broken but repairable...

The beauty of brokenness is a beauty very few see today because of a prideful and self-glorifying heart. Our culture continues to believe we can do anything we want at any time and that cry of self-sufficiency plagues our world and intimidates the lives of believers. We are many times scared of being broken because it will show us to be weak and needy. That kind of posture goes against the very grain of who we are as Americans and American Christians. The truth is God is all about breaking our prideful hearts and messing everything that is us up so He can put things back in order — His order. What does it take to be broken?

We would think circumstances drive us to brokenness and even though circumstances will bring the need for brokenness to the forefront of our minds, that doesn’t CAUSE brokenness. If circumstances were the cause, we would get broken during the bad times and forget God during the good. That is the present condition of many Christians today and it causes us to live in the world of temporal repentance that is weak and definitely not lasting. What drives us to true, lasting brokenness is a heart of faith. Faith that God is our Savior and Lord. Faith that His way is the best way. Faith that we are weak and He is our strength. Faith that I can’t make it one step without Him. To try and make it on our own makes us a spiritual quadriplegic. That’s because we must allow Him to once again fill our life with the strength to walk and feel His presence fresh and anew. If we are numb to His commands we can’t function. Everything will be out of place and we will be virtually unable to do anything, paralyzed as a child of God. This should not be.

How can we get out of the paralysis we are experiencing? We must allow God to revive the four elements of our life and make them “feel” again. You know them: heart, soul, mind and strength. This is the part where we can actually do something. Love God with all you are and allow Him to breathe life back into the parched or numb areas of your life. Remember the day of your salvation and how He gave you new life and what changes took place when that happened. When you do that, God will say, “Get up and walk.” Oh, the joy to rise out of the wheelchair of apathy and live a life where we have all feeling in our spiritual limbs once again! I knew an evangelist who was a quadriplegic and a few years ago I asked him, “Do you have any regrets or wishes now that you are confined to a wheelchair?” He said, “I only wish I would have done more with my arms and legs when they were working.”

Don’t delay! Turn to God with a broken heart and allow Him to mend it and fill it with His love. That love will give you the capability to love Him more and be able to walk the walk like He commanded us to do. In Joel 2:12-13, the Lord says, “even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning...for He is gracious and compassionate.” Now is the time for all of us to return. We are broken... but repairable.

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

wise beyond ourselves...

All around us people are saying, “I have the answer for this problem and if you will just follow my advice, you will come out okay.” Then reality hits: bad answer, bad decision, bad advice, bad results. It seems like in our temporal world of wanting to please ourselves, we would just go to the source of all wisdom about the very foundational things in life. That person would be… Jesus. But no, we worry and fret and somehow forget (that rhymes, cool!) the great supply of wisdom that comes from our Lord. James 3:13 says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” Verse 17 goes on to say, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” In other words, wisdom carries some good baggage with it as listed in the above-mentioned scripture.

Our wisdom many times carries the other baggage, filled with our personal impressions, or personal wants, our personal hurts, etc. All of those things are good to learn from but not the basis for handling tough times with a clear mind. In other words, we are to be wise beyond ourselves. Wise, but with God’s wisdom from His Word. As we approach leading worship and living our daily lives this week, ask God to show you true wisdom from His Word to help you handle the things going on in our world right now. His wisdom never disappoints and is always lasting. It’s really awesome to see that the maker of the world’s wisdom is made open and clear to us, sinners saved by grace. We must choose to access that wisdom at every trun and find out how to walk our daily walk in the abundant life.

Also, think about singing beyond yourself as well. I believe God’s Word shows how true worshippers worship, in spirit and in truth. That kind of worship is way beyond what we can conjure up. We’re good...we’re just not THAT good. Keep singing. He’s worth it!

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

hear us from heaven...

As we think about how faithful God is to us and how much we need Him, I can’t help but marvel at how little many mainstream Americans acknowledge our need for Him. As worship leaders, we know we cannot do anything with God’s power and that translates into every are of our lives. Whether things seem to be going great or things are at disaster level, we need to continually be lifting up our praises to Him with a thankful heart. Twice as much trouble, twice as much praise. 2 Chronicles says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

As God’s people, may it be the cry of our heart to call out to God to come and visit us and move in our midst as we offer up our sacrifices of praise. Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that confess his name.” Let’s continue to trust God and His word and make every effort to lift up His holy name. Listen to Psalm 115 and how much it applies right now:

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations say, "Where is their God?" Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. O house of Israel, trust in the LORD—He is their help and shield.

We cannot let down in anything, so keep your feet to the task at hand. Get to know your music and be ready in and out of season.


The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren