corporate worship & football games

A much wiser worship pastor than me once told me that the spirit of each Christian throughout the week should be one that eagerly anticipates and looks forward to coming together on Sunday for corporate worship, and that it’s not unlike rooting for your favorite football team. How so, you may ask?

Throughout the week you’re thinking about the upcoming game, thinking about how much you love your team, looking at articles and statistics about your team, and hoping (sometimes even praying) that your team will look great on game day, and then when game day comes, a bunch of people come together to root for and praise and love their team together, excited to do so every time.

Sadly, many of us in our culture get far more excited about something as trivial and unimportant as a football game then we do about coming together to worship God corporately. None of us who are believers would ever say that anything is more important than God, but we often betray what we really believe by how we act.

May we always seek, by God’s grace, to 1) be more excited about worship and making much of our Christ than anything else, and 2) to let it be obvious by how we prepare for corporate worship and then come to worship together.

Twitter’s effectiveness?

Mashable recently released some statistics that some social media analysts came up with after looking at 1.2 billion tweets over the course of 2 months:

• 71% of all tweets produce no replies or retweets
• 6% of all tweets produce a retweet
• 23% produce replies
• 85% of all the tweets that produce a reply, only get a single reply.
• 10.7% of all tweets that generate a reply see a reply to the original reply.
• 1.53% of these conversations go three levels deep (meaning there’s a reply, a reply to the reply, and a reply to the reply of the reply).

Mashable concludes, “Twitter may not be as conversational as we think.” Thoughts?

BTW, you can follow me at Twitter.com/MLaCava.

HT: 22 Words

God is always at work

Several things I’ve observed in Isaiah 45:

1) God was at work in and through Cyrus to bring attention to Himself.

I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by name. (2-3)

2) God has been, is, and will be at work in every single thing that takes place, to glorify Himself.

I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things. (5-7)

3) To argue with the Sovereign God or call into question His working, even if it doesn’t make human sense, is ridiculous.

Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman ‘With what are you in labor?’ Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: ‘Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands? I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. (9-12)

4) God brings salvation to those who believe and judgement to those who do not believe for His own glory.

By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him. In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory. (23-25)

How would Solomon use Facebook?

We may never know for sure, but here are Tim Challies‘ thoughts on how the book of Proverbs relates to our massive social media intake and output today. They’re good thoughts; be challenged by them.

Calvin on Corporate Worship

From his “Institutes of the Christian Religion”

[The Master] did not will in outward discipline and ceremonies to prescribe in detail what we ought to do (because he foresaw that this depended on the state of the times, and he did not deem one form suitable for all ages) . . . . Because he has taught nothing specifically, and because these things are not necessary to salvation, and for the upbuilding of the church ought to be variously accommodated to the customs of each nation and age, it will be fitting (as the advantage of the church will require) to change and abrogate traditional practices and to establish new ones. Indeed, I admit that we ought not to charge into innovation rashly, suddenly, for insufficient cause. But love will best judge what may hurt or edify; and if we let love be our guide, we will be safe.

HT: Jon Deedrick

ESV Study Bible for iPhone and iPad

Crossway has just released the ESV Study Bible app for the iPhone and iPad. You can find it in the app store. According to ESV Bible blog, the price is $9.99 for the next 48 hours only. After that, the price will go up to $14.99. Check it out!

D.A. Carson on worship

I recently began reading “Worship by the Book“, edited by D.A. Carson, with Mark Ashton, R. Kent Hughes, and Timothy J. Keller. I’m 33 pages into it, and what a challenge and encouragement it has been already. I’d like to simply quote various sections of pages 30-32.

(A little background to set up the quote: Carson is at this point exegeting his own definition of worship, which is, to say the least, long. So, as the quote below begins, we’re picking up where he begins exegeting that particular phrase of his definition of worship.)

We worship our Creator-God “precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so.” What ought to make worship delightful to us is not, in the first instance, its novelty or its aesthetic beauty, but its object: God himself is delightfully wonderful, and we learn to delight in him. (30)

In an age increasingly suspicious of (linear) thought, there is much more respect for the “feeling” of things – whether a film or a church service. It is disturbingly easy to plot surveys of people, especially young people, drifting from a church of excellent preaching and teaching to one with excellent music because, it is alleged, there is “better worship” there. But we need to think carefully about this matter. Let us restrict ourselves for the moment to corporate worship. Although there are things that can be done to enhance corporate worship, there is a profound sense in which excellent worship cannot be attained merely by pursuing excellent worship. In the same way that, according to Jesus, you cannot find yourself until you lose yourself, so also you cannot find excellent corporate until you stop trying to find excellent corporate worship and pursue God himself. Despite the protestations, one sometimes wonders if we are beginning to worship worship rather than worship God. As a brother put it to me, it’s a bit like those who begin by admiring the sunset and soon begin to admire themselves admiring the sunset. (31)

This point is acknowledged in a praise chorus like “Let’s forget about ourselves, and magnify the Lord, and worship him.” The trouble is that after you have sung this repetitious chorus three or four times, you are no farther ahead. The way you forget about yourself by focusing on God – not by singing about doing it, but by doing it. There are far too few choruses and services and sermons that expand our vision of God – his attributes, his works, his character, his words. Some think that corporate worship is good because it is lively where is had been dull. But it may also be shallow where it is lively, leaving people dissatisfied and restless in a few months’ time. Sheep lie down when they are well fed (cf. Ps 23:2); they are more likely to be restless when they are hungry. “Feed my sheep”, Jesus commanded Peter (John 21); and many sheep are unfed. If you wish to deepen the worship of the people of God, above all deepen their grasp of his ineffable majesty in his person and in all his works. (31)

Pray, then, and work for a massive display of the glory and character and attributes of God. We do not expect the garage mechanic to expatiate on the wonders of his tools; we expect him to fix the car. He must know how to use his tools, but he must not lose sight of the goal. So we dare not focus on the mechanics of corporate worship and lose sight of the goal. We focus on God himself, and thus we become more godly and learn to worship – and collaterally we learn to edify one another, forbear with one another, challenge one another. (32)

What we must strive for is growing knowledge of God and delight in him – not delight in worship per se, but delight in God. (32)

Hopefully this is as much of an encouragement and challenge to you as it was to me.

(For what it’s worth [or f.w.i.w., as he says], my friend Chris Anderson posted thoughts regarding this portion of “Worship by the Book” back in 2006. You can find those helpful thoughts here.)

LaCava update

Some have been asking about how exactly things are going here in CO since we’ve moved here regarding things like where we’ll live, how we’ll have income, etc – small stuff.

As far as where we live, I direct you to the Facebook photo album that I recently posted, where you will see a beautiful place to rent that God has provided.

God has been very gracious to allow Kate and me to have a respectable amount of savings put together. We’re very thankful for that. However, consistent income is important, regardless of how much you have saved. As many of you know, God directed me to co-start and co-own a dental staffing business in Greenville, SC, with Carissa Davis, the wife of the church planting pastor out here, Todd Davis. Carissa is a dental hygienist by trade and I have some experience in recruiting, so we thought it would be a good fit. As of now, we’re on the verge of “opening” for business. Our preparations have taken a good deal longer than we anticipated, but it’s been of God so we’re confident that He’ll continue to work things out for our good and His glory.

Things with the business starting off slower than we anticipated has caused some concern about where income will be coming from once my internship is finished this fall. There is always the possibility of the internship being extended, but we just haven’t had the chance to explore it very much at this point because of the busy time at HBC with different staff transitions. We’ve also got some big ideas about sending out some letters to people asking them to prayerfully consider supporting us for a certain amount of time as the Lord would lead them. And then there’s the CD we’ve put together of the special music Kate and I did at HBC, and we’re working on getting that prepared to be available for those who would want it. The cost would be used only to cover the materials for the CD, and if the person who buys it would want to “donate” something to us, we wouldn’t turn it down.

Kate has also begun exploring what necessary steps she can take even now to prepare to build a private voice studio. The graduate degree she attained this spring makes that much easier, so we’re thankful for that. Also, in connection with the beautiful new house to rent God has provided with us is the fact that the house is actually in the same subdivision as the brand new charter school in Brighton that our church will be meeting in starting at the end of this summer, Lord willing. The principal of the school is a believer, and apparently is all about the arts, so we plan on exploring with him some creative venues for Kate to be able to either teach private lessons at the school, teach occasional music classes, offer voice seminars for the different music classes, or at least advertise her studio at the school. Any or all of those would be a huge blessing. Kate also recently applied for secretarial fill-in work that would be day-to-day, since certainly for the next few weeks, even while pregnant, she is able to do things like that.

More immediate evidence of God’s provision for us, however, was the recent offer by a friend out here who owns his own floor and window cleaning business to give me part time work. God has grown his business considerably, recently, and he asked if I would be interested in getting a decent chunk of hours a week helping him keep up with all the work he has. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity, and have worked with him a couple times now. The amazing thing about it is that I wasn’t even looking for it or praying for part time work right now – God just dropped it in my lap. God is gracious and knows precisely what we need and has been faithful, as always, to provide for us. We’re not sure how many hours I’ll get each week – most likely I’ll be working a lot of Saturdays and some weekday afternoons here and there, but for now, whatever the case, this is a huge blessing. And, Lord willing, within the next month or so, Carissa and I will be able to get the business off the ground, and before long, be able to rely on that income more than anything else.

Our hope and trust is that God will provide for our needs. One of the cool things about this move has been the opportunity to throw ourselves at the mercy of God and His provision for us. He has always provided for us, and promises to continue to do so. We have no reason to worry about our needs, as long as we pursue the Kingdom of God.

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For… your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself. (Mt. 6:31-34)

We both marvel at the fact that He cares for us so intimately and personally, and even goes so far as to give us above and beyond what we need so many times. To Him alone be praise and glory!

Why the move to CO?

Back when Kate and I were dating, and all along the way since then, we’ve discussed how both of us were in some way interested in getting involved in a church plant, particularly in the western part of the U.S. It wasn’t something that either of us were pursuing vigorously, but we both had in our hearts a desire to be open to the Lord’s leading in this regard. Once we got married, we discussed what steps that we took next would best position ourselves to be used by God to lift up Christ in and through us. It seemed clear before long that we should both pursue further education. So, we did that – as of May of 2010, we both have our Master’s degrees. All along the way, though, we were thinking in terms of “strategically” placing ourselves in the position to be able to go and do whatever God would lead us to go and do.

In September of 2008, Kate and I were invited by our new friends Todd and Carissa Davis to join them for dinner. Todd and Carissa were on the verge of moving to plant a church in Brighton, CO with their friends, Ryan and Danielle Fisher, and they had invited the Fishers to dinner as well. It wasn’t long before Kate and I both were getting the sense of a likemindedness and unique fellowship with both the Davises and Fishers that we thought was somewhat rare and exciting. They, of course, were trying to recruit us to join them, but even without their recruiting, Kate and I had a sense of interest in what both couples were planning on doing, and went home thinking seriously about looking into joining them in their church planting efforts. As time went on, we became more acquainted with both couples, grew in our fellowship with one another, and became more and more interested in joining them.

Because of schooling and plans for me to complete a pastoral internship at Heritage Bible Church, our home church, we weren’t able to join them immediately when both couples moved out in the spring of ’09 to officially plant Redeemer Bible Church in Brighton, CO. But, we followed their work and progress pretty closely, and took a “survey” trip out to where they were in July of ’09, along with some other friends from HBC. After that trip, we felt that God was continuing to confirm in our minds that this was quite possibly what He had for us to do. Again, we followed the progress of our friends, and continued to pray that God would direct us and make clear to us what He would have us do.

It seemed clearer and clearer to us that God was directing us to make the move as soon as school was finished. An opportunity to finish the last portion of the HBC internship in CO was approved by the HBC elders, and that seemed a clear indication of God’s leading. We learned that Kate’s insurance from her job would cover us both for 6 months after she quit, so that was hugely encouraging with our baby boy due in August. More than that, though, God was working and directing through instilling in us a desire to join in the Kingdom work in Brighton, a desire to have a close-knit fellowship with the people already out here, a desire to be under the oversight and care of Heritage, and a desire to be involved in a church plant somewhere in the western U.S. We decided to take another trip out here for RBC’s first official public service on Jan. 17, 2010, and while we were here the Lord continued to confirm the work in us that we were seeing. After that particular trip, it became quite evident to us that moving to Brighton, CO to help with Redeemer Bible Church was exactly what God wanted us to do.

There was no flash of lightning, no voice from the heavens, no big emotional high and no visions or dreams. There was simply a desire to do it that God placed in us. I remember when we were preparing to take our first survey trip out here in July ’09, my friend Matthew Hoskinson said to me, “Don’t look for a bolt of lightning or anything like that – just love God and do what you want to do.” This sounds somewhat contrary to what we may ordinarily think about making big life changing plans. “Do what you want to do” is usually bad advice, isn’t it? If my “wanter” is being driven by a desire to love and glorify God and make Him look as big as He is to the world around me, than what I want will be what God wants. So, the “do what you want to do” part is highly dependent on the “love God” part. This is exactly what Kate and I were trying to do in this decision process – love God, and trust Him to make our “wanters” want what He wanted.

So by the end of January 2010 Kate and I began officially planning to make the move in the spring. Honestly, we were planning on it before then, but we felt like God had confirmed what we already knew to be true through our brief trip in January. The rest, of course, is, as we say, history. We have made the move, and we are currently looking for a permanent place to stay while Ryan and Danielle Fisher are graciously allowing us to reside with them until then.

I haven’t answered the question that the title of this post asks, though. Why the move to CO? Why move farther away from friends and family than we’ve ever been before? Why make going back for holidays to see our loved ones at best more inconvenient and at worst downright difficult? Why spend a couple thousand dollars in moving expenses? Why the hassle of packing everything up and risking them being broken on the trek across the nation? Why risk not having steady income for at least a little while? Why live out west where tornadoes are at least more common than they are back east? Why live in a higher cost of living area? The answer to all of those questions, and more, is simple, and it’s an answer that isn’t original with Kate and me. The answer: Jesus is worth it. Jesus is worth seeing family less. Jesus is worth being in the path of a tornado. Jesus is worth having a lower standard of living. Jesus is worth the hassle of packing things up and moving them across the country. Jesus is worth it all. In fact, Jesus said in Luke 14:26,

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

So, if I don’t think that Jesus and His work in me, His church, and His Kingdom, is worth more than my family, friends, possessions, safety, comfort, convenience, and financial “stability” (when are our finances ever really stable?), Jesus says that I cannot be His disciple. What Jesus is saying is that He must be worth more to me than anything else in the world. I’ve heard people say things like, “I just could never move so far away from family” or “I just couldn’t live in an area where there are tornadoes” or “I just couldn’t give up my job and risk not finding another one” or “I just couldn’t bear to be away from all of my friends in this area” or “I just have so much in life I still need to accomplish before I take a risk like _____” or “I just couldn’t_____”. The truth is, some of those things really are difficult. But I have to be willing to do them if that’s how God is leading, because if I’m not, I can’t be a disciple of Jesus.

I don’t say this all to make Kate and me look like people who have arrived at the true understanding of the meaning of the cost of discipleship and are among “The Few, The Proud, The Those Who Have Done the Right Thing.” The truth is, there has been some serious wrestling with some of these things, these risks involved with making this move. And sadly, many times, our reactions to these things have been more carnal than spiritual. But God is gracious, and has worked in us and enabled us to follow His direction. I’ll be honest – there is still some uneasiness and unsettledness at times. There are still unknowns. There are still risks. But we’re thrilled to have a complete confidence that the Father is working to bring fame to His Son, Jesus, through His Spirit’s work in and through us.

Note: for a good book on discerning God’s will, I highly recommend “Just Do Something” by Kevin DeYoung

More helpful thoughts from Dr. Doran

These are three more posts from Dr. Doran this week about fundamentalism and separation, specifically inconsistencies in application.

Does the Line Keep Moving?

Everybody Has Reasons

Without Addition or Subtraction

HT Matthew Hoskinson