Lets All Worship Cows!

A.W. Tozer said: “What is worship? Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we call Our Father Which Are in Heaven.” A.W. Tozer, quoted in D.J. Fant, A.W. Tozer, Christian Publications, 1964, p. 90.

Some people sometimes think worship is beneath them, but the truth is everyone worships something. God designed us to worship Him, but if we chose not to worship God, we will worship something else. We saw the Israelites when they left Egypt and decided not to worship God at the mountain, they ended up making a golden calf to worship. It may be your job, your girlfriend or boyfriend, money, hobbies or yourself. Just spend fifteen minutes listening to someone and you will discover what they adore.

I pose a question to you. What is more important, our sincerity or our accuracy in worship? Many will say that sincerity is the most important part of worship. But what if you are sincerely worshiping something besides God, does that count?

I have a very patient and understanding wife. Some time ago, early in our marriage I got it into my head that loved Minestrone Soup. When I would go to the store, I would get everything on the list and then think: “I am going to do something nice for JoAnna.” I would pick up the fancy brand of the Minestrone Soup and go home with a smile knowing she was going to be so happy that I thought about her. The first few times, she was very kind and said: “Honey, I don’t like Minestrone Soup, but thanks for thinking of me.” Well, I would like to say that I figured it out after 2 or 3 times, but I kept doing it ( I blame it on dyslexia even though I know that is a stretch). I kept doing it and after a while it became offensive to my wife. It was not a treat, but a shining example that I am not paying attention to what she enjoys. But I was sincere! I was sincerely wrong and did not care enough to get it right. I am happy to report that I finally figured out that she loves Italian Wedding Soup and appreciates it very much when I bring it home.

It is the same with God. We cannot worship a god of our own making. Jesus said “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23,24 Sincerity comes from the spirit and the truth comes from knowing whom we are worshiping.

When Paul was in Athens, he found a city full of idolatry. They loved talking about new revelations and waxing on about how enlightened they were. I am so glad that modern Christianity has not been infected by this. They had an idol for everything. Paul even found one for the “Unknown God”. He did not look at that and say: “Wow, glad you got your bases covered.” No, he found the need to tell them about the Unknown God and preached Jesus to them while denouncing their false gods.

If I tell my wife that I love her blonde hair and blue eyes, how she plays the harmonica and speaks Russian, she will think I am crazy. My wife is a beautiful brown haired, blue eyed Panamanian who plays the piano a little and does not speak Russian. If I went on praising attributes she does not have, she would probably get pretty hurt. Why can’t I do that? Because it is not true! The same happens with God. Supposedly “sincere” Christians worship a God of their own making. He never chastises us, wants us all rich Americans and to meet every indulgence we have by calling it a blessing. God is real and already has real attributes. We cannot invent ones we like and remove ones we don’t. That may work for fictional characters like the Tooth Fairy and Santa, but not for Jesus.

Acts 4:12 says “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” I urge you to get to know the Jesus you worship. Make sure you are not just worshipping a god of your own invention and are honoring the One True God of Creation. He is truly worthy of all worship, glory and honor. And here is what happens when you begin to know Him more… You love Him more. To know Him is to love Him. Let that love of knowing God in truth motivate and fuel your worship for Him.

What The Hell Is He Talking About?

Have you ever experienced anguish? Are we as Christians even supposed to feel anguish after we are born again? I remember watching the news one evening when I saw footage from a shoot out in Israel. The images showed a father and son caught in the cross fire on some street. I could not tell who was Israeli or Palestinian. I could only see a father trying to cover his son with his own body from the spray of machine gun fire. The cameras showed the father and son a short time later. The father sat dejected sitting on the side of the street. His son lied dead next to him. He was not even involved in the altercation, willing to give his life, but yet unable to protect his son. Being a father myself, I was struck with emotion. I could not even believe they showed such a thing on television. I was angry and full of sorrow for the man who lost his son.

In Mark chapter three, we see Jesus experience anger and sadness at the same time. The Pharisees sat there with indignation to see if Jesus would heal the man with the withered hand. They did not care about this guy who had suffered his whole life, only if Jesus was going to break the rules. Jesus looked around “on them with anger, being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts.” He was mad and sad. Paul shared this same pain, “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.”

Aren’t Christians supposed to be happy? Shouldn’t we have our best life now? Doesn’t God want to make us feel good by showering blessings from Heaven? Aren’t we King’s Kids? What could these two guys be so upset about? Could it be that they actually cared for the lost, dying and hurting?

Abraham Bininger was a man who understood the pain of Hell. He came to America an orphan as his parents both died on the long sea voyage and were buried at sea. When he became a young man, he asked to be sent to St. Thomas Island to bring the message of the cross to the slaves. When he arrived, he learned that the law said only slaves could preach to slaves. He sent a request to the governor to become a slave that he might have but the opportunity to share Jesus with common slaves. What kind of person does this? It was not like he had an easy life. He was orphaned! He had hardships. He was due his chance to have a good life. Should not God have rewarded him for his suffering and give him a nice church in the suburbs? No, he wanted to preach to slaves and so much, he was willing to sell himself literally for the task. He was not blinded by his passion, but it is we that are blinded by our apathy. Only a person who can see beyond the temporal into the eternal can even think of doing such a thing.

Do you believe in Hell? Every good American Christian (maybe) will say yes, it is in our statement of faith. We believe Noah build an Ark, Moses talked to a bush and there is a place called Hell. But do you really believe that? Do you believe if your relatives are not born again, they will spend eternity in torment? When you see the clerk, do you weep for their soul because they are going to Hell?

If you are a Christian and you are not broken for the lost, then there can only be one of two possibilities. Either you don’t believe in Hell or you don’t care if people go there. Hell is a place of “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” It is eternal pain and sorrow! We act like it is a joke or a time out. People who have not received the forgiveness of their sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and been born again are going to that awful place. How can we not care? I beg you, ask Jesus to forgive you for your cold heart as I have. Go before His presence with humility and fasting and repent. Ask Him to impart His heart for the lost. It will hurt. You may find yourself crying when you look into the eyes of a stranger as you feel God’s pain for their soul. Don’t run from the cross, run to it. Allow His anguish to have place in your heart for this lost and dying world.