There is a place here for you.

This week, we discovered the first of the five purposes for being here on earth; we were created to worship God! Rick called it “bringing pleasure to God.” Worshipping God extends far beyond the public experience we have on Sunday mornings at church. In fact, the heart of worship is a lifestyle of pleasing God, especially on Monday through Saturday.

I always wondered why some Christians do not become worshippers. Rick lifted three barriers that stop Christians from bringing God pleasure: fear, pride, and confusion. In Day 10, he took that apart, giving an antidote to each one. For fear, he gave trust, meaning as long as fear keeps us from surrendering to God, we will not surrender until we can trust Him; we cannot trust Him until we know Him and to know Him is to love Him because love drives out fear (1 John 4:18). For pride, he gave “accepting our limitations”, meaning we have to realize that we are not God; He is in charge! When we try to be God, we are most like Satan, and that is dangerous. For confusion, Rick gave obedience. Many people want to know everything before they do anything. We need to learn to trust God with the unknown while we obey; this will build faith!

The true art of worship is embodied in two specific encounters: through constant conversation (prayer) and through continual meditation (study of God’s word). In the bible study, much time was spent on learning how to pray. Many Christians feel intimidated because they think they have to pray as eloquent as their pastor in order for God to hear them. Learning to pray involve an awareness of His presence and a willingness to be real with Him (much more can be said on this topic). This is balance by meditation on God’s word. Check out what Rick had to say about meditation:

“If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate! You just need to switch your attention from your problems to Bible verses. The more you meditate on God’s Word, the less you will have to worry about.”

Seems easy? Think again! When you try to focus your attention onto God’s word, you’ll find that Satan will not let you go without a fight. You’ll notice all the little temptations that are designed to steal your focus and side-track you. When you meditate on God’s word with practice (that means to do it again and again and again), you will gain strength over your temptations and word of God will take root in you!

Here we are again! Consider the reading for this past week (Day 8 through Day 14), and tell me which daily reading resonated with you the most. For me, I’ll have to say Day 14 because the dark times in my life is where I learned what worship “really is” and that day’s reading spoke loudest to me. Holler at me!

The first seven days of reading addresses the question, “what on earth am I here for?” In answering that question, Rick Warren lays down some ground rules:

1.    It’s not about you!

2.    Life is a test, a trust, and a temporary assignment.

3.    It’s all for God’s glory!

Rick’s first sentence of the book is a sucker punch, a hit below the belt, a smack in the face and a sign of more to come. We can find a plethora of material that will make us feel good about life through self-help, but to conform to God’s purpose, we have to realize that it’s not about us! In order to begin our search for purpose in life, we have to start by looking upward instead of inward.

The way we see life needs to change as well. To say that life is a test is to define your actions when you can’t trace God’s actions, especially during times of difficulty. Nevertheless this is how God matures us, by testing the knowledge we have obtained by putting it into practice. Life is a trust in the same regard, because it focuses on how you use your resources. In this area, money has been the ruin of some believers, who do not see God’s concern for them as it relates to material wealth. Finally, life is a temporary assignment; this world is not our home.  Using the illustration of an ambassador in a foreign country, we are ambassadors in a land that temporary. We actually live in heaven with the Lord, but we are here as representatives of that kingdom. We should never forget “Who” we represent and where we come from.

By the time we got to Day seven’s reading, Rick tell us the purposes for which we had been created. (I could tell you now, but then you wouldn’t read the book, and that wouldn’t be fun, will it?) In short, everything is for the glory of God. If Timbaland (a top rap and R&B producer) produces a hit song, shouldn’t that song, which he created, bring him glory? So should we!

Here's what I need from you. Consider the first seven days of reading (Day 1 through Day 7), and tell me which daily reading resonated with you the most. For me, it's a toss up between Day 3 and Day 7. Holler at me!

We have officially begun our journey through The Purpose Driven Life book by Rick Warren this past Wednesday. I plan to blog about our progress weekly, but I wanted to take this time to formally introduce this topic to our blog. If you have already processed this material or you are looking to connect with others as we go through it, please join us. I believe God has smiled upon Rick’s work and has given it favor among many people who otherwise would not have found their purpose in life. I pray for everyone taking this journey with us for God to bless you to discover your life calling and purpose. Holler at me!

Well, the journey through the Book of Ephesians has ended, at least the Bible study has. This past week, we covered chapter 6 and concluded Paul’s writing. Verses 1-9 conclude his discussion on the practicum of family life. Quite a few things came up during the discussion, starting with “fathers, provoke not your children to wrath” (Eph. 6:4). Here, we clarified the role of discipline and the way today’s culture views it. We didn’t get through this without someone commenting on the popular cliché of “spare the rod and spoil the child”, which is NOT quoted in Scripture, but the meaning is there. We must consider Paul connecting command “bring them up” in concert with the discussion because Paul is parents to demonstrate godly living in the home (i.e. training) so they could mature in the admonition of the Lord.

It is no secret where the rest of our time went. Ephesians 6:10-17 could be called the main course, as if Paul said everything he had to say in order to talk about the whole armor of God. Clearly, he wants us to be prepared for spiritual conflict. Many of us are engaged in it right now! I want to pray for your victory.

My sermon was “Can You Handle This?” from Ephesians 6:10. Paul is well aware that in order to balance church life, personal life, and family life, we need divine strength to do it. The implication is we cannot do it on our own strength. Many of us are struggling and stressing because we can’t handle it. Some of us are in relationships that are emotionally draining and we can’t handle it. Some of us have children we can’t handle. That’s why you need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. God’s presence (in the Lord) and God’s power (in the power of His might) supplies us with access to divine strength that causes us to endure. That’s all for now!

Oh, by the way, The Purpose Driven Life Bible Study is about to start. I’m so ready, I can’t sleep! I’m totally ready to do this!!! Holler at me!!!

Chapter 5 is where Paul completes the topic of the application of redemption in personal life, a discussion that started at Ephesians 4:17. He told us to walk in love, walk in the light, and walk in wisdom. When talking about walking in love in Eph. 5:1-5, Paul tells us what NOT to do; fornicating (that’s sex outside the marital covenant), coveting, foolishness, and even telling dirty jokes. Why take the negative approach? Paul wants to correct negative behaviors in the saints. You probably know some Christians who do things like this. Paul makes it clear that those persons will not inherit the kingdom of God.

When he talked about walking in the light (Eph. 5:6-14), he does the same thing, taking the negative approach to the topic. “Don’t be deceived,” “don’t partake with them,” “don’t hang with them,” “call them out” are direct commands he used in this discussion. Again he’s correcting behaviors. But when he gets to wisdom (Eph. 5:15-21), he balanced the negative with some positive actions like “be filled with the Spirit,” “make melody in your heart to the Lord” and “give thanks.” Try this, compare Paul’s verb usage in this chapter to chapter 2 and you will find how the doctrine in chapter 2 are put into practice in chapter 5.

Again, I gave up the pulpit to be ministered to, but if I had to preach, it would have been from Ephesians 5:18. The command here is to “be filled” not “fill yourself.” The implication is that it’s God’s job to fill you, but it is your job to put yourself in the place where the “filling” can happen. If I want a glass of water, I better put my empty glass under running water, or else it won’t get filled. The reason why we have ineffective churches is because they are managed by people who are not filled; they won’t pray; they won’t study their Bibles; they don’t seek godly counsel; in other words, they won’t put themselves in the place where God could empower them. Give me your thoughts on this.

Finally as I wrap this up, I have 2 confessions: I wrote a long blog and I omitted any discussion on Paul’s discussion on husbands loving their wives and wives submitting to their husbands. The first one was coincidental but the second was intentional. I would much rather hear what you have to say before I post a comment. People are fighting because of this passage (Eph. 22-33), mainly because of how it’s being misused. I dare you to kick sand on this passage. Feelin’ kinda brave? Holler at me!