Diagnosing Spiritual Complacency

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

One of the terrible diseases of Christianity today is complacency. There is a major complacency epidemic spreading amongst the Kingdom. Are you battling complacency in your ministry?

I certainly believe that Satan is a master deceiver and uses many techniques to disarm and neutralize Believers. I wholeheartedly believe that one of Satan’s strategies is to plant the seed of complacency.

I have a friend who served a tour of duty in Iraq. On that tour of duty he worked many road checkpoints and was issued, along with his other soldiers, some very particular gear. Among that gear was the normal body armor and helmet, but that gear also included padding and armor for their upper arms and thighs, as well as a groin guard. All of this gear had one mission in mind: to keep them alive and protected in the event of an IED explosion. As you can imagine all that gear made the already intense heat nearly unbearable. So for that reason many of the soldiers would remove the gear when officers were not around. One particular day there were no officers on site and a newer enlisted soldier was in the guard tower wearing his helmet causing many of the others to poke fun at him. On that particular day an enemy assailant just so happened to be taking aim with a long-range rifle and shot that soldier in the head. The helmet and his lack of complacency saved his life, whereas many of the other soldiers would have been killed. I say all of that to make this point: in combat complacency kills.

In Amos 6:1 the Lord spoke to the backslidden Israel through His prophet Amos. It says,

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!

The Lord was addressing to the people who were self-satisfied and in their comfort zone. They felt self-sufficient and strong enough in their own power. These people had little desire for God, and little hunger for His righteousness. They were self-confident and self-sufficient. Thus the Lord warned them about the impending judgment upon them.

How often do we fall into this exact attitude? We allow ourselves to grow complacent and live a self-satisfied life. Do we truly live dependent on God or do we try to maintain some independence? Remember, complacency makes us to feel secure in our job, safe in our strength, good about our knowledge, protected in our money and possessions, eventually blinding us and leading us to our downfall. Sometime the strike isn’t immediate. Like the enemy assailant in the story above, sometimes the enemy patently takes aim and waits. He allows us to grow comfortable, and complacent all the while he is disarming us without much effort.

A.W. Tozer says,

Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.

Let’s get one thing straight. Complacency is a killer that can ruin ministry. Are you battling complacency in your ministry?

Revelation 3:14-22 says,

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

We see above that lukewarmness is a spiritual condition that apparently, Jesus can’t stand. Another name for it might be “complacency.” Complacency is not contentment. Where contentment is finding joy in the blessings of walking with God, complacency is when we have stopped walking.

How do you know that this killer has crept into your ministry? Here are some telltale signs.

  • Lack of Zeal

One of the most obvious and beginning stages of complacency is a diminishing presence or absence of zeal. We all can probably remember a time in our life when we were passionate about something, maybe you are like me and when you find a new interest or hobby you dive in headfirst and it is all consuming? Hopefully we can all think back to a time when we were like that with Jesus. We didn’t need complex theology or big “spiritually correct” words. Yeah… I just went there.

Too many of us have substituted zeal for knowledge!

I honestly am pretty tired of seeing Bible believing friends of mine tearing each other to shreds over theology on Facebook for the whole world to see. I have been there too! At times I myself have replaced my zeal for pursuing Christ and acting like Him for merely knowing more about Him and maybe letting others know about it. Before anyone gets all tore up please understand that I am talking to myself here! Maybe the dissection of the Word down to the last punctuation mark was just a distraction to keep you from understanding it and doing what it says? In actuality Satan, the deceiver, doesn’t care how much you know the Word if you don’t do the Word.

Please read the Word, dissect the Word, understand the Word, memorize the Word… but then go put into practice!

  • Tradition is Doctrine

Tradition entails so much more than what most people typically think of when it is mentioned. Tradition is more than robes, recited prayers, hymns, etc… Tradition is something that can invade and ultimately take over any church, regardless of its denomination, history, or style. Let’s get this straight, when we depend on tradition for our “religious” involvement, relationship, worship, or gatherings we stop depending upon something else… namely the Bible and the Spirit of God. When that happens, we’re on a rapid descent to destruction. In fact, our gatherings become nothing more than scripted ceremonies that we have rehearsed and polished in hopes of gaining something. We might keep ourselves happy, we might grow our church in numbers or financial security, but we aren’t truly pursuing the renewed work of Christ and the Kingdom of God here in our ever-changing ministry field.

There is nothing wrong with tradition itself. But… there is something wrong with depending on tradition!

C.S. Lewis once wrote,

Security is mortals’ greatest enemy.

But what kind of “security” is he talking about? I believe he is talking about the security that comes with comfort. Maybe your comfort looks different than the blanket that Linus drags around everywhere, but it’s still serving the same purpose. Do your traditions make you feel at “home” or secure and comfortable?

Complacency makes us feel secure, but feelings can lie.

Ephesians 5:14-17 says,

This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

How is it that we can be told to make the most of every opportunity and still pass up so many because they didn’t fit into our idea of “church?” Let’s put it out there, we as a whole have become slothful, habitual, uninspired, secure, and complacent, often doing what we do for traditional reasons rather than because it’s best.

Why is it that we, who have had the precious blood of Christ cleanse our sins, now take such a mediocre and habitual approach to those things related to Christ and His cause? From our outreach, in-reach, preaching, worship, programs, aesthetics, etc… in almost every area of corporate church complacency has unfortunately become the norm.

The message is the same, but the messengers and avenues they take change!

The secular world has caught on to this! Look at the music industry. Songs and albums were once put out on vinyl, then tapes, then cd’s, and now everything is digital. The same songs that were once on vinyl can now be downloaded on iTunes for .99 cents! Businesses don’t always change the product or name… they just change the presentation, method of delivery, or audience. Why aren’t we who have the best “offering” putting forth the same effort in our church activities as we do in our personal activities and businesses?

Andrew Grove, a founder of Intel, is famously quoted for saying,

Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure.

If we stay the same, for the sake of staying the same, we get left behind and we do the message an injustice! We must understand that our complacency has eternal implications, and I’m afraid that a culture of mediocrity has now become the new tradition.

  • Tolerance of Sin

Last week I asked you to imagine a trashed house full of garbage and the flies that go along with the garbage. Sometimes our lives look a lot like that house, and the natural tendency is to clear out the flies. Sometimes we are successful and manage to shoo them all away, but as long as the garbage remains we are fighting a losing battle and those flies are inevitably going to return and multiply. So, the solution is to get rid of the garbage in our lives. We need to be concerned with the flies, but we also must work to remove the garbage to keep them out! Every trashcan is going to look different… but we certainly all have one. In his strategy of complacency, Satan watches as we clear our houses of garbage and flies…except for one room. It’s more than likely a hidden room, one we keep to ourselves. That room may be continual sin, it might be a relationship, bitterness, or a wound we haven’t allowed to heal. At times the door to that room full of garbage stays shut for a while and Satan allows us to have successes in other areas all the while the flies are just multiplying and building up in this little room. Then, out of nowhere, the door of the hidden room flies open, freeing thousands upon thousands of flies who have been breeding and waiting for just this moment.

Why does this happen? We get complacent and our complacency leads to tolerance or apathy.

Think it doesn’t happen? Take a moment to consider prominent Christian leaders, celebrities, or politicians whose lives and careers have been ruined when they fell in disgrace from one sin or another. We all know them so there is no need at mentioning names. We might look in from the outside an ask ourselves, “how would they allow that to happen” or, “why would they do that with all the success they have?” Rest assured. That fall wasn’t part of the plan when they began their career. Nobody begins a ministry with the goal to ultimately disgrace themselves and God by being brought to their knees by their own hand. Too often the fall comes from complacency. They believed the lie that they could “get away with it,” or, “it’s not that big of a deal,” and when they seemed to have it all together and under control, they grew complacent in their tolerance of sin.

Sin is sin, and all sin is bad. Don’t tolerate it! The church is to be a place of healing for sinners, but a Holy God doesn’t wink at or bless iniquity. He sent His son to die for and erase that iniquity and sin… not cover it up. The only reason the church welcomes sinners is because by God’s grace, sinners can be reborn with Christ’s righteousness. Do not tolerate sin in your own life! Letting a few “little things” slip leads to bigger slip-ups. I recently watched a video of a poor woman who slipped on an icy sidewalk and every time she would begin to regain her balance and composure she would begin to slide and fall again until ultimately she ended up on the ground. We’ve all been on an icy sidewalk… when you begin to slip it is all over. But… you know how you avoid slipping and falling? Stay off the ice.

  • Lack of Pursuit

What is a pursuit? I would define it as an intense chase of something in order to attain it.

My parents have a German shepherd by the name of Obi and he is extremely quick. One afternoon while playing and walking Obi his leash fell off of his collar and went limp in my hand. I looked down in shock only to see him looking at me with the same look of shock in his face that I had in mine. At that point the chase was on.

Why did I pursue Obi the dog? I pursued because I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t catch him, of what would happen if I stopped pursuing him!

How many of us have stopped pursuing holiness? Lost interest or will to pursue God and spiritual growth?

Spiritual growth is marked by an aggressive intense pursuit of God. We desire His fellowship, His people, and His word. A life that lacks prayer, Bible intake, and neglects spiritual nourishment is a life that has slipped into complacency and that will see little or no fruit.

Mark 11:12-14 says,

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

When Jesus cursed the fig tree for its failure to produce fruit in the verses above He gives us a sobering lesson. Empty religion, lacking fruit, needs to and ultimately will die. In actuality the parable of the fig tree doesn’t end with Jesus’ withering curse, because the very next verse says,

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

The spiritual complacency or “religion” of the people had reached the place where they were making a total mockery of the temple and of the message. We may not see our situations as that bleak, but if Jesus walked into our churches what things would he need to overturn or shake up?

  • Inward Focus

One of the surest signs of complacency is a church that is self-absorbed or entirely inwardly focused. You might ask, “Tanner, what does than mean?” Let me begin my answer with another question, what is the mission of the church? That question can evoke many answers like: to provide teaching for Believers, to be a place of fellowship, a place of worship. To all of those I would say yes… but what is the first and foremost mission of the church? In Matthew 28:19 it tells us about that mission. It says,

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

The mission of the church is to spread the good news and make disciples. In fact we may have to get out of our comfortable and familiar zone to do it! Acts 1:8 says,

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Is your church inward focused or outward focused? Are you so concerned about not “rocking the boat” that you leave it docked? We see in the book of Acts that in order to achieve our mission we have to wander outside of ourselves! Are we so overly concerned about keeping “our people” happy and content that we miss opportunities to reach those that haven’t yet been reached by Christ or the church? I will step out in an unpopular way and say that when a church is absorbed with just its own activities, its own problems, and its own people, it has become complacent and ineffective at achieving the goal and mission.

The primary challenge, and our primary concern, should be, “how do we reach people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus?” Most inward-focused churches are not sensitive to or even aware of this challenge. We might bank on our “friendliness” or position in the community to cut it… but the numbers show that it doesn’t! We can’t simply pray for a harvest and not plant any seeds or till any ground!

So many of us are so complacent that we fear any change or decision that might push insiders away and, frankly, impact the bottom line. Ironically, any organization, including a church, that doesn’t focus on reaching new people has already started to decline and will eventually die. In the book of Acts, James the brother of Jesus, told the Jewish Christians, who were the insiders of the day, they should not make it difficult for the Gentiles, the outsiders of the day, to turn to God. Why is it that this many years later that problem still exists? Are we making it easy for outsiders to turn to God, or are we stuck in the busy complacent work of keeping insiders happy?

Jeremiah 10:21 says,

For the shepherds have become stupid and have not sought the LORD; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.

Proverbs 1:32 says,

For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

What is our focus as a church?

Zephaniah 1:12 says,

It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good or evil!’

Are you complacent? Go to war with the complacency in your life.

 

An Invitation

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

We have all received an invitation to something in our lifetimes. Sometimes we are delighted to receive them in the mail… and other times a sense of dread or obligation comes along with an invitation.

One time interestingly enough I received an invitation for a black tie event for business professionals in the nearest major city to me. Needless to say I was confused and felt very unqualified. I made every excuse to not attend… and I didn’t. Today I wonder what the mix up was, but also what opportunities or connections would have come from that banquet.

John 3:16-17 says,

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

We see in the above passages out of John an invitation to believe and be saved offered by Jesus and the sacrifice He paid. How many of us treat the invitation offered by Jesus in the same way that I treated the black tie event? Maybe we feel unqualified, inadequate, or we are just full of excuses?

Maybe the expectations have been placed too high? Or we’ve been hurt or let down before and we are timid to put ourselves in that position again? Maybe we feel like we aren’t there yet… like we are too much of a project? Maybe you are like me and you feel inadequate or not qualified enough to “mix it up” with the “professionals?”

One of my favorite writers, C.S. Lewis, said,

God doesn’t want something from us, He simply wants us.

There is no mistake. The invitation is yours.

That invitation may be to approach Jesus for the first time… or maybe you are already a Believer and the invitation for you is to take the “next step” and allow Jesus to not only be your savior, but also to be the Lord of your life.

Let’s think together.

Come as you Are

Revelation 22:17 says,

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

We have an open invitation: “Come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” In these and other verses in Scripture, the clear implication is that, even though we are sinners, God desires us to come to Him as we are, so that He can cleanse us.

In one of my Matt Maher songs he says this,

For all the thirsty in need of the river

For all the sleeping hearts waking from their slumber

For everyone still standing at the shoreline, come

 

For all the hurting souls running from their healer

For all the skeptics running from an answer

Let everyone who hears these words say come

 

For the Spirit and the Bride say come

 

For all the Pharisees, empty on the inside

For all the lovers who spent their love on a lie

For the forgotten, the Father’s heart says come

 

For all the fatherless looking for approval

For all the daughters who’ve never heard they’re beautiful

Let everyone who hears these words say come

 

For the Spirit and the Bride say come

In Joel 2:32a says

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.

God’s offer of deliverance is open to “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.” If we go to the examples of how Jesus dealt with the sinners He encountered we realize that there is no mistake… the invitation is ours and it is genuine!

You know, sometimes we receive those invitations with “fine print.” Maybe we are expected to bring something… a gift, food, etc. Those invitations come with requirements or obligations.

Sometimes us “well-meaning Christians” do that exact same thing. We tell people that they have to “clean up their lives” before God will accept them, but that is not what we see in Scripture. We can come as we are! The invitation has no fine print!

John 8:1-11 says,

They went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

When the woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus, He told her, “Go, and sin no more.” The sin was never excused or ignored, but forgiveness was offered to anyone who recognized his sin and was willing to confess and forsake it. God certainly expects us to leave our sin, but that comes as a part of our salvation, not as a prerequisite. We are not able to clean ourselves up without God’s help.

John 6:37 says,

Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away.

You’ve met the Prerequisites

The worst part about college was figuring out what order I had to take all of the classes in order to fit them into a four-year schedule and complete my degree(s) on time. It seems simple… but in reality some classes are only offered at certain times and rotate yearly, other classes have requirements that have to be completed before you are allowed to enroll in them, they are called prerequisites.

Above we discussed the open call or invitation that is offered to us through Christ, and how we didn’t have to “meet” any sort of requirement in order to respond accordingly. In fact, through Jesus we have already met the “prerequisites.” We are all sinners in need of grace. Grace that only faith in Jesus can offer.

In Isaiah 1:18 it says,

Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

God offers the invitation to come, bring your sins and burdens and lay them at the foot of the cross. No matter how far you gone or how broken you are.

There is a story in John 4 that goes like this,

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria.  So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.  Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”  Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

Jesus didn’t and still doesn’t flee from the imperfect… instead He sits beside them and offers “living water” out of love. You know… I often wonder how Jesus loved some of the most unlovable characters. John 3:16 makes it sound easy, when in fact, loving the world wasn’t easy at all! Another story in John 4:46-53 goes like this,

So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”  Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.  As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.

In this passage we find Jesus interacting with a father who longs for his son to be healed. The only problem is that this father is also an official in Herod’s court. The same Herod who kills John the Baptist, and who is a direct threat to Jesus! But again, Jesus loves the unlovable. He truly “loves His enemies as Himself.”

What do we have to lose? Maybe some pain and guilt?

If you are already a believer what are you withholding from the Lord. Let Him take it.

Leave Something and Take Something

As a kid the best part about attending a birthday party was the “goodie bags” typically offered at the end. The best part about an invitation from Jesus is that we don’t leave the party “empty-handed.”

Matthew 11:28 says,

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

We all bring our own baggage to the party, but the “take home bag” is the same. We can come and bring our junk, lay it down, and take up an inheritance.

Come as you are and allow God to change who you are.

In all of this I am not saying that it is okay to remain in rebellion, but I am saying that true faith in Christ alone will change your life. Come as you are, but you won’t stay as you are because God is working in true believers.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says,

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Galatians 2:20 says,

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I will close with these often sung words from David Crowder,

Come out of sadness from wherever you’ve been

Come broken hearted let rescue begin

Come find your mercy oh sinner come kneel

Earth has no sorrow that heaven can’t heal

 

So lay down your burdens, lay down your shame

All who are broken lift up your face

Oh wanderer come home, you’re not too far

So lay down your hurt, lay down your heart

Come as you are

 

There’s hope for the hopeless and all those who’ve strayed

Come sit at the table, come taste the grace

There’s rest for the weary, rest that endures

Earth has no sorrow that heaven can’t cure

I Resolve…

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

It’s that time of the year. Many of us watched the ball drop as December transitioned into January and made resolutions to ourselves about how 2017 is going to be different… be better.

Now it is January 4th and I would love to say that the gyms and fitness centers are full, the cookie jars emptied out, the homes clean, and checkbooks balanced. But… we know that probably isn’t the case. Many of us “resolve” to do things in a New Year and sometimes we develop a new habit and come through for ourselves… but typically our good intentions fall short and remain just as “good intentions.”

If you are like me you don’t set out to deceive yourself or to drop the ball… life just happens right?

I want this year to be different, so below I have listed my Christian resolutions for 2017 as a commitment and reminder that I can come back and reread and recommit to as needed.

Let’s think and commit together.

  • To worship like David.

As a Worship Pastor this might seem like an obvious one… but it really applies to all of us. Too many of us allow our worship to be dictated by something or someone other than ourselves and our response to God.

Has God ever been good to you? Then you have a reason to Worship.

God desires our worship and we should worship with abandon. I resolve this year to worship like David. Many of us are familiar with David as the young man who struck down Goliath with just a sling and a stone. But David also was the young man who had to live many years of his life on the run from King Saul who, out of jealousy of his appointed successor, put a price on his head. In many of David’s writings we can see that the theme of his life was perseverance and trust in God in the midst of unrelenting trial and obstacles.

In fact, many of David’s writings are seen today in the book of Psalm. David didn’t just suffer and persevere in silence! He trusted and sang about his faith in the Lord to be his deliver, shelter, refuge, and hiding place.

Isn’t it a wonderful goal and resolution to sing out about our faith joyfully in the midst of good times and bad?

We can see David’s faith displayed in Psalm 32:3-7. It says,

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ — and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

We can also see it in Psalm 30:11,

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.

David definitely wasn’t a perfect leader or a perfect man, but his faith is something to be admired. King David passionately pursued the Lord and His holiness with no care as to what others might think or say. David truly worshipped with abandon! Let’s look together at how David worshipped and instructed us to worship.

This year my praise will be loud and full of joy. Psalm 47:1 says,

Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

In 2017 I will play new songs and practice in order that I may play skillfully like we are instructed in Psalm 33:3,

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

Psalm 81:1-2 says to shout and play a song. It says,

Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.

I will lift my hands in worship. Psalm 134:2,

Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!

This year I will worship Him because He is God, and in response to all He has done for His people. I will use whatever resources I have to praise the Lord. Psalm 150:1-6 says,

Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

I will bow down. Psalm 95:6 says,

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

The best part about this resolution is that it can be accomplished daily and when we run out of ideas there are plenty more to be found throughout Scripture (particularly in the Psalms).

For those of you who are influential in your congregations or even a Pastor like myself… let me encourage you to lead worship in these ways. In fact, I looked up the word “leader” in the dictionary and you know what it means? “A person or thing that leads.” So as a leader set the example!

How are you teaching others about worship? How are you encouraging them to participate? How are you pushing them to go deeper and engage in worship beyond what they think they can do?

  • To have the faith of Job.

In this past year many of us have endured things we wouldn’t have wished on anyone… even our worst enemies! Some of us have experienced a loss of a job, a relationship, or even a loved one. Some of us may be struggling mentally, emotionally, physically, and/or spiritually. As Christians who hold fast to the Word of God, and believe what it says, we know that these events aren’t meaningless and we aren’t suffering for no reason. It is hard to not ask “why” these things happen… but instead I think we should think of this one truth:

Our suffering only reminds us of the reprobate nature of this life. Everything around us is ultimately dying.

No matter how bad we think our situation is we should never think that God has left us or does not care. God works in mysterious ways and all things work according to His ultimate will and purposes.

Job seemed to understand this idea in the midst of his hardships… unlike myself typically. Job understood that his suffering wasn’t meaningless or for God’s entertainment… and that instead God was using it for His purposes. We may never understand God’s purposes… or He may eventually bless us with understanding. But, either way we must trust. Job 23:8-10 shows this understanding when he says,

But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

From God’s point of view everything makes sense and is according to His plan, but from ours everything can seem messed up. We must remember that the world isn’t always how we perceive it to be.

We know that the world isn’t flat, but from our point of view it looks to be that way. Trust God.

Don’t doubt in darkness what God has proven to be true in the light.

What is God showing us through our trials? What is He teaching us in our suffering?

In this upcoming year I hope to have the faith of Job, more specifically I hope to remain steadfast in times of trial and to hold on to Jesus at all cost.

When Job had lost it all he still didn’t fail to recognize God’s faithfulness. Job 1:20-21 says,

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

This year I wish to have the faith of Job throughout suffering and trial and to take the advice of King David as found in Psalm 27:14,

Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!

  • To pray like Jabez

Jabez may be a name that many of us aren’t real familiar with. In fact, it is only mentioned in a few verses of scripture right in the middle of the genealogies in 1 Chronicles (probably not your favorite verses to read and memorize). Some of us may recognize the name Jabez… but the only thing we know about the man is that he prayed a popular prayer that God heard and granted.

In Biblical times, a person’s name was very important. A name often defined a person’s future- or shaped what they would become or the expectations for their life. The name Jabez translate to “he causes pain,” so from the beginning the expectations for Jabez were pretty bleak.

It seems as if Jabez defied his hopeless name and dysfunctional beginning to become a man who believed fervently in the power of God. He prayed with urgency and vulnerability. He cried out to the Lord with boldness! I desire to do that in this upcoming year!

Jabez was honored because of his relationship with God. In fact, 1 Chronicles 4:9 says,

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers…

The record of the genealogy of Judah was interrupted to bring us these details about Jabez. His relationship with God must have been exceptionally noteworthy to cause the author of Chronicles to stop and elaborate on this one man’s life.

Jabez is known for his famous “Prayer of Jabez” mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4:10,

Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.

It is a simple prayer prayed in faith and serves as a powerful example of answered prayer and receiving blessing from the Lord.

Jabez understood the power of fervent dedicated prayer and was blessed because of it. I desire to pray like Jabez.

  • To have the obedience of Noah

In a world taken over by evil, violence and corruption, Noah was a righteous man. However, Noah wasn’t just a righteous man; the Bible says he was blameless among the people of his time. It also says that he walked with God.

Noah lived in a society saturated with sin and rebellion against God where right suddenly became wrong and wrong suddenly became right… sound familiar? But yet Noah remained faithful and was the only man alive that pleased God. It’s hard to imagine such unwavering faithfulness in the midst of total godlessness. Over and over again, in the account of Noah’s life, we read, “Noah did everything just as God commanded.” His life of 950 years, exemplified obedience.

During Noah’s lifetime, the wickedness of man had covered the earth like a flood, so God decided to start over with Noah and his family. Giving very specific instructions, the Lord told Noah to build an ark in preparation for a massive flood that would destroy everything on earth. God was going to clean the slate and start over. The ark-building project that God gave to Noah actually took longer than the average lifespan today, yet Noah diligently accepted his calling and never wavered from it, even as the laughing stock of the area.

I resolve to pursue the Lord in obedience even when those around don’t understand or poke fun at me.

How can we as a church resolve to exemplify the Gospel better?

An Urge to Write.

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

What songs contribute to your church’s worship culture or spiritual foundations? Who determines what we are singing? Who writes what is speaking into the hearts and minds of our congregations on a weekly basis?

These are all questions we should be asking ourselves as we evaluate what songs we are singing as a body.

“Sing to the Lord a new song.”

The phrase is repeated over and over in the Scriptures. In the Old and New Testaments, we see “new songs” as a part of what God is doing amongst and through His people.

Isaiah 42:10 says,

Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.

Revelation 5:9 says,

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

As a Worship Pastor who enjoys writing and reading I always catch myself wondering while reading those verses how “literal” we are meant to take them. How “new” is a “new song?”

When the psalmist tells us to “sing a new song to the Lord,” he was literally singing a new song to the Lord. So maybe our worship team should try it out, I thought. Maybe our church could write and sing new songs about what God is doing among us?

I’ve heard some argue that songwriting is only for a chosen few. That the “average Joe” just doesn’t have what it takes to write a “good” song… that contains the format, fit, and finish that it takes to polish off a hit. Now certainly songwriting is a gift and a craft, but I’d like to argue that it’s not just for the “professionals.” It’s something that you can do with your team, in your church, and that you can start today. We all have a song to offer.

Psalm 40:3 says,

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

So… what is stopping you?

Are you afraid that your songs won’t stand up next to the Hillsong, Sovereign Grace, Chris Tomlin, or Bethel songs we sing?

Let me assure you… they probably won’t.

Your song probably won’t get a standing ovation or usher in a new movement of the Holy Spirit. It probably won’t hit the CCLI top 100 or be led in churches worldwide. If hits are what you are looking for then you most likely are going to be disappointed. But with the correct motivation and expectations songwriting has the potential to shape both the congregation and us individually in powerful ways.

So… what can local songwriting do for our congregations? Let’s think together.

  • Songwriting speaks to the Body… from the Body.

Hopefully all the songs that we are currently singing express theology that is true everywhere in every time. After all, we all know the importance of what we sing and the picture it paints of the Gospel. But… what is happening at any particular time in our congregation may be difficult to express for someone on the outside of the “experience.”

The songs we write can be specific expressions and responses to what God is doing in our church at any given time. This allows what we sing to be connected to what we are learning as a congregation and how we need to grow, to our sermon series, and to sorrows and celebrations we have shared as a community.

Local songs help to express local content and local stories.

An author once said,

Most of us would find it strange if our pastor decided to start “covering” popular sermons. We love the idea of a timely, localized sermon. Why? Because a Spirit-filled sermon can challenge and inspire your congregation at just the right time. Songs can function the same way.

Like the altars built by the Old Testament fathers, songs can be a way for us to look back and say, “Look what God has done!” Singing those songs together as a community can be a meaningful bonding experience. Whether it’s a particular scripture, sermon series theme, or a timely word from the Lord, songs help to trace the history and story of your congregation. Our songs can be like altars that point us to the work of God in our community and lives.

  • Songwriting is our Contribution.

We worship leaders make choices every week about how and what our people will declare, pray, and celebrate together through songs. There is so much being produced these days that there has to be a healthy filter to what is allowed in our singing, but filtering that constant stream of new music can develop a culture of selfish consumerism and complacency. I’ve seen this in my own heart! It so much easier to judge and dismiss the works and expressions of others that to contribute for the ultimate benefit of the Body.

When we are not writing, we stand outside the stream of what is being created, evaluating every word, melody, hook, and chord choice. When we start writing songs for our congregation I guarantee that our perspective will shift. We can move from critics to creatives… from seeing the problem and being part of it to working towards a solution.

Rather than complaining about how songs don’t measure up how about we write some that do? Let’s step off our musical and theological high horses and start laboring to serve the church through what we can write.

Songs can help us to shepherd our congregation.

Knowing, loving, and praying for your community is a vital part of being an effective worship pastor. Writing songs specific to the struggles or journey of your congregation is a fantastic way to love them that they will immediately take hold of. The responsibility of writing lyrics for your congregation often leads to an ear toward Heaven, a heart toward people, and a new kind of dependence on the Holy Spirit.

  • Songwriting Develops us as Leaders and Believers.

Songwriting can be formational. It can change our perspective and stretch our minds and hearts.

The process of songwriting can stretch our understanding of our values as well as the Gospel, and can help us to develop a culture of worship within our congregation. As we write and share songs, we are inevitably forced to ask questions: Does this teach what is true? Is this singable? What response does this evoke? Is this clear and understandable? Could these lyrics be misinterpreted? Will this serve our community well right now? As we create and write new songs, we ourselves are being cultivated, growing individually as songwriters and Worship Pastors and Leaders.

Let’s work to view our creativity as a spiritual discipline, let’s use it as an act of worship to God. In fact, creativity is a part of being image-bearers of God!

Genesis 1:26-28 says,

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

At the outset of creation, God gave us certain qualities are in His “image” or “likeness” and among those qualities is the act of creating. By creating music that good, beautiful, and truthful, we imitate God and reflect His glory.

  • Songwriting creates Culture.

Do you admire churches like Bethel or Hillsong that have created and emphasized a culture of personal and congregational worship that has impacted churches around the world? Many dream of having such an impact but follow up those dreams with complacency to sing songs written solely by others. We often forget that the hallmark of those ministries is their faithfulness in writing and singing new music! In today’s culture, there’s arguably nothing more culture-shaping about your church than the kind of music you play on Sunday morning. Songwriting is a great way to speak to people in ways that they admire and understand!

Do you want to shift the “worship culture” of your congregation? Do you want to develop hearts that long after God’s own heart and desire to be worshipped? Then write about it, encourage it, and remain faithful as God works.

Creating songs is hard work! The chances of writing the next “How Great is our God” is very slim. But who else can better offer your congregation such specific, timely, and original responses to the God whose character and message never changes?

What would look like for your church to write and introduce a new song this next year written in house?

Let’s decide together to “sing a new song.”

The Power of Words

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

While walking across the graduation stage in December of 2013 to receive my undergraduate degree in Communications and English I knew that I had been called to ministry and that I would be beginning a Master’s degree at the nearby seminary in the following Spring. What I did not then see is how closely my undergraduate “secular” degrees and my ministerial vocation would align. As a minister and writer, I spend much of my time thinking about words.

Words are often something that we all take for granted. We can communicate with ease with the people around us because of words and known language. But think about it… words are not simply sounds caused by air passing through our larynx. In a medical sense words can be narrowed down to a group of muscles operating together in unity to create sounds that we interpret meaning from… but we as living beings understand words to have real power. Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned for almost 3 decades because of his beliefs and activism, knew the power of words. He is often quoted today, but that was not always the case. While in prison his words could not be quoted for fear of punishment. After his release he said,

It is never my custom to use words lightly. If 27 years in prison have done anything to us, it was to use the silence of solitude to make us understand how precious words are, and how real speech is in its impact on the way people live and die.

Nelson Mandela understood the power of words. Words don’t carry power by accident; in fact, God spoke the world into being by the power of His words. Hebrews 11:3 says,

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Words were the instruments by which God created all things, and creation was established by God’s words! How awesome is that? But if more proof is needed to establish the weight of spoken word I would add that with faith filled words Jesus calmed the raging sea, with faith filled words Jesus raised the widow’s son, and with faith filled words Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb. The Bible has a lot to say about words that we as Christians need to know and understand.

Words do more than convey information. The power of our words can actually destroy one’s spirit, stir up hatred and violence, sow disunity among the brethren, and annihilate one’s witness before others. In fact, King Solomon, author of most of the Old Testament book of Proverbs and one whom many assume to be the wisest man to have ever lived, wrote many times about the power of words. In Proverbs 18:21 he said,

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Out of all the things God created we, as humans, are the only ones who have received the gift of words. We can use them as a gift or a curse… but nonetheless, the power to use words is a unique and powerful gift from God.

How often do we hear statements like, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me” or “I’m rubber and you are glue, your words bounce off me and stick to you”? As a kid these might be nifty comebacks for the playground bully… but as we grow older we become more and more aware of how false these statements really are.

To be blatantly honest the things people say to me often stick to me. This is in direct contradiction of what I used to say to mean name callers! Words stick to my heart and soul, sometimes in uncomfortably painful ways. Being a Believer can be difficult in an age where everyone has the right and the willingness to express themselves… sometimes even at the expense of others. Being a minister can be difficult in an age where everyone believes their opinion is fact and that it is beneficial to express… even at the expense of disunity or demoralizing their Pastor.

The fact is… words have the potential to produce positive or negative consequences. They have the power to give life through encouragement and honesty or to crush and kill through lies, gossip, and demoralization. How can we be assured of producing good words that have a positive outcome?

So…what should we ask ourselves about our words before we open our mouths? Let’s think together.

  • Are these words helpful?

This question is the best starting point. To be clear, helpful words are not always comfortable or easy to say words. Some of the most helpful words I have ever received in my life have been some of the hardest words I ever could have imagined hearing at the time.

Proverbs 27:17 says,

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Sometimes forces have to collide in order for growth to occur. Iron hitting iron is not always a great sound… but in the end there is a sharpening that occurs. There are times when we can help another person by kindly exhorting or even rebuking them. The difference between helpful and non-helpful words though is that even when we are rebuking someone we are doing it for his or her good and not because of any other factor or motivation.

Ephesians 4:29 puts this into context when it says,

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Our words are meant for building others up… nothing more and nothing less. But, often we use words carelessly, without considering their impact. We complain, we mouth off, we criticize, or we gossip. I think we talk sometimes simply because we’re afraid of being overlooked or we overvalue our opinion. But if our words aren’t going to be helpful, it’s best just to remain quiet. I believe it is important to remember that our words aren’t just for sharpening others… but sometimes we are meant to be another person’s support system or motivation to continue fighting the good fight until the end.

  • Are these words true?

Have you ever met someone who struggled with the truth? Maybe they are the type of person who likes to have the best story and they don’t care to bend the truth to get there… maybe they are the type of person who enjoys being the center of attention even if it means twisting or bending the truth to get there. Some of these people I have encountered seem so accustomed to lying that I’m not sure they even know what the truth is anymore. People who don’t want to face reality can sometimes convince themselves to believe things that they really know are not true. They have bent the truth so much that they believe their version of the truth to be accurate!

Some deception isn’t as cut and dry as a straight up untruth though… some think they are innocent as long as they say what is technically true, even though they intend to mislead others to believe what is not true. It is absolutely possible to tell things that are technically true, yet leave out pertinent facts or otherwise speak in a way that we lead others to believe untruths.

Most of us have lied before, perhaps because we’re trying to cover up for a poor decision we made, avoid confrontation, or to get something we want. I have found that almost every lie can boil down to this simple truth…

We lie because value our own interests rather than valuing the interests of others.

Philippians 2:4 says,

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Let’s examine our words and find them to be true. God never lies, and never has, so neither should we. We must stay in line with the truth even when it hurts, even when it means we won’t get our way, and even when it means we are wrong.

1 Corinthians 3:18 says,

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

  • Are these words timed correctly?

Proverbs 15:23 has been a passage that always has intrigued me. It says,

To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!

How can a “word” be in season? I’ve come to understand that it is possible to say the right thing at the wrong time. For example, Sunday mornings are hectic for most ministers. It is what we have prepared all week for! For myself, on Sundays I am typically at church before the sun comes up and I am usually the last to leave after leading multiple services. Ministering pulls a lot out of me on Sundays! Sunday afternoon is typically not the ideal time to provide suggestions to me about what has taken place that morning. I’m too tired, drained, and sensitive; the timing isn’t right, even when the suggestions are helpful.

Sometimes we are better off evaluating our “truths” to make sure they are true and allowing them to sit until they are in “season” to be received.

  • Are these words kind and gracious?

The truth is meant to “set us free.” Jesus says this to His disciples in John 8: 32,

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

The truth is meant to be a liberator, but yet we all know people, maybe even ourselves, who have used it as a weapon to beat people up and to tie them down. The truth can at times be uncomfortable and hard to hear and say… but it should always be used in love. Ephesians 4:15-16 says,

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The truth isn’t for our personal gain… but rather for the edifying of the Body and the building up of the Kingdom. I always try to ask myself, “How would I want somebody to tell me what I’m about to say? Is the way I’m about to say this consistent with the way I am called to live and interact with others? Speaking the truth is only half of what we are called to do… we must do so in love for the full effect.

We should allow our speech to be “seasoned with salt,” full of grace and kindness and love like we read about in Colossians 4:6 where it says,

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Psalm 19:14 says,

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Why Serve? pt. 1

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Last week we began our series on service within the local congregation. We established a few over-arching reasons why we should be serving… the most important being that Jesus served while He was here on earth.

serve

Our world defines success or “greatness” in terms of tangible things like possessions, position, and power. In other words… if you have power over others, you’ve arrived. The art of service has been lost and has been mistakenly attributed to weakness, insecurity, inability, or poverty. In our me-first culture, acting like a servant is not a popular concept.

Jesus, however, measured a man’s greatness in terms of service, not status. In Mark 10:43 He says,

Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.

Unlike the world we live in, God determines our greatness by how many people we serve, not how many people serve us. Oswald Chambers, one of my favorite theologians, once said this,

Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I’m not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things – things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him.

The following list will provide some practical reasons for serving. In no particular exhaustive order, here are some reasons why we should be involving ourselves in ministry:

  • Glorifying God by serving in my local church ministry is the purpose of my salvation.

Ephesians 2:10 says,

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We are quick to emphasize that salvation is not by works…. as we should be! In fact we can clarify that by backing up a couple verses to Ephesians 2:8-9 where it says,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

But sometimes in our emphasis of that fact we fail to communicate and fully grasp that we have been saved so that we may do good works! We haven’t been saved by our works… we have been saved so that we can work! We haven’t been saved so that we may sit on our hands and be served.

We as believers are quick to be “watchdogs” and hesitant to be servants. 

Since I have been young I have liked pirates and nautical things. Back in the day of pirates, and on most ships today, there is a dedicated officer position to be on “watch” or look out over the sea to discover and report potential problems to the Captain. But… the sole role of this person isn’t just to “watch” the sea. In fact, if they just watch the sea they are only doing half of their job and it can be perilous for everyone on board. The other part of this officer’s duty is to act upon what they have observed!

In the same way, we as Christians must act.

James 2:14- 26 is sobering when it says,

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

We have faith so that we may serve.

God has placed us in our individual local churches in order that we might be edified, and so that we might be able to work for and serve Him. To remain sedentary is to neglect God’s very purpose for our salvation. By serving, we behave like Jesus and glorify Him.

  • I have been gifted and called to serve.

Several Bible passages help us to understand the concept of spiritual gifts. Romans 12:4-5 is one of those passages. It says,

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Throughout the Bible we learn about how God has given us each the privilege of a gift.  These gifts aren’t meant for collecting dust! A Christmas present might look all pretty and nice when dressed up with wrapping paper… but the true life of that gift begins after it has been unwrapped.

Our gifts are meant to serve God. Peter addresses this in 1 Peter 4:10-11 where it says,

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Peter makes it clear that we have received our gifts from God for two purposes— to serve others and to bring praise to God. Serving isn’t about us receiving attention or glory; it is for directing all glory to Him.

Don’t allow your life as a Believer to remain in the “wrapped” stage. Like a child opens presents on Christmas, we too are to utilize, or unwrap, our gifts because of the coming of Christ Jesus.

  • Ministry service will demonstrate the reality of my faith.

Above, we saw in James that our faith isn’t just demonstrated by what we know or say… but rather it is demonstrated by what we do and how we act.

Romans 12:1-2 says,

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, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Our faith should transform us and make us stick out! But… we know that a faith without works is dead (as we found in James), so I would say that our works should also make us stick out as a believer. People should know what we believe by what we do.

We have all seen someone who can talk the talk, but fails to walk the walk. The other day I was at an outdoor basketball court and a guy showed up wearing all the gear. You can probably imagine what he looked like before I even have to describe him to you. His socks matched his short and jersey combo. He had on the sweatbands and the newest NBA All-Star high-tops, but the one thing he didn’t have was the game to back up the look. I actually got embarrassed for him at one point. But… how similar is our faith to that guy’s game? Do we say all the right things? Look the right way? Go to the right places? The point I am trying to make is that we might fool some people from a distance, but once we are forced to step out on the court our actions, or lack thereof, will reveal us for what we really are.

Fake Christianity or dead faith may temporarily move people, but upon close inspection will do nothing to impact their behavior or their life.

The transforming power of Jesus Christ is on display in the lives of those who have traded selfishness for selflessness. Who have sought the towel instead of the position. Our actions and service will validate our faith in front of others.

To avoid writing a novel this week we will leave the conversation there and pick it up in next week’s blog. Let me encourage you to evaluate the level at which you are involved in serving the Lord at your local church.

Rick Warren says,

Faithful servants never retire. You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving God.

With Identity comes Blessing: The Story of Jacob

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

 

The story of Jacob is one that we should all be familiar with from Scripture. A younger brother who rises up to rule over his older brother. Inspiring right! Well… not exactly.

What do we know about Jacob?

Deep-seated family hostilities characterized Jacob’s life. He was a determined man; some would consider him to be ruthless. He was definitely a con artist, a liar, and a manipulator. I find it interesting that we see stories that paint this picture of the man we know as Jacob, but his name also tells a lot about him. In ancient times a name often carried a meaning or purpose for your life. If Jacob’s name was his purpose then he surely accomplished it… the name Jacob not only means “deceiver,” but more literally it means “heel grabber.”

From birth Jacob exhibiting greed and a desire to take what wasn’t rightfully his.

Genesis 25:19-28 paints this picture,

These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Now is we follow along in Genesis we see how Jacob is cunning and manipulative beginning early in his life. You’d have to be to trick your older brother out of his birthright in trade for a bowl of soup! But… in my opinion there comes a point in Genesis 27 where Jacob is at the crossroads. He can dive all in and live up to his name or he can attempt to straighten his life out. Let’s read what happens. Genesis 27:1-35 says,

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.” His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.” Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied. Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.” Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied. Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.” After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.” His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.” Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!” When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

Jacob went all in. A life of deceit…. of misinformed identity is what he chose. Now obviously Esau didn’t take the news of the theft well. Genesis 27:41 says,

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

As we continue through this story of Jacob, a story of lost identity and reconciliation, let’s find some application together.

  • Your sin will always catch up with you.

Following this threat on his life Jacob had to flee his own family because of his sinfulness. He had to begin a life on the run in order to try to “outrun” his sin. But… we know that you can’t outrun sin and your decisions will always catch up to you in one way or another.

In Genesis 27:43 Rebekah sends Jacob away to save his life. That passage says,

Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran.

Jacob’s life was built on a foundation of deceit. He made a “dog eat dog” world for himself. Jacob most definitely lived by the motto: “every man for themselves.” That motto comes back to bite him when he himself is deceived or “conned.” Genesis 29:18-30 says,

Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.” So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant. When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

So Jacob had the tables turned and it cost him 14 years of his life! But… if he hadn’t learned his lesson enough he decided to attempt his con artist scheme yet again in order to gain wealth.

Genesis 30:41-43 says,

Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

So because of his own scheming, Jacob successfully turned a few weeks into twenty years, and when Laban his uncle found out he had been cheated he decided himself to kill Jacob. So… Jacob found himself fleeing for his life from his father-in-law and God had to intervene to prevent Laban from killing him.

How many times has God had to intervene on our behalf? How has God been working “behind the scenes” of your life… your plans?

  • You never win a fight with God

On his way back home, Jacob realized that he had to travel through Esau’s land. God spoke to Jacob again and promised to be with him (31:3). He followed this promise up by sending some angels to reassure Jacob of his protection (32:1-2).

But Jacob was still scheming rather than trusting. He sent some of his servants to bribe Esau with schmoozing and the hope of gifts (32:3-5). But they returned with news that sent chills down Jacob’s spine–Esau was coming to see him with 400 men! The gig was up. He had hit rock bottom and the time of reckoning was upon him. Have you ever been there?

For the first recorded time, Jacob prayed to God for protection (32:9-12).

But… then he hatched an elaborate and self-protective plan to buy Esau off. Genesis 32:13-20 says,

He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.” He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’” He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”

How many times have we hit rock bottom and cried out to God only to have the enemy whisper in our ears afterwards and convince us that “we can handle it on our own” or, “God can’t help you… that prayer wasn’t real?” It happens often! Alone that night before he had to face Esau, Jacob had an encounter with God that was the defining moment of his life . . .

Genesis 32:22-31 says,

The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

God initiated a wrestling match, and how did Jacob respond?

Jacob responded by fighting back all night long (32:24). Why would Jacob fight with God? God was fighting with Jacob for his own future… to save his life! I believe that this is a picture of Jacob’s relationship with God the whole time. It wasn’t primarily Esau or Laban that Jacob was resisting and trying to get around… it was God himself. God had a will for Jacob’s life and made promises to him pertaining to that will, but Jacob had been stubbornly resisting God’s leadership at every step.

How do we resist God? How do we respond when God wrestles with us?

My favorite part of this scripture is where after wrestling all night, God dislocated Jacob’s hip with a single touch We see that in Genesis 32:25,

When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 

When reading this I ask myself… Why the hip? I have come to this conclusion,

God doesn’t want to kill or destroy you… he only wants to change the way you walk forever.

You see, with a bummed hip Jacob can only hang on to God. Man, this is a picture of our proper relationship with God! If you have ever had a limp you understand how hard it is to blend into a crowd. You will always stand out! God wants to change the way we walk forever so everyone can see who has touched us!

A single touch from God can leave a lasting mark!

Now that Jacob is in a dependent posture, God blesses him and renames him to cleanse him from his old ways (“deceiver”) and give him a new identity to live up to (“one who strives effectively with God”).

  • God is always willing to bless His children.

Often when reading this story we get so caught up in the wrestling match that Jacob brought upon himself and miss the fact that God had always been willing to bless Jacob. He had only been waiting for Jacob to ask with a trusting, dependent heart. Jacob thought he could do it without God… he sought out his own blessing and that only led to pain and suffering.

You see, God will not bless a deceitful heart indefinitely. Genesis 32:26-30 says,

Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.

In this passage God changes Jacob’s identity and renames him. Jacob had spent his entire life creating his own identity but the true blessing didn’t come until Jacob accepted his identity before God. On God’s terms.

Like many of us Jacob spent his life trying to evade God, and make it on his own terms… his own way, with his own plan. Jacob wrestled with God all night. It was an exhausting struggle that left him crippled. It was only after he came to grips with God and ceased his struggling, realizing that he could not go on without Him, that he received God’s blessing.

So… what happens next? Jacob learned the lesson, and God blessed/ delivered him. The next morning, he dropped his elaborate and self-protective plan with Esau and instead passed ahead of everyone to meet him directly trusting God’s promise to protect him. Genesis 33:3-4 says,

He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.

Jacob discovered that Esau had forgiven him, and he went on to supply godly leadership for his family.

  • God loves you enough to “step out on the mat.”

God works through suffering and adversity to teach us our need to depend on him. Our primary problem is one of deeply-rooted self-sufficiency, and often God works to “break” this through adversity.

Often (like Jacob), he just lets us reap the consequences of our poor choices:

  • Alienation due to deception
  • Broken relationships due to sin
  • Lost jobs due to irresponsibility or lack of respect for authority

Sometimes, he intervenes with specific discipline:

  • Wrestling matches/ physical adversity
  • Sickness
  • Career disappointments
  • Discipline through others

In the end, He loves you enough to “take you to the mat” and fight for your life, your purpose, and your identity.

  • God isn’t just the God of your successes… but He is also the God of your failures.

To know Jacob’s life is to know a life of struggles. Most of which he brought upon himself. It’s in Jacob’s story we can easily recognize our own elements of struggle: fears/ worries, darkness, loneliness, vulnerabilities, empty feelings of powerlessness, exhaustion and relentless pain.

But guess what… we aren’t alone! Even the apostle Paul experienced similar discouragements and fears! 2 Corinthians 7:5 says,

For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within.

But, in truth, God does not want to leave us with our trials, our fears, our battles in life. It is through Him that we can receive the power of conversion and transformation, the gift of not only surrender, but freedom, and the gifts of endurance, faith and courage. In the end, Jacob does what we all must do. He confronts his failures, his weaknesses, his sins, all the things that are hurting him… and faces God.

What we learn from this remarkable incident in the life of Jacob is that our lives are never meant to be easy. This is especially true when we take it upon ourselves to wrestle with God and His will for our lives. We also learn that as Christians, despite our trials and tribulations, our strivings in this life are never devoid of God’s presence, and His blessing inevitably follows the struggle, which can sometimes be messy and chaotic. Real growth experiences always involve struggle and pain.

As this blog comes to an end, I want to make this last point very clear: God isn’t ashamed of our past, our fears, or our failures.

Exodus 3:1-6 says,

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

We saw in Genesis that God had renamed Jacob and given him a new identity. So… why does He here in Exodus refer to him by his “old” sinful name?

Because God isn’t just the God of the “good” us… instead He is the God of both or victories and defeats… our successes and failures.

So, how are we resisting?

It is important to remember that conversion is not only saying “I’ll take the free gift you offer me through Christ”-but also saying “I am willing to bow to you and submit to your leadership.”

 

 

Worship that is Tasteful.

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

The idea that “less is more” has spread like wildfire in the recent years. I like the saying itself, but I don’t necessarily enjoy the mediocrity that it sometimes ushers in to the art of music. Sometimes the idea of “less is more” can be used as a crutch to continue standing on mediocrity or to justify a lack of improvement due to whatever reasons one may have. I have even seen this excuse being used to make one feel better about their own laziness: either in the world of musical practice/ knowledge, or even in the recruitment of musicians.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that no person has ever walked out of a church service and said, “If they had one more guitar or drum solo I probably would have encountered the presence of God.” But I can guarantee you that someone has walked out of a church and said, “The music was very good and the musicians were very skilled… but instead of worshipping I got caught watching a performance.”

The reason I can say that is… I have been that person. I have said those exact words.

I think that sometimes we fall victim to a shortfall in our thinking concerning our music making in the church worship context. We can think that, “I am part of a worship band, I need to be playing all the time… that is what I am here for!” However, I think the opposite is true. We as artists or musicians want to contribute and play/ use our craft all of the time… for good reasons too! We have been given a particular set of skills and we want to use them to bring glory and honor to Christ. But somewhere along the way we have misinterpreted the idea of worship and music-making… many of us have come to believe that we are to be “busy” as musicians all of the time. That is where our “less is more” phrase comes into play.

Now hear me out… the phrase “less is more” doesn’t mean that we should be satisfied with mediocrity, or my most despised phrase, “It is good enough for church.” Instead it means that we should be content in serving and providing what is needed. In some instances that may mean rocking out with all that you have got to add texture and energy to song arrangement… in other instances that may mean sitting on your hands for ten minutes and focusing on the words of the song being sung.

In fact, instead of saying “less is more” I like the phrase, “tastefully add what is needed, and leave out the rest.”

I like the idea of being tasteful. You may ask… how does being tasteful apply to music?

The great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis has an interesting nickname for someone of his musical “caliber. “ Davis has been deemed the master of understatement. Miles Davis has been quoted stating that,

The more important notes are the ones you don’t play.

I live by the idea that I lead more through my worshipping and presence than I do from my instrument. That being said, I may actually lead better by not playing and just worshipping God than by playing the most complex part that can fit into the song.

How do we provide tastefully what is needed? Let’s think together.

  • Acknowledge your role.

What is your role in the band? Are you the bass player? Drummer? Keyboard player? Vocalist? Is your role to provide content and lyrics or to support the text of the song?

Music played in church worship serves a higher purpose than any other form of secular music… it teaches and shapes the thinking of Believers. That means that every part of every song should be intentional and beneficial to the song as a whole. No single part should distract or pull away from the whole “being” of the song. Everything happening should point to the purpose… Christ. That doesn’t mean we can’t be artistic and do “cool” artistic things. That doesn’t mean we can’t solo or have “catchy” tags/ parts. But… like I said before… every part should contribute or add to the “whole.” Because what we do informs peoples thinking of our Savior it should go without saying that…

The content of the song is important!

We have discussed in previous blogs, that can be found on this site, about how important the songs we choose and play are to the life of a church and the life of an individual believer. The same can be said about how we present the songs that we do choose to play.

Each of us needs to discover and embrace our role in the “band” and do it well in order to point to our God.

  • Take only what is yours.

As musicians we should always be asking ourselves, “Where, when, and what should I be playing?” And… “Is my playing or singing robbing someone else of the opportunity, or misdirecting the glory or praise?”

Just because we can play or sing something doesn’t mean that we should be. The question I always ask myself before getting on stage or while rehearsing is, “How is this going to be perceived by the average church attendee.” What I mean by that is where is the attention and glory going? Where is the spotlight being pointed?

If I play a tremendous solo or sing a great run and the attention and praise goes to me then ultimately I have failed at what I set out to do.

DISCLAIMER: We do have to be careful in this thinking though because we shouldn’t allow our own expressions of worship to be suffocated or restricted by the misunderstandings of others. We may be approaching the throne room with our musical abilities with the right heart and in the right spirit and some may question our motives or technique, but that shouldn’t stop our endeavors… but we should at some point be mindful at how our methods come across.

  • Benefit comes with discipline.

The word “discipline” usually comes with negative connotations or a “bad rap” when in fact it can be a very good thing.

Tasteful worship can also be described as “skilled” worship.

Psalm 33:3 says,

Sing a new song of praise to him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.

God desires our “skillful” worship. Skills without the authenticity and genuineness of God-centered worship is nothing but ear-pleasing… but when combined skills and purpose can shake up the system.

We should be consistently practicing and honing our skills… not so we can show them off at every opportunity. But instead so we can seize the opportunity when it arises and give all the glory to God who has provided the set.

1 Chronicles 15:19-22 tells of a “praise team” who plays under the provision and instruction of a man chosen for his skill at the craft. It says,

The musicians, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were chosen to sound the bronze cymbals. Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were chosen to play the harps.  Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were chosen to play the lyres. Kenaniah, the head Levite, was chosen as the choir leader because of his skill.

Clearly, God wants our best, and we should bring Him our best, purest sacrifice of praise as we worship Him. We should discipline ourselves to practice and play with self-discipline. Just remember that just because we can play something doesn’t mean that we always should. Not playing can also be a sacrifice of praise.

John 3:30 contains a great principle for life and artistry. It says,

He must increase, but I must decrease.

This applies in a worship band context to say that I must be willing to decrease to help people focus on the purpose… God.

Let’s remember… a great song will be great no matter if it’s played with a single instrument, or hundreds of instruments, and authentic worship will take place despite how it is presented or performed. I think we need to re-evaluate and concentrate on what’s important… let’s not fall into the temptation of adding things just because we can. Let’s be musical for our God.

Let’s Check Out Our Motives

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Why are we serving in the manner in which we are? Is it for recognition? Because we are skilled in that area, or we have a passion for that method of ministry? Do we expect the praise of others? Do we feel expected to do so, or have we already set the precedent by doing it and doing it well? Do we know that if we don’t do it no one else will?

There are many different reasons for performing a single task… some we are aware of and some we aren’t. Some of our reasoning for doing particular things is subconscious and natural. Motive is the key in everything we do as disciples of Christ. What we do is important, but why we do what we do is even more important. In Matthew 6:1, Jesus gave the principle that should guide all of our service. That passage says,

Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

How do we check our motives and ensure that we are doing and serving the way God wills for us to with the correct outlook, motives, mindset, and heart?

Let’s think together.

  • Look at God’s Expectations

Romans 12:1 says,

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

That passage lays out what God expects from us when it comes to service, life, and Christian living. We are to present our bodies and our service to God… not in an unworthy way, but rather, as a holy sacrifice.

Instead we are often guilty of falling into a legalistic trap or mindset when it comes to Christian service. There are two kinds of legalism that are destroying the church… the idea that service or “works” can earn your salvation, and the belief that in order to be accepted as a “good Christian” one must be active in service.

We know that Christianity is the only way to Heaven and the only hope of the world… but even knowing that we fall into legalistic traps or views that can be applied across the board to many religions. In fact, there are many people who serve different “gods” or entities in order to earn salvation or a way into the afterlife.

As believers we are told something entirely different concerning our salvation. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-10 this,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We know that the grace of God is the only thing that assures salvation, and the grace of God happens apart from human effort or merit. Christians are not only saved by grace, but kept by grace. In Romans 8:28-39 we see that nothing can separate us from the power and love of God… no army, no mistake, not even our own laziness. Romans 8:28-39 says,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that 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.

Ultimately the belief that in order to be accepted as a “good Christian” one must be active in service presents a belief in a theology that believes that God accepts Christians not for who they are, but for what they do. But we actually know, according to Scripture, that God accepts all Christians because of their identity in Christ as God’s sons… as heirs.

Romans 8:17 says exactly that,

And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Now, I do believe that it must be said that godly living would normally involve service of some kind. However, particular circumstances may not permit a Christian to minister in a particular way for a particular season, which, with incorrect theology, may result in feelings of inadequacy or insecurity about God’s acceptance of them at that time.

Our works do matter to God. But we must never think of them as a means to earn what God freely gives: grace, mercy, love, salvation, new life. Good works come as a response to the activity of grace in our lives. Yet, we must always remember that our salvation does not come by our works. This means, among other things, that you don’t have to get it all right to be in a relationship with God. You don’t have to be perfect, or even close. You don’t have to have perfect, unfaltering faith. Rather, you need only to receive God’s grace in faith and allow it to transform your life.

Both avenues of legalism that we have discussed, and more, are unbiblical motivations for serving God. The Christian can do nothing to earn or keep God’s salvation or favor, because one is accepted in Christ if he or she has simply believed in and accepted Him.

  • Selfless instead of Selfish

Sinful selfish motives are another motivation that we have to check when we enter into or are continually serving in Christ’s name. In fact, there are many selfish reasons one might serve: financial gain, power over others, pride/ to impress others, to prove to others that one is spiritual, etc…

There are many biblical examples of those with self-seeking motives.

Matthew 6:1-6 says,

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Mark 12:38-40 says,

And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Several times we also see Jesus rebuke James and John when they argued about their future position in the kingdom. This should serve as both a warning to us… and an encouragement that we aren’t the only ones who suffer from impure motives when serving God. Even those who walked beside Jesus had their motives tainted to some degree by selfishness at one point or another. We see one of those encounters in Mark 9:33-35 where it says,

And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

We see another in Luke 22:24-30,

A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Even our impurities aren’t that creative! Selfish and unworthy motives have been around since Jesus walked the earth or before!

One of our “Father” figures in ministry, Paul, was sensitive to ministry out of selfish motives. In 1 Timothy Paul warns Timothy and says that servants should see to it that their master receive ALL the honor. 1 Timothy 6:1 says,

Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.

The ministry of the gospel was not given to advance any selfish agenda. Those who use it as such are ministering from unworthy and ungodly motives.

  • It’s not a Competition

1 Peter 4:10 says,

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

We each have received a special gift according to the Word of God. No two of us are alike.  Everybody is unique. And every person has a unique gift to be used to advance the Kingdom of God. Everyone is unique.  Every gift is unique.

Sometimes in church service we buy into a “competition” mindset that places us against everyone else we view as being competitors in our particular
“realm” of giftedness… this can be contained within our Body of Believers or can be church wide amongst several bodies who all compete.

1 Corinthians 12:4 serves as a reminder that we all may have separate gifts… but they all come from the same “gift-giver.” That passage says,

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.

The idea behind God giving us gifts to serve Him is that we would work together in unity to advance the Kingdom. A war can’t be singlehandedly fought on the frontlines. Someone has to keep those troops equipped, another has to keep them healthy and fed, someone else has to form a strategy. You get the idea. We all play a part in this… but our role may look different than the person next to us.

If we take a step back and look at all of 1 Corinthians 12:1-27 it paints another picture of unified service in different forms. It says,

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

A body struggles when missing a part. We must be contempt with our function and gifting and do it well. If you don’t use your gift that is ultimately a loss to the body of Christ. Let’s be satisfied in our gifting and use it for His glory. It isn’t a competition.

  • Turn off the “Applause- Meter”

Lastly, are we serving for the praise or recognition of doing so?

Let me tell you… as a musician, or someone who stands and serves in front of others, this is so hard to keep in check. The motivation when starting may be pure… but it is a gradual slope that leads to a free-fall. We begin to judge our “serving” based off the reactions and praises of others and allow that praise to drive our decisions and our service.

Praises are like a drug. Little by little we become tolerant and immune and it takes more and more to satisfy our need. Suddenly, when we aren’t getting enough the enemy can slip in and tell us that we aren’t appreciated, or that our service is overlooked or not good enough.

Be honest… has this ever happened to you? It has me.

Too often we allow the lies of the enemy to make the church look like an elementary school playground… we get upset, frustrated, disappointed, etc… and instead of handling the root issue we pack up our toys and march off.

Much of the time the “greener pastures” that we pursue are laced with deception and pride. We turn the plains in which we reside into the valleys of self-pity and loathing.

A seminary professor in a class I was taking put it this way,

Below many “green pastures” lies a septic tank.

Don’t base your serving off of what others say about you… instead look to what the Father says and your reasoning for serving. Let’s do ourselves a favor and turn off or unhook the applause meter!

So… what are your motivations for serving? Is it time to get them back in check?

What does God say about You?

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

What do people say about you? The way you dress? The way you act? The people you associate with? What you enjoy doing?

These are all questions that many ask themselves each and every day. What type of impression do we make? Do people like or approve of us? It is completely natural to ask ourselves these things.

In fact you don’t even have to tell or train kids to care what their peers think. At some point in late elementary school the innocence of care-free living and relationships disappears and groups begin to form based off interests, attire, gender, race, etc… Where groups happen you will always find people conforming to “”fit in” to those groups. We are internally wired to care about what other people think or say about us. There are exceptions to this… but even those people who claim otherwise typically care to some extent.

In 2013 many of us got to experience a pretty incredible moment as Nik Wallenda, “The King of the High Wire,” walked a tightrope across the Little Colorado River Gorge (a section of the Grand Canyon) live on national television without a safety net. Nik is a seventh generation daredevil belonging to the legendary Great Wallendas (a tight roping family) and began walking the tightrope at age 4. Nik had spent his life training and preparing for this one moment.

What many viewers that night were unaware of was the fact that Nik’s great-grandfather died before viewers’ eyes on live television trying to walk a tightrope strung between two hotel towers in San Juan, Puerto Rico, harness-free, in 1978.

Anyone who watched felt the suspense the whole time as Nik battled high winds (18-30mph) while balancing a 45 pound bar on a mere 2-inch wire. The quarter-mile walk at 1,500 feet in the air took more than 20 minutes, and Wallenda actually had to kneel twice to wait out the stronger winds. But… he made it! Nik Wallenda was the first human to ever cross the Little Colorado River Gorge on a wire.

A tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon without any safety net or harness is pretty crazy right? Success means living another day as a daredevil, and failure means certain death… live on television for your friends and family to see.

But… in a less literal sense I would compare walking a tightrope to living according to what other people think. Trying to please people is like stepping out on a tightrope. Once we decide to bend to people’s desires or perceptions we are stepping out, and getting on, to a hairy situation that most of us will never be able to maintain. Think about it… everyone wants something different… no one thing can please every crowd. So with each step we are swaying left and right in order to meet the needs and gain the “applause” of the right group of people. But… we must be extraordinarily careful not to sway too far in either direction because that mistake can leave us hanging on for our lives. It is sad to say that much of the world’s happiness is dependent on impressions… what people say or think about us.

Many of us need to unhook the “applause-meter” and focus on who God has created us to be.

Our happiness in life should depend on how God sees us. Sadly, many of us have a wrong idea of God’s opinion of us. We base it on what we’ve been taught, our bad experiences in life, what the world tells us, and many other assorted assumptions. Some of us may have bought into the lies of the enemy and think that God is disappointed in us, or that we’ll never measure up to who He has called us to be. Some of us may even believe in an angry God who exists in a constant state of anger because we as humans, try as we might, can’t stop sinning.

But if we want to know the truth, we need to go to the source: God himself. Let’s dive in to the Word and figure out who we are according to what God has called us. Let’s think together.

  • We are His beloved children.

Luckily enough, upon our salvation, we are no longer strangers to God. The decision to accept Christ is a decision to join a family. We are adopted and no longer exist as orphans or children of the world, even though we may sometimes feel alone. We know for a fact that the heavenly Father loves us and sees us as one of His children.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 says,

Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.

Not everyone has the experience of having a good earthly Father, but we all have the same opportunity to be adopted by a great Heavenly Father who will never leave us or forsake us, but will instead love us unceasingly without restraint.

1 John 3:1- 3 says,

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Our identity is even found in the way we are taught to pray! In Matthew 6 we find the “model prayer” or Lord’s prayer and even in the way we address God it not only reinforces His identity… but it confirms ours!

Matthew 6:9 says,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

If He is indeed our Father then that has to mean that we are His children! We serve a good Father who blesses His own. Matthew 7:11 says,

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

God doesn’t just give us good gifts to buy our affection… instead He shares our inheritance with us. Upon conversion we become heirs with Christ Jesus Himself… to share in His inheritance.

Romans 8:16-17 says,

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

  • We are forgiven.

On October 30, 2011 Marion Hedges was at her local Target buying Halloween candy for underprivileged kids when she was hit in the head by a shopping cart pushed over a fourth floor railing by two 12-year-old boys. Marion was technically dead at the scene and had to be revived by a doctor who happened to be nearby. The then 47-year-old had to be in a medically induced coma for a period of time, suffered serious brain trauma and injury, and lost the use of one eye after the cart fell on her. She needed months of rehabilitation.

In her time of recovery when Marion heard of the two young boys who committed the violent prank she responded by choosing grace and forgiveness. She was quoted saying, “I feel very sorry for them. My son is 13 also, and he is a very good boy.” Hedges chose the road of forgiveness instead of harboring bitterness, anger, and un-forgiveness in her heart. Since her accident, Hedges has expressed her concerns for both of the boys responsible.

Many Christians are being crushed under a heavy load of guilt, afraid they have disappointed God, and are past the point of grace and forgiveness. But… there is good news! If we know Jesus as our Savior, God sees us as forgiven.

God does not hold our past sins against us.

Acts 10:43 says,

All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

John 8:36 says,

The Son has set me free. I am free indeed!

The Bible is clear on this point. God sees us as righteous because of the death of His Son on our behalf. As Forgiven Sons and Daughters of a good God we don’t have to worry about being holy enough, because Jesus was perfectly holy and died on the cross on our behalf. God sees us as forgiven. We just have to walk in that forgiveness.

Galatians 2:20 says,

I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

  • We are a people of hope.

 Ephesians 3:20 says,

He is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within me.

Hebrews 10:23 says,

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

He who promised is faithful… what a powerful statement that so many of us fail to recognize and hold onto daily. Tragedy hits for everyone at some point… and it is easy to lose sight of our identity before our Maker when we feel as if life has handed us more than we can handle.

But… God sees us and has made us to be people of hope. No matter how bleak the situation, Jesus is with us through it all.

Romans 8:31 says,

God is for me! Who can be against me?

Jeremiah 29:11 says,

For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future

We’ve all had these situations… in fact the song below is one that I wrote while in one of those “hopeless” seasons that now ministers to the Body in which I serve.

Ultimately our hope is not based on what we can muster up. It’s based on the One we have hope in. When our hope is failing we must remember that our Father is strong. When we keep our attention focused on him, hope will come.

Lamentations 3:25 says,

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.

When we begin to see ourselves as God sees us, it will change our perspective. What other truths can you find in the Word that speaks to your image before God?