listen, cry, laugh, read the Word and never forget to worship. The worship of God ALWAYS wins the day!

Grace and peace.