God's Providence in the Midst of Pain

I am a big "providence" guy. Though it's probably not the most popular theology, I believe that the circumstances and situations of our lives, even when painful, are either given by God or allowed by Him for reasons that are often beyond our understanding. Does this mean God brings about evil? By no means! Yet, he does permit tragedy in our lives. If we don't believe in a God who chooses to permit difficulty in our lives for our growth and for His glory, then we come to believe in a more theologically disturbing alternative: a God who is too weak or unwilling to help.

What brought this to mind was my study of Stephen's defense before the Sanheidran in Acts 7, particularly hen he mentioned Joseph and his family going into Egypt and eventually becoming enslaved for hundreds of years until their rescue by God through the leadership of Moses. What struck me was the necessity of slavery in order to move the people of Israel into the land of Promise. For, if the Hebrews enjoyed a prosperous life in the Nile Delta, why would they ever leave to pursue a land they had never seen? Moses' call to follow him out of Egypt, into the desert and into armed conflict with the inhabitants of their new real estate venture might have gathered a dozen people. Instead, God's providential timing and His plan for blessing in the midst of pain brought the entire Israelite nation out of Egypt as one! The years of pain and degradation left the Hebrew people longing for anyplace other than there.

You may be going through a trial today, as well. I will not call evil "good" or in any way dismiss the tragedies you may face; however, I do believe that no matter what, God is in control of your life and your circumstances. And that is cause to worship Him, whether your are in Egypt or the Promised Land.

The Supremely Happy God

I believe God is the most supremely happy being in the Universe. He has never lacked in anything, and He has always been completely satisfied and fulfilled in His triune-relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God has never been in want or in need. He is ultimately satisfied in Himself and he is the only one who can do so.

He lacks nothing and He is always joyful.

Yet, is it possible for God to become even happier? I believe so; for just as he is grieved by sin and the damage we do to one another, and our rebellion against his good rule, he is overjoyed when we turn to him in faith, love, an repentance. There may be no clearer image of God's joy than in Luke 15, when Jesus describes the courts of heaven at the return of a sinner to relationship with God:

"Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10 NKJV)

I've always read this passage and imagined that it was the angels rejoicing before God, but that is not what the passage says. It states there is "rejoicing in the PRESENCE of the angels". So then, who is the One in the presence of the angels? Who is the One rejoicing? It appears that the God who made you and me, though we rebel against Him by nature and by choice, celebrates and rejoices before the Host of Heaven whenever we repent and return to Him.

When you return to your Heavenly Father through faith in His Son, you fill the halls of Heaven with happiness.

Worshiping the God Who Trumps Religion

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed." But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, 'Take up your bed, and walk.'" (John 5:9-11 ESV)

I love the way this verse so powerfully illustrates the 'newness' of following Jesus. Christ's healing of the lame man on a Sabbath and his command to pack up his bed and walk blew away the legalism that surrounded him. It shows following Jesus is more than adding more religious baggage...it's following a person. The healed man didn't have a new religious system...he had a Savior.
Jesus turns religion and worship on its head. Instead of doing our best to check the blocks and impress God with our goodness, we simply need to respond to the One who has come to us in our lameness and inability to heal us. When we encounter Jesus as He really is, we stop worrying about other's criticism, and we point with confidence to the One who told us to "get up an walk."
The power of Jesus and His word trump EVERYTHING else.

Crazy Run For Us = Great Opportunity For You

Hello all,

As many of you know, two friends of mine (Todd Wigley and Weston Cheatham) and I will be running in the Rock Creek Stump Jump 50K Ultra marathon on October 6, 2012.  We’ve been told we’re crazy by our wives and co-workers, and maybe we are.  But, we want to use the opportunity that this crazy run provides to make you aware of a need halfway around the world.  Just across Lake Victoria from Kampala, Uganda is a place where tremendous opportunities for service await.  Some of our friends in ministry, Steve and Stephanie Bredesen are in the process of building a clinic and aid facility in a village called Nakalanda on a remote and isolated peninsula, far from all conveniences.  The people of Nakalanda have no running water or electricity and they survive essentially on what they are able to raise and produce around their homes.  At this time, they are raising money to equip the clinic with water and to finish some critical projects in order to sustain their work among the people of Nakalanda.  The heart of this message is this:

If our crazy-long run inspires you to do something outside your normal routine in order to help the Bredesen family in their service to some of the poorest in Uganda, we would be honored.  Please check out their work online by going to their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/BredesensInUganda or by going to their website, http://www.bredesensinuganda.com.  You can also check out the race we’re running by going to http://www.rockcreek.com/stumpjump.rco.  Any amount given would be appreciated, as there is so much work to be done, so if you’d like to partner with us to assist them financially, please send your donations to the following address with the words, “Bredesen Account” in the memo line:

Mission Ministries

PO box 6546

Santa Ana, Ca. 92706

All we’re doing is running for a day.  They’re doing the real work of serving those in need every single day.  Thank you for your prayerful consideration and for your support of the Bredesen’s and the Nakalanda Project. 

Sean Riley

God Always Had A Party In Mind

In my reading today, I was struck the following verse from the story of Creation:

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years. (Genesis 1:14 HCSB)

God has always had celebration on His mind. When He breathed the stars into existence and placed the Sun and Moon in the canopy of the heavens, He did so, in part, to serve as "signs for festivals (read: worshipful celebrations)". A part of day four of the creation of the universe was dedicated to party-planning. This points to God's eternal purpose for humanity - we are designed to worship. It is written in the heavens as a divine appointment for all people to worship our Creator God.

Additionally, this serves as a reminder of what worship should look like: not drab or dreary. Instead, the idea of "festival" should be always in the from of our minds as we come together to praise God. Does this mean worship isn't serious business or that we don't deal with life and death issues in worship? Not at all. Worship is the most serious endeavor of the human heart, but it doesn't have to be somber in order to be serious.

Our God is a celebrating God. He rejoices in the presence of the angels when a sinner repents (Luke 15). Should we not rejoice in His presence for the ability to repent and the gift of redemption? Let's party in the presence of God this week...the Sun Moon and stars all say it's time.

Worship Through Obedience

I have been touched by the outpouring of love and care for Lydia and our family as we journeyed to Uganda to meet her and as we have since brought her home. Something that has honestly surprised me has been the conversations I've had with people who have told me that our story is "inspiring" or that we were "brave" to pursue this adoption. While I am humbled and grateful for these kind words, it is not something I would think of on my own. Much of the time during the process, it just felt like faith and obedience to what we felt God was leading us to do. He led us every step and provided all we needed. This process put flesh and bones on what I've taught students for years: step out and follow step by step where God calls and leads...your obedience in faith is worship. When I was in the middle of the process of adopting Lydia, I didn't feel particularly brave. I felt dependent, humbled and amazed by the big-ness and goodness of God.

Heading home

Great news! Bonnie and Lydia are headed home and will arrive tomorrow. What a journey it's been to just bring her into our family; and it has all been wonderfully worth it.
The generosity and love that have been given so freely are truly acts of worship. For each of you who have prayed for us, cared for us, given to us and followed our story, you have been living out James 1:27: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Uganda Update Day 5

It's been quite a ride so far.  Saturday, after a plane flight filled with comedy (Addis Ababa airport), connections (met 2 mission teams and a group of seminary students from London on their way to teach preaching at a Bible college in Kampala) and very little sleep I landed at Entebbe/Kampala.  The ride through the city to the very rural outskirts of town (Wakiso) was a thrill a second, and at the end of it, I met Lydia!  After spending a bit of time at the orphanage, Bonnie and I returned to our hotel and had dinner with new friends, Ian and Mindy (also on an adoption trip) and the Vargas.   Sunday, I had the privilege of worshiping with a small church at the orphanage from which we are adopting.  There was a wonderful spirit of worship and adoration for our great God in that little building, and they even invited me to sing 2 songs for them.  I sang "When I Think About the Lord" (because every time you say or sing 'Hallelujah', everyone shouts 'Amen!') and "Jesus Messiah."  Very few worshipers there spoke English, but after the music, the pastor translated some of the lyrics and exclaimed that he loves it when people sing about the greatness of Jesus and what he accomplished at the cross.  Tuesday was our court hearing, and it was definitely different from any court experience I've had in the US.  At the end, we were granted custody by the judge and now we await a formal reading of the ruling next week.  Today, we travelled to the place where our girl was originally abandoned at 8 months of age, and the story is too hard to tell (despite the fact I need to remain somewhat guarded about the details of her case until it is complete).  However, one of the richest blessings today came when we saw the faces of those who had helped to rescue her and who have thought she died from the abusive treatment she endured.  She was passed around from person to person with smiles and tears shared by all.  Definitely a time for worship.

On our way

I'm in Dulles Airport in Washington DC; about to board the flight that will carry me to meet my wife (who travelled a day ahead of me) and our soon-to-be daughter. What an amazing gift this journey is! God has blessed us with so much over the past year of prayer and preparation, and our greatest blessings have come through our family and friends. The ways in which you have loved and supported us have been acts of love, compassion and worship. You have put "hands and feet" on the love of God in Christ and you have helped us live out the idea that real love is more than words or talk...love does. According to Bob Goff, "it becomes clear that we need to stop plotting the course and instead just land the plane on our plans to make a difference by getting to the 'do' part of faith. That's because love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn't just keep thinking about it or planning for it. Simply put: love does.". (Goff, p. xvi)

Source list:
Goff, Bob. "Love Does", Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012.

Right Worship --- Right Action

One of the most critical connections in our worship must be between our Orthodoxy (right beliefs) and our Orthopraxy (right actions).  We are certainly called to believe the right things about God, and our worship must be fueled by the truth of Scripture, but in order for the way we respond t to be truly worship, our belief must ultimately lead to obedience.  “Just as worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience.  If worship does not propel us into greater obedience, it has not been worship.  To stand before the Holy One of eternity is to change.”  (Foster, p. 173)  God is clear throughout Scripture that true religion cares for the poor and oppressed, and worship that is honored by God is compassionate toward the widow and the orphan.  “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  (James 1:27)  Throughout the prophetic books of the Old Testament, it is often the response of Israel to the poor among them that stood as a testimony to the integrity of their worship and the true attitude of their hearts toward God (Isaiah 58 is a prime example of a time when Israel had turned away from God as evidenced by turning away from fellow countrymen).  So, why should we expect this to cease as a sign of authentic worship for New Testament believers?  Granted, only God can see into the hearts of men and women, but it seems evident from Scripture and from the call to sanctification in the life of the Christian believer that there should be outward signs of grace and mercy in the lives of those who are committed to Jesus Christ.  Therefore, faithful and authentic worship in the life of a believer and in the communal life of a congregation must be marked by more than good theology or even passionate and heartfelt singing and sweet times of fellowship.  Real worship will also be evidenced by compassion and acts of mercy in the lives of the most vulnerable and needy members of the congregation and the greater community.

Second, it is vital that our worship, both individually and as a community, to come before God with repentant hearts.  The ideas of humility, submission and surrender before God did not go out of fashion with the advent of the New Covenant.  Instead, the incredible act of mercy and unmerited favor poured out upon an undeserving world through Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary points to the need for worshipers concerned with honesty and integrity to come to God in meekness and reverence.  It is the heart that truly understands the message of the gospel that comes before the Lord with contrition and remorse for sin.  Only someone who has yet to grasp the depth of the cross might come before God flippantly or irreverently.  Additionally, it is the very call of the prophets as the point to the holiness of God that should redirect our sinful hearts to careful self-examination and repentance.  Does this mean that God intends to “rub our face” in our sinfulness?  By no means!  We have been saved in order that we might glorify him for his mercy and favor!  So then, while repentance and remorse are definitely the starting point for our worship of God, our relationship with him does not stop there.  Instead, it is only when our hearts are truly humbled and submitted to God that we become bendable to his will and moldable to his purposes.  It is through continual repentance that we keep from “hardening our hearts” (Psalm 95) and as we repent and turn toward God, there is “rejoicing in the presence of the angels.”  God celebrates when we repent, and we celebrate in the light of his mercy and grace.   “This was the driving message of both the major and minor prophets.  It is still God’s message today, and it is a matter of utmost importance.  God so desperately wants relationship with us.  He wants to dwell with us.  And He wants our worship.  But He will never, ever, ever accept our worship unless and until we examine ourselves, see our sin in Technicolor, and confess it to God.”  (Whaley, p. 221)

A prophetic call to holiness and acts of mercy are essential to the worship-life of individuals and believing communities.  This is how we connect the essential Truth of our faith with action, and letting the “rubber meet the road” in the areas of faith, worship and compassion. 

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Source list:

Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline, The Path To Spiritual Growth.  San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins Publishers, 1978.

Whaley, Vernon M. Called to Worship, The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God’s Call.  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007.

The HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Zondervan Publishing House.

I've been reading a great book on worship by Vernon Whaley called "Called to Worship".  In reading about Joshua and the ways in which he was prepared to lead the nation of Israel as both a political and worship leader, a few key principles from his life came through.  Hope it's meaningful to you as well.

            Joshua provides a number of key examples for those who would seek to follow God closely and become devoted worshipers of Him today. 

1.    There will always be obstacles to worship.

2.   Authentic worship requires holiness.

3.   Authentic worship needs a home.

4.   Worship is a choice. 

In examining these principles one at a time, we can delve a little deeper into what it means to become a passionate and authentic worshiper in the tradition of Joshua.

            Principle 1.  There will always be obstacles to worship.

As noted by Dr. Vernon Whaley, “Before God’s people could enter the land and worship their Deliverer there, they would have to overcome all that stood in the way.  You will too.”  (Whaley, p. 93)  The nation of Israel faced the raging, flood-stage Jordan River, unknown geography and intimidating inhabitants in the land and a city at the entrance to the Promised Land that seemed to be an impenetrable fortress of stone walls.  While on the surface, the odds seemed immeasurably stacked against the Hebrew people and their chance of actually taking possession of the Land of Canaan was slim, the people stood on faith.  Their eyes of faith that looked to the Lord and to his anointed leader, Joshua, eventually saw the Jordan River stopped in its tracks and the seemingly unconquerable walls of Jericho fall to the ground.  It was the faith of the people of Israel that overcame the obstacles to their worship and finally allowed them to enter into the, “territory He [God] had promised them, the land where they would become the kingdom of priests He wanted them to be.”  (Whaley, p. 93)  It is this same faith that we exercise to overcome obstacles to our worship: i.e. the fear of what others may think, spiritual warfare, doubt, questions and problems.  It is through faith that we overcome anything that may stand in the way of our authentic worship. 

            Principle 2.  Authentic worship requires holiness.

“Before God would ever accept Israel’s worship and consequently demonstrate His power to them, His people first had to prepare their hearts.”  (Whaley, p. 94)  Holiness and purity were critical elements of Israel’s relationship with God.  His desire was to dwell among his people and to bless them through his powerful action on their behalf was tied to his desire for their personal and communal purity.  This is as true for us today as it was for the nation of Israel during their conquest of the Promised Land.  In order for us to expect the powerful and life-changing presence of God in our midst during times of worship, we must come with a desire for personal and social holiness.  If we harbor sin, particularly as worship leaders and pastors, we should not expect a powerful movement of God in our congregations.  Only when true repentance occurs and a spirit of humility and submission are present in the leadership of a church is the presence of God truly welcome in worship.

            Principle 3: Authentic worship needs a home.

“Once the Israelites had made it safely across the Jordan River, what’s the first thing they did?  They stopped and took the time to build a memorial, a permanent site for worship.” (Whaley, p. 94)  The creation of a “sacred space” or a permanent place of frequent worship is essential in the life of each individual worshiper and in the life of a worshiping congregation.  Without a regular meeting place and time, even the strongest of human relationships will falter and fail.  This is also true of our relationship with God.  We must create time and space to connect with our loving Creator; to speak with Him and to hear from Him; and to worship Him in a space that truly becomes “holy ground.” 

            Principle 4: Worship is a choice.

“Practicing worship involves a choice.  There will always be a thousand and one things to distract you from doing worship.  To worship, we must put action to our faith, because genuine worship is active, energetic love for God, demonstrated in our choice to obey.”  (Whaley, p. 95)  With a world striving for our distracted and divided attention, we must choose to worship God.  Just as Joshua and the nation of Israel were surrounded by the distractions and false worship of the land of Canaan, believers today are in the midst of a society that tolerates everything except whole-hearted devotion to God through His Son Jesus Christ.  Our choice today to worship may be as difficult as it was for the Hebrew people as they stood at the entrance to the land of Canaan, but the outcome is no less important.  Just as the consequences of their choice led to “life or death, blessing or cursing,” our choices will lead to the same.  In a world that sings siren songs of corrupted worship of false gods, the Christian worshiper must be committed to making a daily choice to worship the only true and living God.  And, when this worship takes place by stepping out in faith to overcome obstacles by those who are committed to holiness as they meet together in sacred spaces, the amazing presence and power of God will be a witness to a world that cannot compare with the Holy One of Israel. 

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Source list:

Whaley, Vernon M. Called to Worship, The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God’s Call.  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007.

Getting started

This is a new blog dedicated to the fact that worship really matters. It matters greatly to God and because it matters to him, it should matter greatly to us. My purpose in writing is to add to the conversation about Biblical worship and issues surrounding worship in the Church today [particularly the evangelical church, since that is the context within which I operate]. Let's enjoy this journey together as we explore God's great occupation for human beings: worship.