a fully developed fulcrum...

This year will be a great time for all of us to learn to rest on God and His unchanging love. Love that is unconditional and very fulfilling for all who experience it is a fairly accurate description of God’s love. His love for us surpasses all our understanding and gives us the capacity to love others like He does. God’s love is the foundation that we will rest our worship ministry on this year. God will be our fulcrum.

The definition of a fulcrum is the support, or point of rest, on which a lever turns in moving a body. In other words, we will initiate movement in our church body through resting in Christ and His love. We live in a world that has a lot of water under her bridge, and the church has lived through some tough times and continued to stand firm and strong. The strength to live a victorious life is continually shown by God through His great love for us. Let’s rest our future vision on the strong and powerful love of God and He will roll us forward to a new and exciting time of renewal and refreshment. The end result will be even more heartfelt worship times that challenge and convict.

The old rock ‘n’ roll song “We Built This City on Rock and Roll” states a very strong point about a city being built on rock and roll music. Our battle cry will be “We built this ministry on God’s love!” He is our fulcrum. Be willing to let Him turn your heart more toward Him and His purposes. He is the only fully developed fulcrum and we MUST allow Him to do the moving.

The Pilgrimage continues....


David Warren

singleness of heart...

One of the greatest things Jesus ever taught was the singleness of heart. He brought it up time and time again by asking His followers to have one single goal: Serve God. To the rich, He said to put your money in God’s economic system. To those who would cling to family inheritance, He said to leave it all behind for His inheritance. To the weak, He said, “Let me be your strength but admit you are weak first.” To the poor, He offered riches in heaven. To the downtrodden, He offered hope. To the desperate, He offered peace. To those closest to Him, He called for them to give their lives for Him. To all who followed with a singleness of heart, He used them in miraculous ways and the salvation story we present today is a direct reflection of those who had a singleness of heart. The one single thing He asked: Serve God.

Today a singleness of heart in anything seems almost impossible. Instead of having musicians and singers who have given themselves to their talent and use it in an extraordinary way, we have many who can play fairly well, or sing fairly well, but don’t get to excel because they are so stretched and busy doing everything else. Writers don’t have time to sit down and put on paper the many thoughts and stories that come to their mind because they can’t uncloud all the other stuff that is up there due to a hectic schedule. Bible study leaders prepare for leading a class and at the last minute pull together a good lesson but sometimes not a great lesson because they had something come up in another area they probably shouldn’t have volunteered for. A parent can’t be as good as they should because they are trying to juggle one thing after another and the plates are just about to fall. No singleness of heart. Multiplicity is our battle cry!

Maybe this year Christmas could be the time when we refresh our minds and our hearts and explore what God wants to do with our lives through serious prayer and soul searching. It would probably mean prioritizing and saying NO at times when we want to say YES. I believe if we would take a deep breath and pursue those things God impressed on us at the time of our salvation, we would begin to see a quality of living come into our lives that would radically change our attitude about life. Singleness of heart. Serve God. Focus on what HE wants and everything else will come into, or out of, focus quickly. Then you will discover a new world that is focused and purposeful.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

who am I?

As we think about the upcoming pageant, I look back and I am very thankful for your commitment to this great task. Of course you have shown over and over the heart of a servant in all you have done in preparing for weekly worship and the Christmas Pageant. I say of course because that is how I feel about you as a choir. If I am questioned by anyone who asks the following questions to me about you as a choir, it is easy to answer the same thing every time.

Will they be there? Of course! Will they be working on these songs at home and as they drive down the road? Of course! Will their worship be heartfelt? Of course! Can you depend on them? Of course! Are they selfless in their attitude? Of course! Are they doing it for you as their director? NO WAY! It’s all for God!

Praise God for His great mercy and direction for His people. He gives us direction in how to live our life. That direction is real and we will follow it. Who am I that I would try to take a separate path than what He wants? He guides my steps, but I must open my heart, mind and life to Him. Galatians 5:25 says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Verse 26 puts the “who am I?” in the mix: “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” We are not to think less of ourselves because we are children of the King. But we are to keep ourselves and our wants in the proper perspective when it comes to who we are in His service. It is all about Him; all praise is due His name.

Who am I? I am a servant of the Most High and a significant part of His plan. Who are you? You are servants, people who are making a difference. Never discount how important you are to God. Keep in the middle of His mix and He will show you more and more each day just how much He loves you and wants to use you. Remember, your faithfulness generates far more than just doing a task. It shows who you are.

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

worship with a capital W...

A few years ago we went to my daughter’s home and I noticed on her car a W sticker and of course, this meant George W. Bush. You’ve seen them all over and it’s amazing to be able to identify a person with one letter. The highest office in the land has been filled by a man with a full name like anyone else, but is easily recognized by that one letter, W. Oliver Stone even named his movie about George W. Bush, W., and when I looked at the title on the movie list, I knew who it was probably about. W. Of course, there have been times when the W was highly touted and highly thought of my many. And times, like now, when those accolades and accomplishments are mired in controversy and almost hatred. As we now know, the praises come and go like the rain. The love can turn to disgust and malice. The following can turn to folly. Sad, or so it seems. W, once highly thought of as a letter, is now viewed by many as failure. Of course, we don’t know all the truth behind the change, but there was a change about that letter W.

There is another word that is so strong and so purposeful in a believer’s life that it, too, could become a powerful letter, highly thought of and highly respected to the point of making a sticker that just says W. It is the word worship. What is worship in a believer’s life? It IS a believer’s life. We can’t run from it, package it to make it easy, keep it off our car or even out of our home. It is something so strong that it defines who we are and who we are associated with and all who see us see a huge sticker that says W. In this case, we know we are sinners and we will fail even though we strive to follow God’s Word completely. We also know that we will know more about worship today than we did yesterday so our knowledge bank will fill up more and more each day.

What we will be sharing by worshipping our Lord is that worship is a lifestyle, and that lifestyle is centered on growing more and more like Him every day. When we sing, we sing differently because we are singing out of the all-surpassing understanding of growing in a relationship with the Creator of the universe. That relationship is not a passing fancy that diminishes when things aren’t going too good for us and grows when things are going good for us. That relationship, that worship is constantly directed toward God because we love Him, no holds barred, with all our heart. That love is what generates a life of worship so we always trust Him, always hold on to Him and always follow Him no matter what happens. He is our all in all...that is the life of a true worshipper.

In John 4, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and drives this point home. 21-24 “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming — it has, in fact, come — when what you’re called will not matter and where you to go to worship will not matter. It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before Him in their worship. God is sheer being itself — Spirit. Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.” 25 The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.” 26 “I am He,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”

So! No need to wait any longer. Worship Him! We many times talk about the mark of the beast and what that will mean during the end times. I want to promote the Mark of the Savior for the present. That mark is W. That W won’t let you down. Live a life that is real so that your worship will be real. Are you God’s bumper sticker for worship? You don’t have to wait any longer. He’s here.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

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