Last week I was at junior high camp at Luther Springs. At the very first worship service the kids were over excited and a bit loud. The counselors were trying to get control of the rowdy group so one of them yelled above the noise, “We’re about to start worship and what does that mean.”
A child raises their hand, “It means be quiet.”
“That’s right it’s time to be quiet.”
In the background I lean towards another pastor and sarcastically say, “I thought worship was when we lift praise to God, but I guess we can forget that… worship means be quiet.”
There is truth to the importance of being quiet during worship and taking time to listen to God. However, it is also a time when we open ourselves to the joy of life given to us in God and that is when we dance, sing, and make a joyful noise to the Lord.
As I’m sure most can imagine we sing a lot of songs at camp. We sing when we wake in the morning. We sing before meals. We sing as we are walking down the path in the woods. We sing around a blazing campfire in the evening. One thing I enjoy about all this singing is that it becomes a part of the norm. The kids will begin to make a joyful noise to the Lord during an everyday task without even noticing.
Giving praise to our God can manifest in many different forms. When we give praise to God in all we say and do – when we find ourselves lifting a joyful noise to the Lord even outside of the formatted worship service. The Spirit weaves into our lives in new and abundant ways. As a result in that quiet time with God, we are able to hear God more clearly.
Psalm 100:1-5
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
How to Come and Go with God
by Johanna Johnson
“The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
I am a planner in the first degree. I really like to be prepared, and to know what’s going on – or if things are to be left open, I like to know that we are planning to leave them open. “The human mind plans the way,” the wise author of Proverbs writes. And this is a condition my human mind knows quite well.
And yet, the sage goes on: “but the Lord directs the steps.” Ah, now there’s the trick. Looking back on my life, some wonderful experiences have come from planning. But the most fruitful and important experiences of all have come when all my logic said, “No, don’t do that,” but I let the Lord direct my steps anyway. They have come when I have leapt out in faith, telling my fear to take a hike. They have come when I simply ride the wave of God’s will, rather than reason my way out of it. God’s will took me 2000 miles from my California home to a little private college in Minnesota. God’s will took me 6000 miles from home to a village in Slovakia. God’s will took me to an Ivy League divinity school I never had any intention of attending. And God’s will took me to SW Florida for an internship that has proven an essential experience for me in my growth in ministry. God knows what God is doing, it seems.
Is it easy to ride this wave? Nope, not at all. But is it exhilarating? Absolutely! The most wonderful thing about the Lord directing our steps is that we know that with God as our navigator, we’ll end up in the right place. Maybe that place is far from home and everything familiar. Maybe it is exactly what is home and familiar. But it is always right – right where God intended.
“The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
I am a planner in the first degree. I really like to be prepared, and to know what’s going on – or if things are to be left open, I like to know that we are planning to leave them open. “The human mind plans the way,” the wise author of Proverbs writes. And this is a condition my human mind knows quite well.
And yet, the sage goes on: “but the Lord directs the steps.” Ah, now there’s the trick. Looking back on my life, some wonderful experiences have come from planning. But the most fruitful and important experiences of all have come when all my logic said, “No, don’t do that,” but I let the Lord direct my steps anyway. They have come when I have leapt out in faith, telling my fear to take a hike. They have come when I simply ride the wave of God’s will, rather than reason my way out of it. God’s will took me 2000 miles from my California home to a little private college in Minnesota. God’s will took me 6000 miles from home to a village in Slovakia. God’s will took me to an Ivy League divinity school I never had any intention of attending. And God’s will took me to SW Florida for an internship that has proven an essential experience for me in my growth in ministry. God knows what God is doing, it seems.
Is it easy to ride this wave? Nope, not at all. But is it exhilarating? Absolutely! The most wonderful thing about the Lord directing our steps is that we know that with God as our navigator, we’ll end up in the right place. Maybe that place is far from home and everything familiar. Maybe it is exactly what is home and familiar. But it is always right – right where God intended.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Listening
An English professor, once shared an experience of a teacher who changed her life during high school. She says the classroom in which her teacher was teaching was located on the side of the building where a main thoroughfare of the city ran. Traffic was constant, including the sound of emergency vehicles, throughout each day. At the beginning of each class, the teacher would complain to the students about the noise from the traffic. The emergency vehicles especially annoyed him with their sirens.
After one weekend, the teacher addressed the class at the beginning as he usually did. This day he said he wanted to apologize to the class. He told them that this weekend his wife had an emergency situation. The service that the ambulance provided saved his wife's life and his baby's life. He told his students, "I want to apologize because I was listening to the noise instead of thinking about the lives."
In his external world, the teacher heard noise. The experience with his wife and child caused him to inwardly see that lives were being cared for by those noisy vehicles.
We are called to listen differently to all of creation and God. There is no doubt that noise has invaded our lives. Some can’t shower without music or go to sleep without the TV in the background. All this noise is simply noise. We must go deeper we must go inward. That is where we will find truth.
NOTE: The story about the English professor was shared by, Rev. Dr. Isaiah Jones Jr.
After one weekend, the teacher addressed the class at the beginning as he usually did. This day he said he wanted to apologize to the class. He told them that this weekend his wife had an emergency situation. The service that the ambulance provided saved his wife's life and his baby's life. He told his students, "I want to apologize because I was listening to the noise instead of thinking about the lives."
In his external world, the teacher heard noise. The experience with his wife and child caused him to inwardly see that lives were being cared for by those noisy vehicles.
We are called to listen differently to all of creation and God. There is no doubt that noise has invaded our lives. Some can’t shower without music or go to sleep without the TV in the background. All this noise is simply noise. We must go deeper we must go inward. That is where we will find truth.
NOTE: The story about the English professor was shared by, Rev. Dr. Isaiah Jones Jr.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Fear or Sanctuary?
There are times when sharing the Word of God comes easily, others not so much. I’ll never forget the first time I was asked to preach about death. It wasn’t at a funeral. It was at a service of remembrance around Christmas time. Since the holidays are especially difficult for those who have lost a loved one we offered a service for them to come together to mourn, and hear some good news about God’s love in the midst of loneliness and grief. I was nervous and unsure if what I had to say could even begin to provide comfort.
Honestly, to this day I don’t remember what I preached but I do remember what happened afterwards. I finished preaching. Sat down and took a deep breath and prayed that God’s comfort was revealed. In this time of silence the organist began to play a song and I noticed a woman running to him. This woman must have just walked in because she wasn’t there for my sermon and she was frantically in need of help as she was carrying what looked like a paper towel.
As she disrupted the organist the pastor walked over to calm the situation and led this person into the narthex. After the service was over I asked the pastor what happened. She said, “It was urgent because she believed there was a demon in the paper towel.”
I responded, “How did she catch a demon in a paper towel?”
“I don’t know how and that was not the important question. It was important that she believed she had one.”
“So, what did you say?”
“I said we need to do with this demon as we need to with all of them, and that is, throw them in the trash.”
I don’t know whatever happened to this woman nor if she has been able to deal with the demons in her life. The truth is, our theology about demons may differ but the reality is when she was dealing with something that was a true threat and frightening she ran to the church. She ran to a place that was safe. She ran to place of comfort. She ran to place that represents a God who protects, comforts, and cures!
While I was busy worrying about a sermon on grief and death. God was busy opening the church doors to new life not lived in fear of demons, but in sanctuary with God.
Honestly, to this day I don’t remember what I preached but I do remember what happened afterwards. I finished preaching. Sat down and took a deep breath and prayed that God’s comfort was revealed. In this time of silence the organist began to play a song and I noticed a woman running to him. This woman must have just walked in because she wasn’t there for my sermon and she was frantically in need of help as she was carrying what looked like a paper towel.
As she disrupted the organist the pastor walked over to calm the situation and led this person into the narthex. After the service was over I asked the pastor what happened. She said, “It was urgent because she believed there was a demon in the paper towel.”
I responded, “How did she catch a demon in a paper towel?”
“I don’t know how and that was not the important question. It was important that she believed she had one.”
“So, what did you say?”
“I said we need to do with this demon as we need to with all of them, and that is, throw them in the trash.”
I don’t know whatever happened to this woman nor if she has been able to deal with the demons in her life. The truth is, our theology about demons may differ but the reality is when she was dealing with something that was a true threat and frightening she ran to the church. She ran to a place that was safe. She ran to place of comfort. She ran to place that represents a God who protects, comforts, and cures!
While I was busy worrying about a sermon on grief and death. God was busy opening the church doors to new life not lived in fear of demons, but in sanctuary with God.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Playful Messiness
When I was a child I loved getting messy. I wasn’t the child at the roadside selling lemonade. I was the child that got down in the mud and dug for worms, put them in containers and sold them at the roadside for fishermen.
I worked at camps for five summers. It was perfect for me. I love getting messy and camp is a great place to get messy. One of my favorite nights was the overnight. We would camp out under the stars by Lake Michigan. One day we had about 70 campers and we had cooked our meal over the fire, swam in the lake and then played some games on the beach. We were getting set for the evening and just like Florida in Michigan we have sudden storms. And suddenly it was a down pour! Everything including the camper’s pillows and sleeping bags were drenched.
We quickly got the kids under the pavilion, but it was too late. Everything was WET! We were gathered together trying to figure out what to do since the camp didn’t have 70 extra sleeping bags and pillows. Hoping the bus would come… but unsure it would and these were the days before cell phones.
I was tried and frustrated so I walked to the side and watched the rain. I then noticed the HUGE puddles that were forming. My friend Matt walked over, looked at me and said “do it!” I said no, I’ll get to muddy! He smiled and took off in the rain and jumped in the puddle. I couldn’t stand back and watch so I followed. Jumped in and stood up muddy and scraped from the rocks and then 10 campers or so came to join us. We had so much fun in those mud puddles and got SO messy.
The bus finally arrived and I was the first one at the door. The bus driver looked at me and said, “Dana what did you do?” I smiled and said, “Life is messy, faith is messy, and sometimes we just need to play in it!"
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