Know-Love-Obey God

“Worship Christ, the newborn King!”

I had spent the past decade or so—more than 25% of my life and about 50% of my Christian life—immersed in music ministry (or “worship team”). Worshipping God with voice and instrument had been my driving passion, not only on Sunday mornings with the congregation but all the time.
I sang [...]

Bonnie asked, “How do you hear from God?” Sometimes I hear from Him via low-budget flicks. Low-budget because I am both producer and director, the screen is somewhere in my head, and the theater is the living room floor as I lay belly-down on the gray carpet. The film playing on my [...]

An hour spent in worship—
or a day, or a lifetime—
is an hour, a day, a life
well spent.
In remembering, first:
worship
In praying, first:
worship
In me, not only first
but all and always:
Worship the Lord! Worship!
Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.
(Psalm 147:1)

(In consideration of Matthew 5:23-24, and in preparation for a worship conference I’m praying for and attending this weekend.)
It has happened in the past
that I have caused pain
or offense with
my words
or lack of words
or the way I have spoken
or . . . ?
Yet I was ignorant
of the deed.
You whom I have called
friend, have I
caused you
pain?
Have [...]

It has been a long-standing, deep-seated prayer. The prayer is for my sons, and I ask, “Father, may they grow to worship and love you all their days.”
He’s playing “O Worship the King,” and I do.
As I worship, I witness these beginnings, perhaps a prelude to his lifetime of worshipping the King. I [...]

The little mountain town
hill behind Horsefly Road
where a white trail horse took me
(they named him Chalk)
seems as recent as the gravel
driveway and the tennis balls
Grandpa throws for his yellow lab,
Molly Brown.
But Grandma’s country
voice told us, up on their side
of that hill, we could turn over
rocks and shale, and maybe we’d find
a fossil.
And I know the [...]

Our sons’ great-aunt brought back a souvenir from her Argentina vacation several years ago: a pair of felt-tipped mallets and a pair of gourds fashioned into drums by a pair of Argentinian hands. This eventually became part of the magic on our Easter morning last week.
With half an hour to spare before driving to [...]

God takes His place
on a throne
as we praise Him.
Our praises create
a seating place
for His Majesty.
Worship is
a throne we speak
and sing,
and He is clearly
our King.
Yet Thou art holy,
O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
(Psalm 22:3)

Marriage strengthens in the refining, and we were in one of those crucible times. The way to a deeper love and stronger marriage was not to walk around the fire but through it, and we did so. We were “open and honest with one another in an attitude of love and humility” (quoted [...]

“Glorious, now, behold Him arise!
King and God and Sacrifice!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”
We hear it every Christmas—praises, singing, lifting up His holy name.
WORSHIP.
“O Come let us adore Him,
Christ, the Lord!”
From blended voices in the choir loft, beautiful music reaches every corner of the sanctuary and halls. During Christmas in particular, the celebration seems incomplete without worshipful [...]