Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, and his thoughts on Newtown

I haven't posted I a few months. I've just been falling behind. But I hope to catch my life up soon. But I read this article by Rick Warren on the Newtown shooting and I thought it was worth reblogging

Rick Warren on Newtown Tragedy: 'Free Will Is Greatest Blessing and Curse'

13

• 
  (Photo: Tommy Huynh/Saddleback Church)
  Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, delivering remarks as part of a panel at the 2012 AIDS Summit at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

FEATURED POSTS

OPINION

Gods of the Christmas List

Every Christmas, an onslaught of new products arrive with the promise to ...

LIVING WATER

NT Wright Wrong About Eternal Torment?

N.T. Wright was an Anglican bishop in the Church of England from 2003 until his ...

OPINION

Holiday Intimidation: The Grinches v. the First Amendment

It's almost Christmas, and you know what that means: candy canes and holly, ...

OPINIONS

Unsentimental Christmas

We like our Christmas stories told with other animals, friendlier animals like ...

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter

December 21, 2012|2:37 pm

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California has spoken out about the Newtown, Conn., school shooting tragedy, suggesting that a lot of factors might have led up to the incident, but at the end of the day, free will is both humankind's greatest blessing and curse.

"The deeper the grief, the fewer words are needed. A lot of folks are looking for wisdom, or the right word, and are asking 'what do you say?' – but there is nothing to say. You just need to be there. You need to show up. And when people are grieving, they don't need a lecture, and they don't need an explanation. Explanations don't comfort us," Warren began in an interview on Wednesday with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto on his "Your World" show.

"What comforts us is the presence of others, the presence of God, and the first thing we have to do is we have to learn how to release our grief and we need to do that right now," Warren added.

On Dec. 14, 20-year old Adam Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their nearby home before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newport and massacring 26 people, including 20 children. Lanza, who is reported to have been struggling with a number of mental illnesses, took his own life before police arrived on the scene.

The shooting has shaken the entire country, with the grieving families in Newtown receiving an outpouring of support from people around the nation. President Barack Obama wiped away tears when he made his first statement about the shooting, and said that as a country, America has "been through this too many times."

But many are also questioning what role faith and God play at a time like this, and are looking toward pastors and religious leaders for answers. Warren says that God's will is in heaven, but it is rarely done on Earth because humans are free to make their own choices.

Follow us 

"Our greatest blessing is our greatest curse," the Saddleback Church leader said on Fox. "God could have made us puppets, where none of us did anything wrong, we prayed all of the time, we always did what's right. But God wanted us to choose to love Him, and in giving us this choice, I often make bad choices, and so do other people, in fact everyone does – the Bible calls it sin. Because of that, the world is broken."

Warren said that grief is good because "it's a transition that helps us move through the losses of life," and that "if you don't grieve, if you just stuff it down, then what happens is it comes out sideways somewhere later on in life."

The author of The Purpose Driven Life, who has recently been promoting the 10-year anniversary of his bestselling book which reached millions around the world, identified multiple issues behind these types of shootings.

"There is the psychological issue of the mentally ill – and we are not taking care of the mentally ill like we ought to, and we are not supporting the families of the mentally ill. There's the public safety issue – people are using AK-47 assault rifles to assault people, and there needs to be something done about that."

The pastor continued: "There is also this culture of violence. Kids are being raised, by the time they are 20, they have shot 20-30,000 people in video games, and that's entertainment. And then there's the spiritual issue. When people's lives are empty, when they don't know the meaning and purpose of life, when they don't know the difference between right and wrong, these kind of things happen."

Warren said that it is dangerous for people to watch or allow themselves to be negatively affected by bad influences, and that there is no denying that some things that are considered "entertainment" are not appropriate for children. The pastor insisted, however, that it would be inaccurate to focus on one factor or another that might have led to the shooting and not look at the bigger picture.

"The issue is – do we run away from God, or do we run toward Him for comfort? Most people as you can see, the churches in Newtown were filled on Sunday. Most people run to God in comfort. There are some things we are not going to understand until we get into heaven," Warren continued.

The Saddleback church pastor revealed that he has been at the deathbed of thousands of people as a pastor, where he sees that at the end, relationships are what matter most to people. "I have never had one person say 'bring me my trophies one more time, I want to look at them.' No. They always say 'bring me the people that I love.' Eventually they realize that that's what matters most. I just hope that we can learn that sooner."

Read more at http://global.christianpost.com/news/rick-warren-on-newtown-tragedy-free-will-is-greatest-blessing-and-curse-87071/#LUDSGUFCsH414ZTD.99 

Our House of Worship

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:1, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice." Paul gives a deep yet very practical call to worship. We are to present ourselves as a sacrifice to God. A great way to do that is to make your home a place of worship. Regardless of your living situation, you should find a place in your home where you can come to worship the Lord. Now there is nothing special about the specific place you choose, the purpose is that you have a place to come to worship Him. The place of worship is the presentation of our body, voice, or our heart. There are a few things that will help us make our homes "homes of worship." 

The first thing we can do to make our home a place of worship is to come before the Lord and kneel. Kneeling is an acknowledgement of submission. It brings us to a place where we place ourselves below God. It says in Psalm 95:6, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." A good time to do this is when you first wake up. To get up next to your bed and just pray a prayer to praise the Lord.

Another practical way to fill our homes with worship is to sing to the Lord. Singing worship to God releases us the joy that is deep in our hearts. It doesn't matter if we can't sing, we need to come to Him and shout praises to the Father. This is a great release of our emotions that we have in our hearts and allows us to be honest with God. When our hearts sing Jesus' name, God will bless us no matter how bad the season may be. "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us show joyfully to the Rock of our salvation." (Psalm 95:1)

Inviting God to our meals is another great and practical act of worship. It can bring the family together in harmony of faith. It brings together the family in worship. Asking the Lord to allow His presence felt during times of gathering to eat. Not only should we pray to invite God to our meals, our fellowship will worship Him. So share God's presence with those we eat with. Ask each other, "What is Jesus doing in your life?"

Praying together with fellow believers brings worship to the Lord. Jesus tells us in the gospel of Matthew, "For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them." There are times when we should pray in solitary with only God, but there are also times where is honoring to pray with others. Pray with your wives, pray with your husbands, pray with your sons, pray with your daughters. Pray with others. Jesus said that He is there when two or more gather to worship Him. 

The greatest act of worship that we can give is to come to the Lord's Table. When we celebrate Communion, we are celebrating the grandest altar of all- the cross upon which Jesus was sacrificed for our salvation. It pleases the Father when your home is a home that is a testimony of Jesus Christ. When it reminds us daily of His death and resurrection He will be pleased.

The Pros vs The Priests

There are generally two viewpoints in today's church. There are those who follow a view of doing church a very specific way, it is called professionalism. It is making sure that we follow a certain liturgy, a way the church service operates. This is kind of like left side of the brain in the church body. It is all about what is done and how it can be done efficiently. The other viewpoint is based on the idea of a biblical priesthood. The priesthood is really what we are called to by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the right side of the church brain. It is about the heart of the church. The priesthood wants to serve God because it loves Him, the professional wants to serve Him but it is the most logical.

In the Old Testament, the priests are the only ones that God had ordained to perform certain sacrifices. They were the ones who were allowed to make the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. In the New Testament, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of himself to atone for our sins. He has made us a new priesthood, because it is now our responsibility to sacrifice our own lives of worship of Him. 

These two views work best when they are balanced. You can't be too spiritual or too legalistically. If you are more one than the other, you cannot come minister to the Lord in an adequate way. They seem like opposites at times, but professionalism and priesthood work very well together. When we understand the certain ways of doing church, we can clearly see how to praise God more appropriately.

In the book of Hebrews, the author talks about the priests of Melchizedek. He calls the priesthood back to the promise made and fulfilled through Christ. It says in verses 19 and 20 that we have an anchor of the soul, and that is hope. It is a hope that takes into the holiest of holies where, in the Old Testament, only the high priests were allowed. Christ's death made him the greatest high priest and it left the curtain open for us to enter His holy presence. 

Worship Set It All Off

Jesus' final words to His friends, the disciples, in Matthew 28 were, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." This is known as the Great Commission. This is what God has called us to. But due to fear of persecution after the man, Stephen had been killed for the gospel. In Acts 11:19, it says that they were scattered and the gospel was only being shared with Jews. Earlier in the book of Acts, the explosion of the church happened. But since these events, believer had grown fearful and the fire in them died down. Their faith was dead and in need of a revival.

In the church in Antioch Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, and Saul are praying and fasting about the situation. It is after this time of worship, they feel the Holy Spirit's voice telling them to send Barnabas and Saul to bring the gospel to those who have not heard. It was through worshipping God that they heard God calling them to the task at hand. This shows us the power of our worship. Worship is the key to changing to world. When we worship the Father, God will set us on a course to change the world. Worship unleashes God's presence to the world. It isn't that our worship is some magical thing. But giving God all of the glory he deserves makes Him want to bless you and use you in ways you could never imagined. 

John Mark McMillan is a worship song writer, he wrote the very popular worship song, How He Loves. The story behind that song is quite amazing and was born out of prayer and worship. He says that he was having a prayer meeting with some friends. He had prayed God would use him to change the youth of the nation. And on his way home, he got a call that his best friend was in a terrible car accident and he died. This shook John to his core. It was this song that inspired him to write the song How He Loves. 

Through his prayers God took what was a horrible accident that killed his friend, and inspired him to write a song that has affected the whole Christian community. God uses circumstance we will never understand to further His kingdom. We can never count God out in using us. He will always think of boxes that we cannot even imagine. This is our encouragement to always pursue the glory of God and He will use us how he sees fit. 

Out With the Old, In With the New

Worship has always meant the same thing, it means to humble yourself and give yourself up to the glory of God the Father. What worship looks like has changed a little bit between the Old and New testaments. The physical acts of worship have changed because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us. But our expressions of worship have changed little. In the Old testament David is probably our greatest example of worship being expressed physically. David wrote most of the books of Psalms, which went on to be the go-to guide for worship for new testament believers. David wrote about coming before the Father, and kneeling, lifting his hands, shouting, and singing to God. David was the original Chris Tomlin. 

Our expression in worship have changed less over time and more culturally than anything else. New testament believers have the benefit of having the Psalms before them. Old testament acted only what God was calling them to do. They had the initial joy of knowing that God told them to lift their hands to him, where we see their acts and want to lift hands as well. The ways we worship have changed, but it hasn't all changed. David would arrange music to be played while they sang songs praising God. That sure looks familiar. Songs are still being sung to this day in honor of our God. Songs might be the most evident expression of worship that has lasted over time. And God always works through the power of His songs.

We see this in Acts when Paul and Silas were imprisoned and they sang worship hymns in their cells. God was glorified by this and made the earth shake and their prison doors open. God is and always has been an amazing God. He has never changed. He is the same God of the old testament and the New. He has always been worthy of our praise and that will never change. Throughout culture and time, forms of worship may change. But they will still be there to glorify the one true God.

We Will sing! Sing! Sing! pt.3 Release From Bondage

David told in Psalm 32:7, "You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah" Here David is proclaiming the power of worshipping God with song. It has the power to set us free and break our chains of bondage. Lifting up God's name will bring us our freedom, but in doing so will show the world what He has done for us. It not only is it a tool to free us, but is also a tool for evangelism.

This is best illustrated in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas are imprisoned at Philippi. Here in their imprisonment, they are singing hymns of praise in their most desperate hour. All of a sudden, the earth shook and all of the chains were broken and all of the cell doors were opened. And Paul and Silas were shown their freedom. In the midst of prisoner being freed, the guard awoke from his sleep to see that all of the prisoners were escaping. Thinking that he had failed, he raised his sword to take his own life. Paul calls to him with a loud voice, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." 

The prison guard ran for them and fell down before Paul and Silas. He asked them, "What must do to be saved?" They told him, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." Right there and then, the guard was saved and his whole family had been saved. He and his family were immediately baptized. 

This event shows us the great power in singing song of praise. We can't think that Paul and Silas were just sitting in their cells, so desperate because of the obstacles they faced, singing songs out of hopelessness. They sang out of hope and they sang out of their faith. They knew that God could release them at any moment, but they chose to sit their cells and sing praise to God. And God used their singing to bring the Gospel to this guard. God used their circumstances to bring people to Him. 

Here we learn that worship is a key to breakthrough evangelism. The power of worship unleashed God's power to free them and give them the opportunity to lead the guard to Christ. Singing songs to God allow us to be used by God in ways we could never comprehend. Worship is the key to break us free from the bondage of our sins, and it frees us to bring the Gospel to the rest of the world.

We Will Sing! Sing! Sing! Pt.2

The power of the songs that we praise God with have the power, through Him, to make mountains crumble. When we praise God with a true heart, miracles will happen. He will make His presence known. God's song has the power to heal our loved ones, to restore broken relationships, and to ignite a passion for the Living God. In Isaiah 54:1-5, the Lord tells us to sing in times where we are hurting because something we want to strongly is not happening to us. This has been the case for many married couples that struggle with conceiving children. 

In the passage, God is telling Abraham that his wife will conceive a child soon even though she is far beyond the age of childbirth. God says to sing, and to make room in your tent because it will soon be filled with a family. God makes a covenant with Abraham that He will make a nation of his descendants, and they will be God's chosen people. You can place yourself in the place of Abraham and his wife. They struggled till they were in their old age with having a baby with no success. This had to be hard on their marriage and relationship. But God told them to remain faithful, and He will work a miraculous conception. 

This scripture is not only for those who are barren from children; it is for those who are barren of life in Christ. We sing and pray over the people who have not felt God's breath in them. We need to make room in our tents because God knows that our church will grow and expand and glorify Him. 

We see here how God really calls us to sing worship to Him, especially in our doubts and our fears. These are what we lay down at the feet of the cross in worship. Life is something that we cannot overcome by our own ability. We worship God with song because He is our redeemer and our access to true life. Through the power of song God will unleash amazing power even when we feel there is no hope. 

We Will Sing! Sing! Sing! Pt.1

Singing songs in church isn't just something we do because we like to sing or because it is fun. Our songs are meant to be uplifting and glorifying songs to God the Father. And in our worship through songs, God is pleased. God does miraculous things when we worship Him through music and through prayer. We see numerous references to singing throughout the whole bible. In Isaiah 54, God tells the women who cannot bare children to sing and to not become weary. He is telling them to remain in faith, God will provide through some way, maybe beyond what the women would initially think of. The powerful songs that King David wrote brought him back into the goodness of God. It was through his songs that he knew when he failed and asked God for forgiveness. In the New Testament, we see Paul and Silas imprisoned. So as they are singing songs of praise, God causes a tremendous earthquake and the walls of the prison are broken open to their freedom. And even through the process, God uses the circumstances to allow Paul to lead the prison guard to Christ and even baptize his family.

There is no arguing the power in our true worship through songs. We are not saying that certain songs are magical, but that God is pleased to hear His name rise from our lips. And when God is pleased with us, He will answer our praise and our prayers. 

In the book of Job, Job loses everything he has because the Lord has allowed Satan to take it all from him. God knew that Job would remain faithful to Him. But after all Job had been through he called out to God, telling Him of his displeasure of the situation. So God speaks back to him (paraphrased), "Were you there when the earth was spoken into existence? Were you there when the morning star sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy?"(Job 38:7) It gives you a picture of God telling Job that when He created the earth, He had praise filled music playing in the background. 

Songs and creativity are inescapable linked together. Songs can fuel our creativity and make something beautiful either for our own glory or the glory of God. Since we are created in the image of God, we have the capacity to be creative beings. God allows us to create for Him. We may write a song or paint a picture that points to the Gospel, it is something that brings Him praise. So because we are created in the image of an awesome God, then we are abled to sing songs that give awesome praise to Him.

Neither Height Nor Depth Can Tear Us Apart

While reading through Romans 8, I came across a section of verses that I have read through numerous times. It always has weight in the words. They are convicting but in the same light, the words are so comforting. The power of Jesus Christ is proclaimed in verse 31. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" It is ironic because everything of this world stands against God. Our sinful being is against the will of God. Yet if we are to side with God, what could possibly stand a chance against us? When we align ourselves with the will of God, we are aligning ourselves with the creator and the one who gave us our salvation. God gave us His only Son to die and rise for our salvation. He is the One who justifies us; He is the One who can condemn us. He is almighty and all-powerful. Paul tells us that we should not let anything come between our great God and us. 

Paul's words continually call back to Jesus at the cross. Nothing can take away from what Jesus did on the cross did for us. When we live life and don't forget what Jesus has done for us, Paul says that we become more than just conquerors. Paul tells us what can't stand against us, "...neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

According to these words, nothing of this world can tear us apart from God's love for us because of what Jesus did on the cross. His death and resurrection made a way to salvation for us that we could never do on our own. 

In our times of need, we can feel like God is not with us. Sometimes we can feel abandoned by Him. We feel the opposite of what these words say. We become overcome by the chaos of the world, that we allow ourselves to feel separated from God's love. But when we dwell on these verses we should allow these words to sink into our souls. Paul's words tell us that God is near, and He protects us from the sin of the world. God will protect us and will not allow anything to break apart us from His love.

Jesus as the Center

The New Testament is all about Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross. Everything from before the Resurrection to the end times, it all builds up to his death and that affects everything else. The worship of the New Testament is centered on the Lord's Table. Our worship is lifted up to God because of what begun at the Lord's Table before Christ went to the cross. Reference is given to Jesus and the cross many times after He died and resurrected. Paul speaks of Jesus and the cross in Galatians 6:14," God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Paul did not want what he was teaching to the people, to glorify him. Paul wanted what he taught to bring glory back to what Jesus did on the cross. 

When we look at Jesus as the central point of the New Testament, we see the Lord's Table and the centerpiece is the bible itself. With Jesus as the central point, we know that He was God in the flesh. He was God. It says in Colossians 1:19, "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” God came to the earth as Jesus, why wouldn't we focus on Him as the center point? 

Communion is where Jesus met with his friends, his disciples before he was taken to the cross. It was at the Lord's Table that Jesus foretold them was about to happen. It is where he broke the bread and told them that the bread represented Jesus' body that was about to be broken for the sins of the world. And he told them the wine represented Jesus' blood that was about to be spilled for the sins of the world. His body and his blood were the instruments that purchased and secured eternal salvation for all who will come to him. In John 6:56, Jesus says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."

Jesus came as the Word, and the Word was good. Jesus says in John 5:39, "...it is the scriptures that bear witness about me." The words in the bible are not just words. They are the inspired words of God. Scripture is how the Holy Spirit speaks to us and it is an essential part of the Trinity. And throughout the entire bible, through prophecy in the Old Testament, and fulfillment in the New Testament, the Messiah is key to it all. Christ is the Word and the Word is good.

The Image of True Worship

It has been said many times that worship is all about bringing glory to God. And this is absolutely true. So often our hearts veer off the road and worship becomes only music, but when it is true we know better than that. Pastor Jack Hayford tells us in his book, The Reward of Worship, "True worship of God is more than an exercise of religious ritual; it is a human expression of a proper value being placed on the Person being worshiped and the personal cost of the practice of worshiping Him." True worship happens when the Lord's worth is declared.

It goes beyond habitually singing songs of praise; it is living a life that glorifies the Father. John 3:30 is a great verse of what worship needs to be, "He must increase, but I must decrease." God is to be lifted up and we are to be bowing down on the ground. We do such a good job at failing at that idea. In our sinful beings, we find it difficult to put the true God over our gods on earth like money, sex, or self.  Society tells us the opposite, it tells us we must increase, and God must decrease. But Romans 12:2 tells us not to be like the world. 

True worship will transform us into God's image and mold us into what He wants us to be. Worship will reshape us, and it will alter our character. It frees us from the strength of sin and it allows us to live for Christ daily. 2 Corinthians 3:18 uses the words, "From Glory to Glory." This is us being transformed to walk in the fellowship that God always had for us. True worship will change our entire beings. We will become new creatures that long to serve our God and love His people. 

True Worship Makes a Beautiful Butterfly

When we are engaged to what true worship is and should be, we will be transformed into a more Christ-like image. True worship will lead us into the presence of God. God is always present in our lives, Matthew tells us, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." (Matthew 18: 20) But when we worship Him the way that He deserves to be worshipped, we will feel His presence manifest itself to us. We will know that God is here and He is please with what is going on. This is the kind of worship that Christ calls us to. A worship that will transform our minds, but more importantly, it will transform our hearts. 

We can look at the caterpillar and how it transforms into a butterfly. The caterpillar initially looks nothing like the butterfly that is becomes. But when it goes into its cocoon, it is changed. The caterpillar isn't working extra hard to become a butterfly, this is how God designed it. But after time, a beautiful butterfly emerges from the cocoon because God made it to transform. 

God has made us to be transformed as well. When we are led into authentic worship of God, we are entering our cocoons. We can try as hard as we want to control our worship, but that won't effect our transformation. I am reminded of Heimlich, the caterpillar from the Pixar Movie "A Bug's Life." Throughout the movie he wished he would become a beautiful butterfly. There is a scene where he puts some leaves on his back and proclaims, "I am beautiful butterfly!" But that doesn't, change the fact that he still is not a butterfly. He is trying to control his transformation. It isn't until the end of the movie that he enters his cocoon and he emerges a beautiful butterfly! Just like Heimlich, transformation of our hearts will not happen until we give up control, and allow the Holy Spirit to do what it meant to do. So as we experience His presence and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through you, we are being transformed and we will emerge from our cocoons a new creature that looks more like Christ. 

Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Rome, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind..." (Romans 12:1-2) His words tell us that when we present ourselves as sacrifices to God, it is how we worship Him. This transcends our worship as only music, but our worship is our lives and everything we do that brings glory to God is our worship. And we can't let the evil in this world distract us from what our true purpose is. We cannot allow the world to make us something ugly. We must rely on the Lord to transform us into a beautiful butterfly.

Well Thats Something You Don't See Everyday

In Exodus 3, we see the story of Moses and the burning bush. This was such a profound situation and it shaped much of the bible. The importance of this cannot be stated enough. So we have Moses is just doing what he does, he was keeping the sheep of his father-in-law. He is walking them through the wilderness, and the Lord decides it is time to speak to Moses. So all of a sudden, Moses past this bush that is set aflame. It was no ordinary fire, for the bush itself was not show the effects of being on fire. But this was God showing Moses a miraculous sign so to command him. God said to him, "Moses, Moses!" It is important to understand that Moses was not a bold or brave man, so he was probably scared to the point where he might need a new robe. But Moses musters out, "Here I am."

God says to Moses,” Do not come near! Remove your sandals, for this is holy ground." This is a really important thing for God to say, and it means so much more than just take off your shoes out of respect. In that day, Moses would have likely made his sandals himself. They were things that he worked to make. So God is not telling Moses to just take his shoes off, He is telling him to step out of what man has made, and step into God's presence. Moses is stepping from the presence of men to the presence of the Lord.

God told Moses that He had seen the afflictions of His people, the Israelites. He saw their suffering under oppression. God tells Moses that He will deliver Moses' people out of the land of Egypt and into a land of promise. But Moses, not being a bold man, is afraid of the task at hand. "Who am I?" he pleads with God. He doesn't see that God has chosen him and will work through him. God calms Moses and tells him, "I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." 

So God comforted Moses by telling him that He will be with him. It seems that often we are afraid of what God has commanded us to do just as Moses was. Even when God told him that he would be with him, Moses was still frightened. I feel that way a lot to. I know that God's plan will be done and everything will be okay, but it is the overwhelming uncertainty of how that will all happen. It takes big faith to do what Moses did, and we need to have big faith that our God will deliver us from evil as well.

God's Presence in Our Worship

The reasons we worship corporately and personally are many. But the main purpose should be to bring glory to God. We lift our praises to Him through our songs, our works, our lives. Anything that we do that glorifies Him is our worship. We hear the prayer from worship leaders often, "Please God enter in our presence here today in our worship." But God is always present. In our worship, God's presence is becoming manifested for us, which means it is being made apparent. God awaits for us to invite Him into our presence because that is when He will make us see that He has always been there. "God is present whether we ask Him to be or not!" This challenges the idea that our worship makes any difference in God's presence or not. God's presence can be placed in three parts, His awesome presence, His abiding presence,  and His amazing presence. When we understand these, we will have a better idea of what God's presence means to our worship.

God's awesome presence is best understood if trace what the word "awesome" means. "Awesome is the contemporary adaptation of the word "awful," which originally meant "full of awe," not "horribly bad." So His presence will be a place filled with awe. And it will be overwhelming because it is so immense! In Psalms 139, the psalmist cries out, "Where can I flee from your presence!" There is no place free from the presence of God. His awesome presence should give us a feeling of being humbled, because He is everywhere we must give an account for all we have done. 

God's presence is always abiding in us. His presence remains with us always. His presence will give us comfort as in Hebrews 13:5, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." When we worship Him, we are making it clear that that his abiding is present. In our worship, we know that in his omnipresence and awesomeness that He will never stop loving us.

God's presence is amazing! The church in the Acts felt the church shake after they worshipped and called on the name of the Lord (Acts 4.) This is more than just the church making dramatic calls to God, but these worshippers are declaring their love for Christ and He is responding by His amazing power. When we worship this way, it moves us from reverent to intimate worship. When we call upon God in our praise, we see His manifest presence and power.

The Worship Leader and the Pastor pt 2

Pastors and worship leaders have the two most influential positions in the church. The relationship between these two people is rather unique. There are things that the pastor needs to make clear to his worship leader, and there are things the worship leader needs to say to his pastor. When both parties ask these questions, they become the foundation of their relationship. Worship leaders need to make it clear to their pastor that they are there to be part of a team. It cannot be about money, and it cannot be about status. The worship leader needs pastor to believe in his ability to lead the church. And the pastor needs to implement a day of Sabbath into the worship leader's schedule. 

Worship leaders need to ask that their pastor provide the resources they need to lead. That includes financial resources and administrative resources. The worship leader also needs adequate time to be creative. Another resource that the worship leader needs is for the pastor to teach him and grow him spiritually. The pastor should be a leader, a brother, a friend and a spiritual father to the worship leader. It is so important for a pastor to be able to teach his worship leader so that they can continue to grow. The pastor needs to a father figure who will keep the worship leader by his side and protect him in times of need.

The worship leader needs a pastor who isn't going to lower the biblical bar for them. He must hold the worship leader to the same standards as everyone else or hold them to higher standards. Worship leaders need the pastor to love them enough that they will insist that they live like disciples of Christ. The pastor must keep them focused long enough to remind them that they don't worship "worship," they worship God. Worship leaders need their pastor to keep them anchored and challenge what they believe. Pastors must keep worship leaders accountable for their sin. The most important thing a worship leader needs from his pastor is for him to keep the fire burning in him. He needs the pastor to keep him going and growing for Christ.