Alive Worship

As some of you know, Sarah and I had the privilege of living abroad for 3 years. We were based in the southern part of England, but lived two months in Poland and two months in China as well. One thing we learned in living abroad is that you have to approach a new culture as a learner, not a teacher. This approach helps keep you open-minded so that you can experience the lifestyle of an entirely different group of people.  One of my favorite parts of being in a new culture is trying new foods, hearing new music, and experiencing how other’s live. However, culture shock is a very real and terrifying thing. When you are living outside of your comfort zone, you realize how desperate you become for something familiar. When you’re craving familiarity, even the brilliant red and yellow glow of the “golden arches” can help you feel a little more at peace inside.  Another reality to living in another culture is that you have to learn their many cultural nuances. Taking the ti...

I’m not always good at praying. I do lot’s of things that “help” me to elevate my prayer activity and yet, prayer is a discipline that I have never really championed. I haven’t given up and yes, I have seasons of praying more consistently than others. Nevertheless, I don’t really pray like I believe I should.   Something I am really good at is worrying and being anxious. When it comes to finances, my kids, our city, our country, our world, whether or not I fit in or if my efforts to love people will even make a difference, I am a triathlon at wringing my hands and giving into anxiety. I don’t want to be good at worrying. In fact, I want to be terrible at it.  A very popular passage of Scripture was introduced to me shortly after I came to Christ and has continued to both haunt me and encourage me over the years. 4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about a...

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” - C. S. Lewis I have a funny memory of being a kid and walking around the Tanque Verde Swap Meet (when it was still at Tanque Verde and Kolb!). One of the vendors was blaring I Can’t Get No Satisfaction for all the patrons to enjoy. Of course, I didn’t really connect with it at that young age with it being a goofy rock song with some less than elegant lyrics. Yet, within these grammatically challenged themes, we find a universal truth we have all experienced at one time or another.  Some of us will seek to find satisfaction in food or drink, while for others it’s sex, shopping, drinking, drugs, status, or acceptance (the list goes on). Whatever it is, it begins with a simple desire. That desire may even be for something good, like the desire to find a spouse or a place to live; the problem is when we expect it to provide complet...

Well, it’s mid summer here in the southwest desert and we just passed the longest day of the year with record breaking heat. So far, we have been enduring temperatures of up to 116 degrees and it feel oppressive outside.  When this time of year rolls around, a deep need of mine becomes front and center focus where in other times of the year, it’s more of an afterthought; my need for water. I don’t crave sugary beverages, iced coffee, Gatorade, or energy drinks. Just pure, ice-cold water. Of course, I need to drink lots of water all year round (and for the record, I do). But when the heat is turned way up (to being almost unbearable), is when I feel me need.  This, of course, makes me think of our need for Christ. I was reading today out of Psalm 63: 1 “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and...