We Worship Because of Who He Is...

It's not everyday or even weekly, but every once in a while I find myself spending time thinking about things that when I really stop and think, don't matter much in the grand scheme. Its not because I want to, or even because I am weak and prone to being distracted, but I think its because of a lack of context. Don't we all do this to some extent? Don't we all sometimes make little things seem like towering inferno's, and maybe shrink massive problems down to bite sized pieces that can easily be consumed because we don't want to face reality, or worse yet maybe we don't even see it for what it is...A BIG PROBLEM!

Well I think this is sometimes how we approach our worship. We want to fit God into a box just small enough that we can handle it, just interesting enough that we can consume it, but just far enough away that we are not CONSUMED BY IT. I think we do this many times because we are approaching God from a less than accurate view, or maybe even a context that causes us to forget who He is, or whom we are engaged with. We serve such a loving and patient God, that He allows us to sometimes take His presence, our relationship with Him, and our reverance towards Him out of context. And whats crazy is that He continues to call us closer, love us even more, and passionately pursue relationship with us through the Holy Spirit.

So what am I getting at here?

It is when we pursue God in the proper context that we see Him for who He is. It is in that place that we truly see a change in perspective that draws us closer into relationship with Him, and allows us to break down the walls of our hearts, the misconceptions, and the guilt and shame that perverts our view of Him to see that this God we serve is so massive, so unbelievably unshakable, and so in love with us, that through Jesus blood shed for us, we can have that intimate relationship with Him amidst our ignorance, selfishness, and failure. Like a loving Father He keeps reaching out His hand to say, "I am for you". It is when we see Him this way, when see Him as both a God of mercy, grace, love, and hope...as well as a God who deserves reverence, honor, glory, and our adoration. When we see Him as the King on the throne, and as the lamb that was slain for us that we truly see Him for who He is.

This is why we worship...not because its what we are supposed to do, not because its fun or trendy, not because its tradition....Its because of WHO HE IS.

If you are a Christ Follower, I know He has changed your life as He has mine. Let's never forget WHO HE IS...lets never lose context amongst all the things in our lives. Allow Him to change your perspective. If you want to worship with this perspective and you struggle to know how to do it, simply ask Him with a pure heart to show you WHO HE IS. If you approach His throne of grace boldly asking for Him to show you, I promise, He will do that for you.

"Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other"

We serve an amazing God...

Ken

Character Matters

It was in the 90's that many in the media and in the "political class" in America tried to convince us that "character" doesn't really matter, that as long as we are all wealthy, healthy, and happy that somehow the "HOW" we got there part doesn't really matter. I think we all would agree that way of thinking hasn't really taken us to a great place in society....just sayin :)


Worship is more than a spiritual act of singing a song, or clapping your hands in church, or even listening to a good talk by the pastor. Worship is also worshiping in "TRUTH"...walking out a life marked by the imprint of Jesus Christ himself. We worship not a wooden statue, or a dead guy from ancient middle eastern times, but a living, risen PERSON, the SON OF GOD, the SECOND PERSON OF THE TRINITY, JESUS CHRIST. We worship "WHO HE IS", the very nature of God, His majesty, His wonder, the goodness of Him who sits on the throne at the right hand of God the Father. All of this takes on our response to live as Jesus lived. To love, to give, to sacrifice ourselves for our family, our church family, our friends, and our neighbors. My definition of character as I see it is, "living out all that you are from the inside out, walking out not only what you speak with your lips, but who Jesus says you are". To me that is character. Character is choosing to be like Christ, when you fail, admitting your failure, learning, and moving on to show others how God is working in you. Character is not necessarily always having the right answer, telling others "how to live", or always doing the right thing so that others will think you have character. Character is living Christ, speaking Christ, and not responding to your critics with anger, hatred, or foul words....but responding with love in action, letting God be your defender, and letting truth reign in your heart and in your actions.

Why do I say all this in the context of worship?

I see in the world right now more than any time in my lifetime, a search for TRUTH. People looking for answers to so many complex situations. People may not always admit it, but they want to follow people of character. Not people who necessarily "do everything correctly", but people who live a life of good character. Being a Christ Follower does not end with good character, it begins with good character. As we try live life bringing glory to God in all we do, as we live by the GOLDEN RULE treating others as you want to be treated, loving people and not what you can get from them...you begin to see character, you begin to see worship of Jesus lived out in GOOD CHARACTER. This is what I believe Jesus wants from us...our worship, both in spiritual acts of corporate praise & worship, but equally as important, a life of worship in the daily things of life, and a character He can use to bring glory to His name. I pray I can live a life of worship by displaying good character, and allowing God to use that character to bring glory to Him alone. Start today, evaluate the way you are walking this life, am I a person of good character? Or am I just a character? :)

I trust you will see in yourself as I do in myself, that God has given us so much to build upon if we will choose to live the life He has prepared for us, use His word as the confirmation of who we are in Christ, and what we have the capability to do as Christ Followers, and finally making the hard decisions to live for Him above all of our heart might try to convince us to live for. Character matters, live the character of Christ! Onward & Upward :)

Are You Consumed By God, Or Are You A Consumer of God?

Are you consumed by God in your worship, or are you a consumer of worship?

This is really the question one has to ask when they examine their walk with God.





Corporate worship has an awesome after effect of that experience of a corporate and personal connection to God, connection to the "Body of Christ" (the church), and that connection to the purpose of the local church to come together and worship our God, encourage one another to keep moving forward in their walk with Christ, and see others be changed by Him. That after effect is that sense of refreshing or that feeling of "that felt good", that keeps us coming back for more. But, if that is the only thing that happens, that you feel good, you feel "fed", or you have a good experience and you move on with your week, then we have ALL missed it.

We live in a consumer society...a society that has convinced itself that everything is a product and that all "sickness" or "stuff" of any nature can be fixed with just consuming a product. Its really the marketing ploy of "make people feel like they are missing something, show them they are missing your product, and if they just had your product, all their problems would go away and they would be content". This obviously isnt true, but it sure does explain why we all have iPods, big screen TV's, the clapper, the shamwow towels, and a host of other "you gotta have it" products. What's funny is everytime I have ever bought something that I was sure was the "cure for my ills...this is it, I won't need anything else"...I am ALWAYS let down, it wasn't the answer, the answer does not lie in a product.

So how does this relate to worship?

Sometimes I see people with the best of intentions, and a great love for God, approach worship, and even church as a product. "Let me sprinkle some God on it, and then I can go back to my life as I want it". Worship becomes the latest "diet" fad or self improvement approach to having a better life. But if we approach God, worship, even our church as a product to use for a "better life" we have missed the whole point of Jesus dying for us. He is not "A" source, He is "THE" source. Our worship should not be us consuming some of God's presence to empower us to keep going, our worship should be us laying our life on the altar before God as a sacrifice to be "CONSUMED". We are not to consume, but BE consumed. When we do this, God can burn away all the "stuff" in our life to get to the pure part of how He has made us, and then we find His purpose, His goals, His reason for creating us and we can begin to walk in that.

Our attitude about worship is soooooo important to God. He wants us to come not to get, but to give. Not to "get you some goodies", but to give your love and adoration to God, and also to figuretively speaking lay yourself on the alter as a LIVING SACRIFICE. In effect after we have given Him praise, we then say ..."Here I am send me, I will go for You Lord".

This post is meant to encourage you to look at your reasons for coming to church to corporately worship our King. Ask a couple key questions of yourself, and really examine your motives:

1. Am I coming into worship to give, or to get?
2. Am I fully submitted and embracing of God's will for my life?
3. Am I being obedient when God says "go"?

These questions help me see if I am being consumed by Him, or just being a consumer of Him. It is all about Jesus, and a funny thing happens when we allow ourselves to be consumed by Him...He gives us what we need to not just make it, but to flourish. You see God wants to bless you, He just wants your motives and worship to be of pure motive....as Pastor Clif Cox always tells me, "God is only interested in bringing glory to Himself", so if our motives are to bring glory to Him, to come for Him, and to be used by Him, don't be surprised that God starts meeting not just your needs, but also the desires of your hearts.

Be CONSUMED!!!

For His Glory,

Ken

What Road Are You On?

1 John 1:7 (NLT)
⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.









What Road Are You On?

Many times I hear people say, I feel so down, and I don't really know why?!

Which is usually followed up with..."I feel like I am stuck in a rut"...or maybe, "I keep coming back to the same issue over and over again and I can't get past it". Many times this is because we have things in our lives that are distracting us whether it be unconfessed sin, a feeling of shame, or a bad image of who they are or how God made them. These are all deep rooted, and very complex things that may take some time to "unpack", or even some help in doing so as we aren't always the best objective critics of our situation. If this is you, have faith, God is a merciful God, He loves you, and wants the best for you. Submit to His ways and His direction and repent of doing things your own way and trust He will make a way.

But this kind of deep rooted "STUCKNESS" (if that is even a word) isn't what I want to talk about. It's the simple decisions we make thinking it may be a minor decision, which then spirals into major issues, that I want to discuss.

Worship, as we have covered in past posts, is the response to what God has already done for us. Many times on the road of life we want to stop and take a break...we think, maybe I should take a different route to where I am going because this one is too hard or requires more navigation than other routes I could take. And we maybe take an easier path to where we are going. So, we compromise the path we were on, and take another path. Only this path is more of a back road, has very little signs, but seems to be a little easier to drive on because there seems to be more room for my leisure and decisions on how to navigate the road. But somewhere along this road you begin to realize that you can't really see where you are going and aren't sure its even the right way because there are no signs, nothing is well lit, and there seems to be know one around to ask. In fact there doesn't even seem to be a gas station, or a restaurant for me to stop and ask. The further I get from the highway, the darker it seems to get, and more confused I get on whether I am going the right way.

So...where am I going with this illustration?

I think a lot of times we think we can take shortcuts in life. We think we can get on a different road or path from the one God has layed out for us, and that we can take the easier path and get to the same place, or at least hope to get close enough. The scripture above lays it out...we need to stay on the path that leads to the light...the light that is Jesus Christ and His way. On THAT path we find the "food" and the things we "need", but many times its a more difficult road to the human eye. We see that sometimes we have to do things that maybe feel harder than what we are up for, maybe seem over the top initially, or maybe we just plain don't want to do the things needed to travel that road.

1 John 1:7 which is quoted above, really sizes it up. If you travel the road God has prepared for you, which is one of living in the light, that light is Christ...if we live in Him, follow Him, then we will have fellowship and encouragement from other believers along that road, God will send those He has appointed to get you out of your ditch when you fall over the edge. But, if you decide to take the easier path, don't be shocked when you run out of gas, or get lost, that its harder to find help because you have separated yourself from the "herd" (God's people).

Corporate Worship is a time of coming together and seeing God's work in others lives, it is also a time of ministering to those who need encouraged or guided along the road God has prepared. I ask you a simple question today.

What Road Are You On?

Are you on the road that is headed towards Christ, and is guiding your path towards His people, and His ways of living an overcomers life? Or have you maybe tried another path that might seem easier, or maybe close enough to God's path that we think its OK, and maybe more satisfying to your own mind and reasoning? If you have left the path God has made for you, its simple, just do a U turn, and go back to the road that leads to the light. You will be surprised that when you begin to submit yourself back to the Lord, get back into His word, make time for Him to speak to you, that your rut will look small, and how you will quickly find yourself going back down the road God has for you. Be encouraged, God loves you, He has His best ahead for You, all you need to do is get on that road that leads to the light, that leads to the way Jesus Christ has prepared for you. Make the choice to do this every day, and God will blow your mind with how He will "make your paths straight", and will "bring hope to the hopeless". It's easy, make that U turn, get back on the road God has prepared for you, and see what God can do!

For His glory,

Ken Ferguson

Worship In "Spirit & Truth"

I don't know about you, but I always find it refreshing when someone is honest and asks questions that maybe some are afraid to ask for fear of not looking "spiritual enough". I think a lot of times we come to church, a bible study, or small group and think that everyone has God so much more figured out then they do. I think its also refreshing to know that even the most educated pastors, teachers, and leaders of the church struggle to hear God sometimes. That is why I think over and over again Jesus tried to break things down to simple concepts, and to stories that everyone in the group could understand. The theology and understanding of an all encompassing, all powerful God is something completely different than your relationship with God (I don't want to down play the importance of theology, just making a point about how our relationship with God will always trump our understanding of him). To know God is to spend time with Him in prayer, it is to read His Word and meditate upon its life changing power, to worship him in the midst of your congregation, and in your private times of worship at home, or in the car, as well as through the very life you live.

So, now for one of those honest questions......What does John 4:24 mean? John :24 says, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

First, there are very heavy theological explanations of what this means, but I am going to break it down in a way I think everyone can relate to. God is spirit, He is a person, and in this world and existence on earth we experience His presence through the Holy Spirit. We worship Him first, by engaging Him through our spirits in worship and through that amazing interaction when we lay our hearts before Him, and love Him through lifting Him above all things and all we know. This is the easy part. It is easy to come one on one and declare our love and adoration for a God who has done so much for us, but it is much more difficult to take on the second part of John 24:4, to worship in "truth" as well. To worship in truth is to take the very worship and our response to our love and understanding of who our God is.....and walk it out....live it.....believe it by walking out the truth of our God and who He is and has done for us. Jesus wants us to worship Him both in the one on one interactions we have with Him where His presence is so real and strong, but also in taking those things we have declared to Him in worship, and show its work in you by walking it out as worship to God.

Worship is all about the response we give to the love God has already poured upon us, and all the blessings our God has put upon us through His very nature, and the work of His son Jesus Christ through the cross. Jesus is telling us that "true" worship is worship that is done in the spirit through our one on one worship of our God relationally through that love relationship He has called us to have with Him as our loving heavenly father, and also in how we take that love and relationship and lay our flesh and our lives down in everyday life.

JESUS DID NOT SAY SPIRIT WORSHIP IS THE BETTER, AND OH BY THE WAY WORSHIP IN TRUTH TOO....HE SAID WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH....THEY ARE EQUAL AND BOTH A EQUAL PART OF THE WORSHIP GOD DESIRES FROM US.

So....what does this revelation God has given us mean to each one of us? It means we need to put as much passion and love into our corporate worship as we do in our daily pursuit to live a life that gives worship to God by loving our spouses, children, friends, and neighbors as well as walking out the path He has drawn and prepared for you. These two worlds are not seperate, in fact they are completely connected....its all worship....because its all about pouring out the love Jesus pours upon you, and returning that love back in ALL we do. Worshiping our God in spirit and in truth.

For His Glory!

Ken

Why? A good question....

Asking questions to better understand something is much better than assuming you know the answer. Sooooo.....Have you ever asked any of these questions on a Sunday morning in a worship service (now be honest)?

• "Why do I need to lift my hands, sing out loud, clap my hands, or dance to worship God? Doesn't He know my heart? God knows I am shy, and I don't need to make myself a spectacle, right?"

• "What if I don't feel like singing or lifting my hands, and I do it anyway, am I being a fake"?
  

If you have asked yourself these questions, and or something somewhat similar, I have some news for you....brace yourself.....your gonna be shocked.....wait for it.....yep, your human. I think most people, if not all people who follow Christ and worship in a corporate setting like a Sunday Morning Service have felt this at one time or another. The problem is many times we don't have the right view of who God is, and therefore we think that all of what Christians do in corporate worship is about them and their actions, or that somehow God is judging our worship like some kind of Ice Skating competition (can you here God saying, "that looked like a 5.4 from here"....of course not!). The secret is that a view of God in that context is not even close to being correct, its not about you. God is present in our worship, and He is our focus, and we should worship in response to Him and only for His enjoyment and pleasure of seeing His people worship Him. Our worship is really just a response to our seeing God for who He is, what God is doing, or has done in your life. Our worship is truly a "sacrifice of praise". That is a key truth that many times we don't grasp, that in our worship we are bringing a "sacrifice" to God. Not like the Old Testament believers who needed to slaughter an animal to shed the blood of a sacrifice for their sin, but a sacrifice of the heart to show our love for our King, for our God. Worship at its core, is that revelation of who God is, what He has done, how He loves us, and our response to that revelation.

So that leads me to answer the questions above.

Praise can only be shown, it can't be held inside. Can you praise a child for being obedient or completing a task you asked them to do without physically either reaching out to them, or by verbally encouraging or stating your pleasure for what they did? Of course not. Praise is HEARD....it is SPOKEN....it is even SHOUTED (a touchdown at a football game anyone?).

Worship is a sacrifice of a different kind. It is that connection to God with intimacy and adoration that only comes from knowing His love for you, and returning that love He first poured on us back to Him. But sometimes like in any relationship we forget or we take for granted that love and intimacy God wants with you, and we don't step outside ourselves and express it to Him. Worship is expressed through love and intimacy, it should be personal, and should cost you something. That might just be the relinquishing of your pride and kneeling before Him in honor, it might be raising your hands in submission, it might be dancing before him because of the joy you feel. But many times it can be as simple as just putting everything in your life aside, and regardless of how you feel that day putting all our focus, attention, and energy into expressing to Him just how much you love Him.

Finally, there is a myth out there that says that you should go by your feelings....that if you don't feel like worshiping, lifting your hands, or praising God, that you should hang back and get focused before entering in to worship so not be a fake or a hypocrite. That is a the biggest deception of all when it comes to worship. Worship isn't, and should never be purely about what you feel...it is simply us responding to God and what He has already done. We should never be guided by what we feel, but guided by what we know about God, that He is in your midst and regardless of circumstances, worthy to be praised. Feelings change, God's nature, His love, His character do not. The Word of God tells us to "enter into His gates with praise", to "worship and bow down", to "sing for joy". It doesn't say to come to Him when your life is going well, or when things are tough, or when you feel up to the challenge....it says to simply COME!

I want to encourage you to boldly come and worship God, and He will reveal himself, He will give you a deeper understanding of His love, and it will fuel your devotion and your desire to see His name lifted up in your life. It is innevitable that feelings will enter in to your worship, because God has created us with emotions, but our worship is driven by "Spirit and Truth", neither of which is a feeling (the next blog will deal with this concept of worshiping in "Spirit and Truth). You don't need to TRY HARDER, or be more Holy, you need to let go and respond to who He is, and what He has already done for you. There is no greater thing to be a part of than to be in a big room full of people worshiping a God who has done so much for you. Oh How He Loves Us!

For His glory!

Ken

From The Ferguson's...Have a Merry Christmas!

Hey everyone!

As my first post to the High Mill Worship Blog, Susan, the kids, and I want to wish everyone a VERY Merry Christmas, and may the love of Christ be with you and your family this week. Enjoy time with your family, celebrate God's gift to us through Christ, and may the joy of the Lord be with every one of you.




Come join us tomorrow evening for High Mill's Christmas Eve Service at 6:00 p.m. and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

Ken