Two Dangers When Responding to Scripture

Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.
Deuteronomy 12:32

The call to obedience to God's Word means the strict avoidance of two clear extremes. The first thing to do is to avoid adding to the command of God. It is more than just a simple "interpretive error" to twist scripture to make it say something more than it says. Adding to the Word of God always exalts a human contrived thought to the same authority as one of God's thoughts. It gives a man the authority of the Word of God. That is a dangerous and deadly kind of rebellion.

The second danger is equally insidious. It involves diminishing God by diminishing His Word. We must not take away from His commands. This is the danger of liberal theology. It insists that sections of scripture have no authority and do not claim to be what they are. In the end this makes the whole Bible completely unreliable. Cults have mastered this technique through "interpretation" that takes away real meaning and authority.

Actually, throughout human history both of these dangers have been used to support apostasy of every kind. When Israel strayed from God at its worst, it either forgot to keep God's Words in idolatry, or it added unfathomable amounts of additional regulation to it making it totally impractical. Both extremes led to sin and judgment. Accepting God's Word at face fall is the goal of every day in any believer who wants a consistent faith.


- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

The Devastation of Disobedience

"Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. And you murmured in your tents and said, 'Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.'
Deuteronomy 1:26-27

A selfish stream of thinking led to a miserable and dangerous theology and that brought about God's judgment that defined a generation in Israel. The Exodus generation had so much promise, so much potential to believe God. They experienced so much directly from the hand of God. You'd think it would have strengthened their faith. They had been slaves in Egypt under awful treatment. They saw God defeat a political superpower while they did not lift a finger. God secured their freedom. God literally fed them in the wilderness. He led them visibly. They received His law... a document unique to them. But they ended up believing that God was the exact opposite of Who He was. That was a problem... a big problem.

The result of their tent rebellion was that God saw it, was angered, and acted (Deuteronomy 1:34). And an entire generation was cursed to depend on Him solely in the wilderness for the next forty years. They were spiritual toddlers who would die never having really matured in their faith, but nurtured by God nonetheless. That was the result of a theology that disbelieved God's love and refused faith. It disobeyed God and would not follow Him.

Fruitlessness and judgment follow in the wake of disobedience. Even if that disobedience still has some kind of belief in God. These Israelites believed there was a God. They did not believe what He revealed about Himself. The result is very tragic and is painful to read. But God still loved Israel. He prepared a new generation during that 40 year time period. That new generation would boldly and gladly claim His promise.


- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

faith & obedience

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 3:36

 

The New Testament does not separate obedience from faith. When it comes to following Jesus and believing in Jesus, both are necessary for true possession of eternal life. That fact is that obedience to the gospel necessarily follows faith in the gospel. We struggle always with the “correct” degree of obedience.

 

I prefer to let Jesus Himself settle the matter. It is not necessarily about who we associate with. He was the friend of sinners, yet He perfectly obeyed the Father. And it was religious legalists who only stayed in their own company who could not stand what Jesus did. So the obedience that was found in following Jesus was not rote legalism. It was a life committed to knowing Him. Those who followed Jesus in this way were transformed by Him.

 

So today, faith in Christ for forgiveness of sin is followed by a willing heart to follow Him. it is not about legalism. But it is always about a serious, life-changing, personal commitment. And the obedience that follows that follows is to Jesus, not human ideas or lists of Christian activities. Without that faith and obedience to the Son, no one will see life or forgiveness of sin. That is clear from this text. Real faith longs to obey and follow Jesus. False professions are not compelled to obey the voice of the Master.

 

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The reward of repentance.

Therefore say, 'Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'"

Numbers 25:12-13

 

God confirmed the Aaronic priesthood without reservation due to the actions of Aaron’s son Phineas in the matter of ending Israel’s flirtation with Moab’s Baal worship at Peor. This is not an easy account to read. Moab quietly seduced Israel into idolatry. It began as sort of a “cultural exchange” where Israel was invited to participate in feasts. It quickly progressed into idolatry with Baal worship that included prostitution. It got dirty and nasty really fast and Israel was caught in the trap. It ended with 24,000 dead in the camp by judgment of God with a plague. As Israel wept over her sin, a man flagrantly brought a Moabite temple whore into his tent. Phineas made the bold move to strike down these last two sinful idolaters to stave off a relapse.

 

It was this bold faith and action of the priest that led to God’s recognition and reward. God saw Phineas as possessing His feelings on the matter. And that is what made the difference. It saved the day for the entire nation because it prevented a second episode of idolatry and unfaithfulness. Sometimes having God’s heart means we are serious about sin in ourselves and in His people. And we will not sit around and watch God’s worship being defiled.

 

Two quick final observations: 1) Sin can be a slippery slope experience. Once you take a small step a really big fall can happen. What starts as a small choice can quickly become out of control until you are consumed by a driving passion. That is exactly what happened with Israel in this episode. They “met their neighbors” only to quickly be caught up in the exhilaration of a sexually driven false religion that made them forget their God and all He had done for their deliverance. 2) God will reward obedience when we are filled with His heart on the matter. It wasn’t that Phineas got mad that made the difference. It was that His outrage was God’s hurt heart on this matter and it led him to complete obedience for Israel. That was what God chose to reward with this covenant for the Aaronic priesthood.

 

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Sanctification has a goal and a purpose.

So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

Numbers 15:40

 

There is a very simple reminder in this verse. When I am called to be holy, I am called to an object / person that enables me to be so. Israel kept the law even in its most unusual aspects, like making tassels on garments, as a means to grow closer to the God Who had claim on them.

 

There was nothing innately holy about a fringe of cloth or even about avoiding one food or another. Instead, what the Law was meant to do was create an atmosphere of obedience that drew the heart to God as the object of holiness. In the remembering and doing of the requirements, a relationship to God in holiness was developed and pursued.

 

Sanctification calls us to God.  I often focus on what I am saved from. But I am equally saved to a relationship with God. That makes obedience all the more precious and important.

 

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Waiting out an entire generation

…not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.

Numbers 14:30-31

 

Israel rejected God when they rejected His call to enter the Promised Land. And God had to bring some sort of lesson to this disobedience. The consequence was that for the next four decades the nation would be doomed to nomadic wandering in a desert that doomed them to daily remember their faithlessness. An entire generation would eventually die. And their children would have the faith and courage to obey God. Faith and obedience always go hand in hand. You can’t just say you believe God and then live by your own wishes.

 

God built into the next generation of Israelites a robust faith. They knew that their lives would be better by trusting God. They lived with the horrible consequences of judgment. As each body of the generation that rejected Canaan was buried in the sand of Sinai, a growing sense of something new coming down the line had to fill the next generation with hope. And when the time came for them to cross over, they enthusiastically accepted the challenge.

 

This chapter of Numbers is not very grace-filled (at least at first glance). But God did hear Moses’ prayer and chose NOT to eradicate the nation and build a new one from Moses. God was actually merciful by punishing just one generation and promising anew His deliverance to a new generation. And the lessons they learned on the necessary mutual requirements of faith and obedience would define a generation that would conquer and receive.

 

I often wonder how they felt. What was it like to wait for an entire generation to die off? Did they count down the last few survivors, waiting for them to fall so they could move forward? We don’t know. But we do know that they did not grumble like their parents did. That may be the big lesson to learn. Real faith and real obedience does not complain or suggest “better ways” to God.

 

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Mobile worship

And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, "Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you." And when it rested, he said, "Return, O LORD, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel."

Numbers 10:35-36

 

God literally led the nation of Israel in the wilderness. Most of this chapter goes into long and involved detail as to just how the camp was moved from location to location. First, the cloud of God’s presence would lift from above the tabernacle. Trumpets were blown to summon the people to muster for moving the camp. Then the tribes went forward in specific formation and order, following the ark of the covenant to a new campsite.

 

Moses made these times significant for worship by focusing on God Who was leading them. He had a special prayer for when the ark set out. He had another one for when God’s presence settled back in and the relocation was complete. These became spiritual moments for Isarel, even as they packed and moved and relocated the camp.

 

Following God is worshiping Him during the hard work. That is a simple, but meaningful truth principle to remember. And it may involve daily routine as well as breaks in that routine that shake us up. Israel worshiped in the tabernacle when camp was set up. And they also worshiped by literally looking for God’s leadership as they moved about the wilderness, not sure where they would end up. So worshiping is both a time for “standing still” and an experience we can know while “on the move”.

 

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Obedience, part 2.

So Moses told the sons of Israel to observe the Passover. They observed the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did.

Numbers 9:4-5

 

When things went well for Israel in the wilderness it was because they followed closely what God told them to do. In this case it was with keeping the Passover even while nomads in the desert. They were learning obedience and learning it quite well. These clear successes in the Book of Numbers show us that Israel was capable of following God’s terms. The Law itself was not unreasonable.

 

Really, all of chapter nine focuses on this obedience. The last part of the chapter focuses on how this was defined in a visible way for the entire camp of Israelites. God’s presence was manifested in the middle of the camp above the tabernacle. A cloud was visible by day there. At night it glowed like fire. All of Israel could turn toward the middle of camp at any time and know what to do. They looked to God. If His presence lifted away from the tabernacle, the broke camp and followed Him (Numbers 9:23). It was that direct.

 

It is not quite as visible today, but I believe the process is equally direct. Christians still must center on God’s presence. Now it is found through obeying His Word. I find God in the pages of the Bible as clearly and irrefutably as if a cloud or fire hovered over my Bible! We must set biblical truth smack in the middle of our lives. From there we can get direction. God will lead us clearly. We were created to shape and rule this earth under the guidance of God. To walk with Him in this way we must be close to Him. To know His thoughts, we must live and dwell with His Word at the center of all we do. We must read it to do that. Really…. read it… and do what it says.

 

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Simple obedience should not be undervalued.

Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Numbers 8:22

 

The Levites as a tribe were dedicated solely to the service of the Lord in worship at the tabernacle. They were uniquely, publically dedicated to this service. Any male Levite, from the age of 25 until mandatory retirement at 50, was trained to serve in the work of the sacrifices and worship of Yahweh. It was a life vocation.

 

Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel heard God on this request. The Levites obeyed God’s call. A special tribe and class of people was then called and pressed into service before God. And the nation obeyed, rejoiced in God, and was blessed by this obedience.

 

There is just a surface thought that grabs my attention as I read this chapter. It has to do with obedience to God. Obeying God above and beyond my own whims is an important practice. It is a living and practical outcome of faith. Israel did not analyze these instructions. There was no debate or counter-offer back to God. They followed what God asked. Period. No discussion. It involved sacrifice and change, particularly for all the families in the tribe of Levi, but they did it willingly. That attitude of willing obedience is still important for believers today.

 

My present circumstances demand simple and complete obedience. Honestly, there are times when my flesh does not want to obey. Ministry is demanding and it takes a toll on what my fleshly self wants out of life for ME. But that simple obedience is more valuable than many other things I might give to God. I know He wants to satisfy me when I sacrifice. I will be satisfied in God when I do so. I value this above anything else I want, because, frankly, it is all I know in life.

 

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God of the Exodus and the Exile

Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.

Haggai 2:4-5

 

God’s covenant love is strong and binding. While encouraging the Jerusalem generation of re-settled exiles, God views His relationship with Israel from the very beginning of their national identity. He brought them out of Egypt. In a way, God is reminding them that He has done this sort of thing before. He knows how to take care of His people when they have come into covenant from slavery in a foreign land. The same powerful God of the Exodus was also God of the Exile. And He is God of this new endeavor among a generation that was re-settling the Land of Promise and re-building the temple of God.

 

God calls them to courage and asks them not to fear the task in front of them. Though it was big, He was bigger. God appeals to three things to encourage them. He appeals first to His Presence – “I am with you”.  They had forgotten that in the slow slide into apathy. When they settled into their lives, homes, and personal business without recognizing God, they failed. Now they would succeed with God’s promises as they recognized God’s presence with them to do His work.

 

His second appeal was to the His Covenant by which they came into relationship with Him. It was both past history and their present reality.  It bound them to obedience and blessed them with God’s care. It was a gracious and unique position. God’s people ought to build His house.

 

The final appeal was to His Spirit. He was active among the people. He had not abandoned them thought they had forgotten Him. God was faithful and would provide what they needed for the hard work. He promised to supply simply and abundantly from His Spirit, His Presence, and His Covenant that were always with them.

 

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obedience and the fear of the Lord

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.

Haggai 1:12

 

“I love it when a plan comes together!” Somehow, I feel Haggai smiled and muttered that to himself. In one of the few times in Israel’s history, the voice of the prophet is heeded…immediately. The Word of God was heard and obeyed. The alarm produced in Haggai’s two stern warnings at the beginning of this book leads to a real obedience. Israel heard what God said. The remnant was ready to repent of their selfish lethargy. They began to work on rebuilding the temple again.

 

There are two words that characterize the response. They are simple, but important to understand. The first part is obedience. They did not debate the message. They did not analyze or worry about the ramifications. It seems to have started with the leaders and moved through the ranks. By obeying the message, they were admitting their own slack and disregard for God. And they focused again on the covenant. They simply obeyed.

 

The second response is deeper and more personal. They feared the Lord. There is a lot wrapped into those four words. They undoubtedly were afraid of His judgments that they were already experiencing and that Haggai was quick to point out to them. But fear of God is also found in the respect that is due to the One Who holds all things before Him. They knew He knew their hearts and lives. A healthy respect for God grew again in their hearts. They did not want any more economic hardship. But they did not want to hurt their relationship with God. They repented and returned in obedience. And a personal respect and reverence for their God grew again in their hearts, blossoming in a quick and ready obedience.

 

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what God deserves and demands

Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD.

Haggai 1:7-8

 

Once again, God calls the Jews to get back to the task of building His temple in Jerusalem. There has been an agricultural and economic recession among the people. God takes credit for it (Haggai 1:9-11). He tells the people to repent of their materialistic ways which He has brought to nothing and instead to concentrate on His worship. And He will be worshiped, even if it means withholding from them as they have withheld from Him. Covenants certainly have a painful side to them.

 

What God is asking for is a renewal of their since and full attention in worship. And He draws all focus on Himself since they would not. There were two reasons why they needed to heed this call and get back to work on the temple. They are God-centered reasons.

 

The first reason to get back to the task was to please God. This was the covenantal reason. When God took pleasure in their work of building His temple, they in turn would find happiness, peace, blessing, and fulfillment. That was the way God had set up things with Israel through Moses and the Law so long ago.

 

The second reason was to glorify God. This was the worship reason. God is the only being in the universe Who deserves and demands worship. He is the only One with “glory” and should be glorified. In the context of Israel’s relationship with God under the Law, this came through obedience and sacrifice. And for now, Haggai’s call to build the temple meant just that. They had not obeyed. They had not sacrificed. God could not be worshiped and neither could He be happy with them until they did so. God deserves our full obedience. His Word should be followed. God deserves our worship. He should be glorified in our lives.

 

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Sometimes obedience is deadly serious.

So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.

Leviticus 24:23

This is the first recorded instance of punishment for a capital offense in Israel recorded in Leviticus. The crime? Blaspheming the holy name of God. It was a crime of passion. Two men were fighting (evidently arguing) in the camp, and one of them cursed the name of God in the altercation. This probably happens like 18 times a minute in America. But Israel was a theocracy in a different relational economy with God. This was a crime punishable by death under the Law.

Moses brought the offender into custody and brought the matter before God before any action was taken. God responded with revelation (most of this chapter) detailing the reality of the offense and what constituted a capital crime. He also clearly elaborated on the punishments to insure that Israel did not become partial in the administration of this sentence.

And the pattern in Leviticus continues. As God reveals more of the Law, Israel responds in a step of obedience. This obedience was deadly serious. The people stoned the offender. And the result was serious. A man died for his disrespect for a holy God. If this happened this way today, what would American conversation be like? I am not advocating that we do this, just wondering out loud what different people we would be if we were executed for casually and irreverently taking God’s name in vain. Kind of gives the OMG acronym a threatening feel doesn’t it? Personally, I find the pause when I think over this to be very spiritually healthy.

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Your Feast Days

These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them.

Leviticus 23:4

It is my error to assume

that dull religion is following You.

You bring joy and gladness to me

Celebration is more what You want from me.

 

Holy convocations are called

to celebrate the soul enthralled

with Who You are, what You do in me

Feast days rejoice in the grace You bring.

 

Forgive my glum view of ritual attention

and fill me with a joy that is wild with affection

I want to feast with You my Lord,celebrating at Your side

for at Your right hand are pleasure that leave me forever satisfied.

Technorati Tags: Obedience,Feasts,Leviticus

a cycle of relationship

Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

Leviticus 9:22-24

There is a cyclic pattern to the book of Leviticus that is seen in its completion in this passage. It looks something like this:

First, God issues a series of commands. In this case, it was all the detailed description of sacrifices at the altar along with the consecration of the priests. Then there is an opportunity for accompanying obedience where Israel follows the commands. The text is detailed in both the command stage and the obedience stage to carefully show how Israel followed the Lord. This pattern actually began at the end of the book of Exodus with the tabernacle construction. Thirdly, God blesses the obedience of the nation. He makes Himself known in some great way. We see this at the end of Exodus as well, when God’s glory fills the tabernacle. Here, fire from the Lord consumes the sacrifices made by Aaron and his sons. The final piece of the cycle comes together with Israel worshiping God for who He is.

I believe the general principles still remain for us today in terms of relationship with God, We obey God’s commands as He clearly shows them in scripture. The teaching of the Word of God is vital to this process. When we obey, God blesses us, not necessarily in terms of physical prosperity, but with a clear demonstration of His person and His power (I have personally seen this at Mill Creek through the Greater Impact campaign… we have already seen tremendous work in hearts and lives with our steps of obedience as a church. It will only continue.) And the result is that God is worshiped. He is worshiped in understanding His commands, in obeying them, in His blessing to us, and as we offer praise back to Him. This is a beautiful thing.

What still remains to seen is exactly where God is going to take Mill Creek over the next three years. The details may be dynamic, but His sustaining hand and mighty power are going to be the constant experience. Do we need anything else? We will continue to sacrifice. He will continue to bless that obedience. And lives will be changed. Our worship becomes very real and very visible… just as it was for Israel.

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God often works with “if’s”.

"And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the LORD. And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God."

Zechariah 6:15

This word of prophecy from Zechariah to the returning exiles in Jerusalem contained a certainty and a contingency. The certainty was that further help was coming in the temple project. You can read all about it in detail in the contemporary account found in the book of Ezra. God was re-gathering the remnant of His people. Jerusalem was once again becoming repopulated with returning Jews from Babylon. And the temple would be rebuilt. God would be glorified and His Word confirmed by these events.

But this was all contingent on obedience. And the returned exiles did struggle to do this. You can read all about that in another contemporary of Zechariah, the prophet Haggai, who had to compel the Jews to finish the work they had started. God would bring the blessings of His worship to His people if they would obey Him in the re-building of the temple. Diligent obedience and hard work would have to come on their part for the blessing to be truly known to the nation.

Obedience to the Lord is often required for us to know His full blessing. To the believer in Jesus, sanctification involves living out what God has given us in Christ. We are declared holy, but we must learn to make holy choices if we are to truly know God and please Him. God’s blessing is still offered, but the “if” of our own holy choices and obedience often must precede the “then” of God’s blessing and promise to us.

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How to deal with a corrupt government.

But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's." Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they marveled at him.

Mark 12:15-17

The question that Jesus was dealing with was a politically loaded one for all the Jews: “Should we pay taxes to the pagan king of Rome?” Resistance to Roman rule was starting to swell up in Judea. And Jesus knew this. But he refused to seek or to be just a political solution. Within a generation after Jesus’ crucifixion administered by a Roman death squad, Jerusalem would be totally sacked by Caesar’s legions. Why? Because Jewish revolt did not listen to these words.

Jesus made it clear that there are indeed degrees of allegiance. As far as He was concerned, no one deserved God’s level of allegiance. But when it came to paying a tax to Rome, He saw it as legitimate to hand Roman coins over to Roman authorities when required… as long as God was getting His correct allegiance and worship. I am quite sure that Jesus would have had nothing to do with emperor worship, since that was God’s domain. But He would donate a denarius when called upon by the tax man.

Today’s evangelicals should take a lesson from Jesus regarding the current administration and rising secularism in culture and government worldwide. I am worried for all those who have now gone totally “Glenn Beck” in their approach. I am not necessarily happy with the increase in socialistic practice in America. And our debt will effectively bankrupt generations at this point. But I do not believe that government is the answer. I’ll give to Caesar everything but my ultimate trust! That is God’s domain. He is the God who led Christians into the arena in Rome and was faithful to the martyr. And Christianity flowered and flourished under such a government. God is greater than government.

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Obedience in worship.

This Moses did; according to all that the LORD commanded him, so he did. In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected.

Exodus 40:16-17

The bane of twenty-first century worship is the consumeristic self. We tend to approach a worship service with what we want to get out of it. “I want a challenging, short, and pithy message by an entertaining communicator.” “I want the kind of music I like.” “I want drama.” “I want video.” “I want to dance.” “I want free donuts and really good coffee.” “I want the service to address everybody at once, from 9 to 90 with perfect applications and family challenges.” “I want all of that in less than an hour.”

But we ought to be worshiping God. And that means that maybe, just maybe, we ought to approach worship with what He wants and not what we want. This is the lesson we learn from Moses and the children of Israel as they built the tabernacle. God made it very clear what the tent of worship was to look like. And He asked for Israel to obey. And they did. The call was to obedience, not personal preference. And that was the heart of worship. I believe it still is.

The result of the worship of God in obedience for Israel was profound: God visibly made His presence known in the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35). In fact, God was so powerfully known that no one, not even Moses, was able to enter the tabernacle for a while because God’s glory was so pervasive. Think about that. Moses had communed with God on the mountain to get the Law. He had asked God to show him His glory, and God let him glimpse the backside of His glory while covering Moses with His hand. Yet when the work of Israel’s hands was complete and the tabernacle was set up, God brought so much glory to that obedience that Moses dared not enter!

God blesses obedience in our worship. If we really want to see our worship services blessed by God, it will not come by a new musician, by better lighting, by moodier music, by really well roasted coffee and donuts or by a more dynamic speaker. It will come by our obedience to what God asks us to do in His word.

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