You Are My Joy

It seems that my posts have been somewhat melancholy lately. This thought just hit me as I was listening to the David Crowder Band's song called "You Are My Joy." If you don't know this song, find a way to listen to it. It's so much fun! Joshua and I like to scream it in the car together while listening full blast.

I don't want to give the wrong impression by just writing about somber topics. The Spirit gives joy! I'm giddy inside just writing about it! Perhaps the range & depth of feelings is just a personality trait...or maybe it's the natural fruit of "the Life that is truly life." I tend to side with the latter. Beauty, love, awe, & emotion are part of our human experience that point to the fact that we're more than just random tissue. There is something more.

Here are the lyrics to the song that inspired this post:

You Are My Joy
David Crowder Band

And He set me on fire, and I am burning alive
With His breath in my lungs I am coming undone
And I cannot hold it in and remain composed
Love's taken over me and so I propose the letting myself go
I am letting myself go

You are my joy
You are my joy
You are my joy
You are my joy

I need to catch my breath, I need to
I need to catch my breath, give me a moment now
I'm laughing so hard

(uh-oh another song just came on that's making me giddy again...I think I need to go catch my breath...)

Coffee Shop Days

I've been busy reading and writing papers this week with a deadline looming. My mother-in-law is visiting, and she is graciously watching the kids while she's here. But with her and the kids around, being at home has not been conducive to getting any work done. I live quite a ways away from the seminary library, so I've found myself trying out different study haunts during the day. The best places to hang out and work seem to be coffee shops. It's fascinating just being in a place where you can watch people--there truly are all kinds.

I've had to wear my headphones and listen to music all week to avoid getting caught up in surrounding conversations. The deluge of constant music has been nice--I feel like a teenager again. Such public places filled with unknown faces are intriguing, but they often often fill me with a sense of sadness. This kind of feeling is more common when I attend a place like a disco or a club, but it has even happened in traffic. There are times when I am overwhelmed by a burden for humanity. I can't help but wonder if they know God, if they love Him, if they comprehend why they're here at all.

I've been reading a book about Ancient Near Eastern thought. One of the things I've learned is that the Creation account in Genesis has many similarities with the 7-day temple dedication services of the Ancient Near East (ANE). The author suggests that the cosmos is akin to God's temple, and humanity is given the priestly role of serving Him in the temple. God's rest is seen as Him establishing His reign and authority, bringing order to His domain. I love this image--the whole universe serves as a place of worship. Like I wrote in my post yesterday, all is centered on God. The creation points to that.

And yet when we look at the incarnation, condescension, love, passion, and death of Christ, suddenly the center of attention changes. Suddenly, God (the Center of all things) is so focused on us that He is willing to pour Himself out to the point of dying a shameful death for our benefit. We, the insignificant creation, become the center of the universe in God's love for us, shown profoundly through the death of Christ. It is the great reversal.

This, I think, is the cause of my sadness. We are meant to focus on God, and yet most are not even aware of Him. He has focused His love on us through His Son; we are made the center, at least for a moment, and yet so many have neither acknowledged nor received His love. The cross is the intersection of God and humanity. Through the death and resurrection of Christ we are lifted up to the heavens with the Almighty. Our hearts are transformed into temples where God can be truly worshipped and where He can truly dwell through His Spirit.

I have hope today because of the wondrous love of God. I pray that I may realize the life He has for me, and I pray that these that surround me in the coffee shop will come to know Him in just the same way.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Gerhard Tersteegen

I recently came across the story of this man in my Church History II class. Of all the figures who were introduced in that short survey of the Church (from 1500-present), Tersteegen impressed me the most. He was a German Pietist who lived in the early 18th century.

Just to give you a taste of his teachings, I submit the following thought from his sermon on "True Godliness":

One of the roles Tersteegen saw the Holy Spirit filling is that of Builder. In the heart of a believer, He seeks to build a sanctuary--a place of worship for the Lord. Our hearts were made for this. Remembering that, in Hebrew, the heart was seen as the locus of the will, the goal of our lives is to establish a heart of worship. This is one of the Spirit's aims, to conform our will to the adoration of the Father--the first and greatest commandment.
The Spirit, in building this spiritual temple in our hearts, uses three building materials--
"filial fear and veneration,"
"a heartfelt confidence and faith,"
and "a fervent attachment and love to God." (in short--reverence, faith, & love)

Tersteegen's description of how this process takes place is beautiful and captivating. If you're intrigued at all, please take the time to read him for yourself at http://path2prayer.com/article.php?id=259

May the Holy Spirit build such a spiritual temple in us. May reverence, faith, and love never be in short supply! And may the worship of our hearts bring God manifold glories.

I conclude with a quote from Tersteegen and a verse from 1 Corinthians--
"One thing alone is needful, and that is God, in whom the truly pious soul, withdrawing all her desires, love, and affection from every other object, collects them into one, and thus the spirit arrives at its origin, center, and aim to which it belongs..." - G. Tersteegen

1 Corinthians 3:16
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

Blogging

I love this blogging business. Although I'm a relative latecomer, I am fascinated by the sense of community that can be created by sharing one's thoughts and having others read and react.

There is so much sin going on via the Internet, and the chat rooms and blogs are full of junk. But as I read the blogs of family and friends, I am so thankful for the good stuff that is being generated online, too.

May God use all who read this to help redeem the Internet for His glory. May you be encouraged and warmed. May you know you are loved. What a neat medium!

Numbed by Choice?

Recently I caught myself switching stations on my radio because I didn't care for the song that was playing. This is nothing new--in fact, such jumping from station to station frequently drives my wife crazy. So...why do I mention it?

The song I rushed to silence was a song of praise to our God. I didn't like the style or the guy's voice, so why should I listen to it? I am not suggesting that we need to subject ourselves to sub-par performances just because they deal with faith. What bothered me about this occurrence was how flippantly I dismissed the song. This was a song of reverence, yet I didn't think twice about rejecting it.

I'm not a high-churcher, but I really appreciate some of the rituals they embrace. I love the idea of standing for the reading of the Word. I will never forget being criticized by old women in Europe for setting my Bible down on the floor--this was disrespectful. I have so many Bibles, I don't give it much thought. But I think those ladies had a point--lack of respect tends toward rejection.

We are bombarded by choices today. We have Christian radio, tons of books, denominations galore, and even (Lord, have mercy) Christian television. I have more books than I could read in a year, and yet I want to buy more. Choice is a great thing. I celebrate the wealth of quality material that's out there. But I fear that choice has created in us a buffet-style mentality of sampling much, but feasting richly on very little. It has also given rise to a critical attitude, one where we critique the form rather than appreciating and embracing the message.

I want to fill my mind with that which is true, right, pure, and lovely (Philippians 4:8), but I don't want to just flit from place to place like a dragonfly over the surface of the waters. I want to drink deeply. This takes time and repetition. It takes commitment and faith in God.

More than anything else, I want to retain an attitude of reverence. I am sure I will change the radio dial from many more Christian songs. Yet as I do so, I don't want to be flippant. I don't want to grow callous. Reverence for God is something I want to cherish.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)