Some "Unceasing Worship" Thoughts

I thought it might help me get back into a blogging mood if I regularly shared some of what I'm reading. Right now I'm reading Harold Best's "Unceasing Worship", which I would highly recommend. Here's a quote worth chewing on from Chapter 1, which has the provocotive title "Nobody Does Not Worship":

"We begin with one fundamental fact about worship: at this very moment, and for as long as the world endures, everybody inhabiting it is bowing down and serving something or someone - an artifact, a person, an institution, an idea, a spirit, or God through Christ. Everyone is being shaped thereby and is growing up toward some measure of fullnesss, whether of righteousness or evil. No one is exempt and no one can wish to be. We are, every one of us, unceasing worshipers and will remain so forever, for eternity is an infinite extrapolation of one of two conditions: a surrender to the sinfulness of sin unto infinite loss or the commitment of personal righteousness unto infinite gain. This is the central fact of our existence, and it drives every other fact. Within it lies the story of creation, fall, redemption and new creation or final loss."

50 Top-Selling Christian Authors

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association has a list of the 50 bestselling Christian authors. (At least that's what they call it; I counted only 48. Go figure.) You may or may not recognize many of the names. I don't have the time or energy to say much about it. It appears to be very thin on theology and heavy on 'self-help'.

Doing GTD & Praying for Allen

David Allen's book "Getting Things Done" has helped me a lot. I keep his workflow diagram on my desk all the time. He has sold well over half a million copies of the book and there are a bunch of websites devoted to helping people put it into practice. His devotees have practically made 'GTD' into a word that will appear in the dictionary someday! However, I had no idea that Allen is a minister at the Purple Rose Ashram of the New Age. Yes, you read that correctly. "Wired" magazine has an article/interview with Allen that is quite eye opening.
Getting Things Done Guru David Allen and His Cult of Hyperefficiency

Seals, Activists & Baptism!

This amazing baptism story was told by Mark Driscoll over at The Resurgence. I know it's a little long for some attention spans, but it's really too good to pass up. Lord, please give us more great baptism and salvation stories!

Friday we had our annual summer baptismalooza. This year we had the craziest thing happen. Our crew showed up at Alki beach where Seattle was founded in 1851 to set up sound, light, and video. But, there was a baby seal that had been left on the beach by his mom. So, the baby seal sat there for many hours on the sand in the EXACT place that we were supposed to set up for our big baptism. Next thing you know the media was out covering our dilemma, animal rights activists were showing up, and according to federal law a large perimeter was set up around the seal to ensure no one got close to it. So, our set up crew prayed for a bit that the seal would leave, and when it did not they moved a few hundred yards down the beach and worked frantically to get things ready in time. To make matters worse, there was a volume limit that was to be imposed upon us during our worship set because apparently cute baby seals are also sensitive to loud noises and worship bands. But, just as we were getting ready to sound check, the baby seal went back in the water and swam back to his mom. This allowed us to have our event as planned. And, the Sovereign Seal brought a lot of media attention to our baptism which stuck around to cover the event on everything from newspapers to television and radio. The night was amazing as we had roughly 3000 people out in the park, and baptized over 220 people (we lost count) that included some folks who gave their life to Jesus on the spot.

The Voice of the Martyrs

I would encourage you to go to The Voice of the Martyrs site and sign up for their weekly e-mail updates. If you are anything like me, sometimes you need a bit of an eye-opener. This morning's e-mail once again lent me some perspective to my own life and some reality to the prayers I pray. Here's just a little excerpt from today's prayer alert for a pastor in China, who can no longer walk on his own and will likely die in prison if he is not released soon:

"He still has four years remaining of the seven-and-a-half year sentence he received after his arrest in 2004. He already had previously spent 12 years in prison for his faith during five separate detentions. He experienced harsh torture, including electric shock, during his previous prison terms. Pray for Pastor Zhang's healing and for his release from prison. Pray the Holy Spirit will encourage him and that his testimony will draw nonbelievers into the knowledge of Christ."

Don't Stare at the Sun

Lately I've found my self singing Mute Math's "Stare at the Sun".

Then yesterday morning I was reading Job in "The Message" and came across Job 37:21-22, which is about staring at the sun and God's splendor. "The Message" describes God's "golden splendor" as His "terrible beauty". That's an awesome description of God.

Then today's Astronomy Picture of the Day has us staring at a hole in the sun.

John Piper's Message at His Grandaughter's Funeral

I really appreciate his ability to grieve not just for himself, but through the grief of others.

What I Said at My Granddaughter’s Funeral :: Desiring God

Pray for the Pipers

John Piper's grandaughter, Felicity Margaret Piper, was delivered stillborn on Saturday night. He tells about it here. Please pray for that family.

Dean's eBible.com Javascript

Just in case Dean changes the layout, here is the instruction site for adding back the eBible.com lookup information: Here!

And here is the code that should be inserted:

<script src="http://ebible.com/api/ebibleicious?mode=mouseover
&translation=NIV&related_topics=0&key=EBIBLE_DEMO&v=1.0" type="text/javascript"></script>

Swap out the "EBIBLE_DEMO" with the API key given at eBible.com.

Focused?

Lately I've been reading books and listening to messages about focus. I've been thinking about focus a lot. Howard Hendricks said, "The secret of concentration is elimination". As one who sometimes struggles with concentration, (OK, I struggle a lot with concentration!) it isn't just the difficulty of keeping my mind on a task. It's the difficulty of eliminating tasks that someone else could do in favor of doing only what I can and should do that will bring the greatest benefit to my family, the church and me.

So here's some questions about focus I've been asking, in relation to this blog:

• If I were really focused would I be posting more to this blog?
• If I were really focused would this blog exist at all?
• If this blog truly should exist, what should its focus be in order for it to be the most fruitful?

I'm hoping to have these questions answered in the next week or two.

Not only was he a Southerner...

...but he was also exalted in the eyes of the people. Verse seven of Joshua says something that could be a bit troubling, depending on how it comes about. "And the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses." If the Lord is doing the exalting, then a good thing is happening. That's a sign the leader is humble and obedient and the Lord is doing great things. If the leader is doing the exalting, a bad thing is happening. That's a sign the leader is prideful and/or insecure. The priests were the first to stick their toes in the water. They stood on dry ground looking at a huge heap of water while the whole nation walked through the riverbed. The people had to trust that the heap wasn't going to fall on them. So there was faith all around. But Joshua was the one who heard some really audacious instructions from the Lord, believed the Lord was trustworthy, and gave those instructions to the people. They followed and were amazed by the Lord's power and the nation thought Joshua was great. That was a good thing because it was greatness achieved the right way.

Joshua Was a Southerner

I'm reading in Joshua 3 and I come across these verses:

"Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground."

When I saw those words I knew Joshua had to be from The South. Who else would call all of that backed-up water up a "heap"? I could just hear him, "Hoooowdy boys, look at that heap of water! That's some pile of water, ain't it!"

And I realize that only God can make a heap of water. I've piled a lot of stuff in heaps in my life, but I've never managed to pile water in a heap.