Weekend Reflections

It is a joy to celebrate the presence of God whether we are alone in our times of prayer and meditation or whether we are gathered in a corporate setting of a public worship service. Either way I enjoy singing praises to my Lord and Savior. I am convinced that a major portion of the family of God feel the same way because I have been in corporate venues with many of you who read this blog on a consistent basis. The Psalms are full of admonitions about the need of praise and thanksgiving flowing from the hearts of the family of God. "Oh, that men would praise God for His goodness..."

I would like to share a portion of a message that I shared a few weeks ago at New River Worship Center in Radcliff, Kentucky. I could sense the urgency of the day and time in which we are living as I prepared to share the Word that morning. We must not be conformed to the status quo but we must allow the Spirit to continue the work of transformation in our individual lives. Would you take a moment and read these thoughts that I shared as I preached from the Word of God that morning?

"I am constantly amazed at the amount of cultural pressure that the attitude and influence of our culture has upon the family of God.  The attitude of our culture desires for us to believe that we can have an attitude of celebration, freedom of expression, enthusiasm, excitement, whole-hearted participation, and do this without embarrassment at various sporting and entertainment venues (adult men & women have been known to put on costumes and even paint portions of their bodies to support their favorite team).  It is culturally acceptable to participate in the activity of demonstrative praise in many venues OTHER THAN IN THE HOUSE OF GOD!!!  We face the challenge of whether or not that we are going to accept or believe that theory when it interferes with our seeking of more of the presence of God in our lives.   Hopefully, I will not be accused of supporting emotion just for the sake of emotion.   That is very far from the true cry of my heart; I am simply presenting and promoting the fact that this generation of believers (you & I who are present today regardless of our age) need to be open to and hungry for all that God has planned for our lives. I am not calling for the expression of emotion just for the sake of expressing emotion BUT I am calling for each of us to be open to the presence of God and for us to hunger for more of God in our lives.    The Word of God still declares that “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”" Matthew 5:6 (NKJV)