Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast

Archives for September 2008

Is Your Faith Your Own?

It is incredibly important to live a life of communing with God. Not just reading books. Not just listening to sermons. Not just talking theology with friends. Not just subscribing to the hottest podcast, blog, or attending great conferences.

I’m talking personal dialogue with the Holy Spirit.

While all those things are valuable in their place, nothing can replace personal communion with God. You must have a personal walk with God as a your life foundation.

If you do not have a personal, daily time with God where you talk with Him, you may be living off someone else’s revelation and journey. You can deceive yourself into thinking you personally know God, when actually you may rarely speak with Him. How can you know someone if you don’t hang out together?

Is your faith your own, or are you living off someone else’s?

Stand in the Presence of God

I’ve been working my way through Bob Sorge’s new book, “Power of the Blood” and loved his somewhat fictional conversation with the archangel, Gabriel:

Gabriel the archangel, when he appeared to Zacharias, described his occupation in this manner: “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God” (Luke 1:19).

“So what do you do, Gabriel?”

“I stand in the presence of God.”

“Yes, I understand that, but I’m wondering what you do.”

“I stand in the presence of God.”

“Yes, I get that, but I mean, you’re an angel; so what exactly does an angel do?”

“I’m not sure you’re hearing me,” I can imagine an exasperated Gabriel retorting. “That’s what I do. I stand in the presence of God, gape with wonder at His glory, and burn with fiery desire before the throne. If He sends me somewhere, I go; if He doesn’t send me, I just stand there.”

Wide Awake Study Guide: Chapter 2

DISCOVER – The Explorer

• Describe your most memorable vacation. What made it so memorable?

• Have you forsaken your dream for a life you can manage?

• What are some practical steps you can take to explore; to continue learning?

• As a group, identify something that is wrong with the world. How could you go beyond identifying the problem to creating the solution?

“Real genius, real invention is not about identifying a problem but about solving it.”

• What is your life contributing to the world?

“God seems to free the oppressed, end injustice, feed the hungry, bring victory, and do every good work through men and women who refuse to surrender to the problem.”

• Do you have a career or a calling? Are you where you are by accident or intention?

Read the Red

Want to know a simple Bible study exercise? Read the red. I’ve been reading through the book of Luke over the past week and am amazed at the profundity, wisdom, beauty, and life-giving truth of Jesus’ words. Jesus is truly amazing. Take some time today and sit underneath the teaching of the greatest Teacher who ever lived, who also happens to be the Son of God.

What a privilege!

The Encore Effect

I just finished reading Mark Sanborn’s book, The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do. What an engaging read! I recommend this book for anyone in any area of leadership. I particularly like his points on what characterizes on encore performance:

  • Commitment – the price you are willing to pay to get remarkable results
  • Professionalism – worrying more about the impact of your performance than those you perform for
  • Skills – making the difficult look easy through hard work…finding solutions
  • Values – beliefs that a person holds most dear…this is your brand
  • Character = Integrity: the distance between your lips and your life