Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast

Do You Enjoy the Bible?

Do you love the Word of God? Do you enjoy it as you enjoy a great book, going to the movies, watching sports, reading magazines, or shopping?

Maybe you’re thinking, “Am I supposed to enjoy the Bible? Shouldn’t I just buckle down and do it because I know its right?”

The answer to both of those questions is YES. I have a strong desire to see God and His Word pursued with passion and pleasure.

I believe there are three reasons Christians don’t spend much time in the Word of God:

1. We feel guilty for being inconsistent.
2. We don’t understand much of the Bible.
3. Our time is governed by mindless entertainment.

In this post, I’d like to key in on point three. I believe we need to train ourselves to enjoy the Bible. We do this by repetition. I personally try to utilize much of my leisure time by reading Scripture and/or books devoted to understanding Scripture. The more you do this, the more you will see the Bible as fascinating, fun, and the most important use of your time.

Sometime we are tired. Stressed. Busy. In a ‘fun’ mood. We reserve our “Scripture reading” to a few minutes in the morning or once a month when our passion is dried up. We fill endless hours with TV, friends, food, and other activities. What if we trained ourselves to read the Bible in these times more often? Instead of retreating to mindless entertainment choices, we could begin reading Scripture and understand more of God’s will.

I love the Word of God. It is amazing when the Holy Spirit opens your understanding to difficult portions of the Bible. It is fun. It is relaxing. It is energizing. It is life-changing.

Is the Word of God your entertainment for this evening?

Missions Trip to "Nowhere"?

compassoutline

In the middle of April this year, APEX (the young adult ministry of APC), is going on a missions trip to “Nowhere”. The idea of this trip was born out of a desire to live a missional life everyday. Going to other nations on ministry trips is necessary, but what do we do every other day of the year?

During this week, we will all stay at Allison Park Church. We will go to our normal jobs everyday with a specific outreach challenge ranging from acts of kindness to sharing the Gospel. We will memorize a verse of Scripture everyday. We will do outreaches in the city of Pittsburgh each evening. We will have powerful times of worship & prayer every morning, along with a challenging devotional. Small groups will be in action, reaching out together.

The good times are almost too many to mention, right?

I’m excited for how this week will teach us, challenge us, and how the Holy Spirit will use us in our workplaces and in our city.

If you’re interested in joining us for this week (April 14-18), please leave a comment on this post and I will get back to you. Looking forward to it!

40 Days of Consistency – Scripture for Week 2

Last week we looked at Psalm 43 and the “anticipation” aspect of worship. Continuing through the Psalms this week, I want to look at the theme of our vision – what our eyes look upon. The essence of worship is a response to who God is. It’s an effect of seeing Him – His attributes. In order to be pure, set-apart worshipers, we need to discipline our eyes to behold the right things. Consider these two verses:

“Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word” (Psalm 119:35-47).

Also,

“I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8).

I find this incredibly stirring. David had caught a glimpse of the beauty of God and the last thing he wanted was to be distracted from it. He knew his flesh was weak. If he spent time looking at “worthless” things, he knew his heart would be drawn away from what was truly beautiful; namely, the word of God.

What if we prepared our hearts for weekend worship by spending less time looking at worthless things? What if we allowed the beauty of creation to stir our worship? The Word of God? What if we chose to say ‘no’ to certain, legitimate pleasures in order to feast upon the greatness of God?

I know that Jesus is all satisfying and the more we gaze upon his glory, the more satisfied lives we will live.

Lessons from WILSON

Wilson

This is Wilson. He is my foster brother. My sister just sent me this picture because I guess he is listening to my music and smiling because of its sheer awesomeness. Maybe not. But he is smiling. He tends to make loud noises whenever I sing. He loves music.

Wilson has many horrible physical problems. He was shaken traumatically as a baby and doesn’t have much brain function. He is also blind. He cannot do anything (I mean anything) on his own.

In spite of all that, he may be the happiest person I have ever met. Not joking. He has the biggest smile and the most contagious laugh, even though he doesn’t always know what is going on. If you have never met Wilson, you really need to. He could change your life.

Never take for granted all that you have. If you tend to get down easily with issues in your life, hanging out for a few minutes with an amazing person like Wilson may teach you the most profound truths about life.

"Jesus Driven Ministry" – Ajith Fernando

Just finished a very encouraging book – Ajith Fernando’s “Jesus Driven Ministry”. Ajith has been the Youth for Christ director in Sri Lanka for over 25 years. Having never read any of his writings, I was impressed by the practicality and genuineness of his writings. He is a man very dedicated to the Lord and focused on daily obedience.

Alongside his many personal life stories, I loved how each chapter was an exposition of Scripture. From practical teaching on casting out demons and praying for the sick, to retreating from activity, to prayer, to being saturated in the word, he led me through the earthly ministry of Jesus and taught me how to have a truly enduring ministry.

Highly recommended.