Enjoying God

"The Lord is great and greatly to be praised..." Don't you love it that God has given us all things "richly to enjoy"? C.S. Lewis posited that you can tell much about a person by what they enjoy. Did you ever notice that you don't have to be prompted to talk about that which you love and enjoy? If you see a good movie and you enjoyed it, you talk to your friends about it. Beyond that you encourage them to see it as well. As I consider what I enjoy in life I am driven to thank the Lord, for He has gifted me tremendously. I enjoy my relationship with my best friend and my lover Ruth, anything I do with her is a JOY. I enjoy the late night telephone discussions with Art over the deep issues of theology or the Red Sox. I enjoy time spent with Jessica watching the joy that comes over her when she is shopping or talking about her main squeeze Dane. I enjoy golfing with Jenny, watching Law & Order with her and listening to her passion for the Lord and people when she talks! Because I love and enjoy my family, I talk (OK, brag) about them often. Of course the chief end of man is to glorify God and (or as Piper says "by") enjoy him forever. I am convinced that most are seeking to be adequate by the power of the Holy Spirit to glorify God, the question that begs to be asked is "Do we enjoy Him?" (Ps. 16:9-10) Again, we talk about what we enjoy and we want others to enjoy as well. The key to reaching the world for Jesus is not to make people feel guilty that they don't evangelize enough. The key is for all the saints to enjoy God, for when we do that, we will talk about Him. David realized this when he prayed in Psalm 52 "Restore unto me the joy of your salvation and then I will tell others....." There it is! He realized that when He was enjoying the Lord, he talked to others about Him. Pray for me that I would have a continual and driving passion to enjoy the Lord....and I will pray the same for you!

Music

Have you ever had someone say "I hate worship choruses, they repeat things over and over...?" I was thinking of that this morning when I was reading Psalm 136. Twenty six times David repeats the same phrase in this HYMN, "His steadfast love endures forever" (ESV) In Handel's Messiah we have indrecible repetition, but it is accomplished with musical excellence....ah maybe that is it. What do you think about the music being sung today in Churches? Are you longing for more old hymns of the faith, more contemporary choruses, or would you like to have a blended approach? We would do well to realize that this is an issue of personal preference and be willing to bend for others so that we might all be able to worship God effectively. I was just wondering what you were thinking on this.....LATER

Prayer

Well, here we go. Art, Jess, Jenny you have challeged me to enter into the blog world, so here I am! Isn't God so good to provide for us a way to stay in touch with so many people that we love? Today my heart is excited about the reality of prayer! This vehicle of the internet is neat, but prayer is incredible. We have immediate contact with the King of the Universe...ANYTIME>>>ANYWHERE. A survey to ask what has helped those who read this in their prayer lives to stay fresh? I am looking forward to getting better at this!