Thoughts [3.13.09]

1. Most of the time, I approach ACCESS and Sunday service with the mentality that it's gonna be just another normal ACCESS/Sunday service. You know, the ones that aren't New Encounter, Easter, or Mission Sunday. However, today I realized that if you think about it, there's nothing normal about these days EVER. Think about it, the supreme ruler and creator of the universe is going to hang out with us for a couple hours. A three-O God (omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent) is going to send His Spirit down to us and his presence is going to saturate us. He's going to make His presence with us, on earth.

How is that normal in any way? It encouraged me to be excited for every ACCESS, MP, prayer gathering, Sunday service, etc. Isn't that amazing?

2. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." I admit that a significant reason for this is that there are people who are just unaware that the harvest is overflowing and people who don't know Jesus. However, looking at my life, I've realized that many times, the workers know that the harvest is plenty, but they just don't want to work. We just don't want to get down and dirty, nor do we want to sweat and work hard, and we don't feel the need to attend to the fields.

Maybe we should focus on getting the workers that we do have to actually go do work, instead of standing around idly. They say the campus is our mission field. Even today, with all of the people who were actually receptive about the Day of No Freedom, just reminded me that if we could just be better witnesses, there would be floods of people coming to know Christ. It's just a shame that I don't put my hands to the plow and go work. It's a shame that my actions show that I don't really belive in a God who will help me be strong and courageous.

So who's up for some cold evangelism/building relationships with strangers?

3. The first line of "Lifesong" may be one of my most favorite lines ever. I might have already shared, but since it's my favorite, it can be shared again: "Empty hands held high, such small sacrifice. If not joined with my life, I sing in vain tonight." What a great reminder that if my life and my words/thoughts don't match, it's all in vain. It's just another reminder that coming to church and lifting up our hands and our voices is such a small sacrifice compared to what Jesus wants from our lives.

It reminds me that worship songs are not just songs. If we really wanted to sing that badly, we could just go NRB! But I have to remember, that these songs are worship and praise that we are lifting up to our God. Not just empty words, but words that encompass our experiences and emotions that we've experienced in our relationship with Him.

Yeah. I love that line.

overnOUT