worship

“The Blessing” – 2020’s unofficial anthem

June 16, 2020 by Paul Ellis

The Blessing Phenomenon may be the best thing that’s happened in a bad year. It has brought comfort to millions and unity to the church – just when we needed it. What is “The Blessing”? It’s a worship song with lyrics straight out of the Bible. You may have seen versions of this song on social media. It’s everywhere. Like a spark from heaven, this song has ignited a spiritual fire that is sweeping across the world. A fire is lit On March 6, 2020, “The Blessing” was first released as a live music video on YouTube by Elevation Music. The song was an instant hit among Christians everywhere. Within weeks, numerous cover versions had been uploaded by groups in New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, South Korea, the United States and elsewhere. Church choirs and children’s choirs did covers. At the same time, many foreign language versions of “The Blessing” began to appear. As far as I can tell, a Hebrew version was first. This was quickly followed by versions in French, Spanish, German, Mongolian, Dutch, Haitian Creole, Italian, Mandarin, Tamil, and Swedish. (You can find the links below.) Several versions of “The Blessing” have also been released in American [...]

Make Room for ‘God Moments’ in Your Day

December 8, 2016 by Dudley Hall

The team I was playing on had just won a highly contested game. The fans were celebrating, along with most of the players. I found myself instead doing what I usually do to retain my calm and control: I immediately focused on the next game.

It is good to be prepared for the future, and it is true that some people get so caught up emotionally in the present they aren't ready for what comes next, but that has never been my tendency. Not too high and not too low! That has been my emotional mantra for most of my life.

It makes for calm approach, but it can be a thief.

God Moments

Yesterday I was in the middle of my regular afternoon walk. It was a little late and I knew I had to hurry to finish before dark. Then my eyes caught a glimpse of a magnificent maple tree in fluorescent yellow fall foliage. Highlighted by the setting sun, its brilliance begged for homage. I spoke out loud to no one in particular, "That is beautiful." My next thought was, "but I must hurry. There is no time to stop" - just like I hadn't taken time to stop and celebrate after the game.

This time, though, I chose against my tendency to move on without appreciating the moment. I stopped long enough to give thanks to God for beauty, and for the ability to recognize it.

It was a God moment. I have missed too many of those.

Too Much Stimulus, Too Much Hurry

Our culture pushes us toward hurry. We are always moving on. We suffer from stimulus overload. We see so much, and experience such dramatic phenomena, we become dull to the moments when we could stop in time and experience the transcendent.

Our hurrying habits have led many to claim that God doesn't speak or reveal Himself in our era. Others complain that life is dull and boring; they suspect that God has forsaken them. The truth is that there are God moments built into every day. The same One who created the universe with its many marvels is very concerned that we enjoy what he has provided. He enjoys our joy!

Make Room for God Moments

The holiday season in particular can overload us with stimuli. I encourage you to expect the divine encounters and embrace them. Take time to worship. You don't necessarily need to go to a church structure to meet the divine when you recognize you're already in the great cathedral of his creation, and when you realize that through the grace of the incarnation, God is present and ready to be worshipped.

Make sure your calendar makes room for many God moments. They open doors for light and life to enter your world.

Holding It All Together

November 12, 2015 by Dudley Hall

God Holding the World in His Hands - 900

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

For those of us growing up with a picture of Jesus the shepherd holding a little lamb, it is challenging to view him as cosmic as the scriptures present him. It is vital that we recognize him as the Son of God who became man and dwelt among us, but he was before that. His majesty is portrayed in everything that exists. He was and is eternal and transcendent. Everything was created for him -- to glorify him -- to display him. Everything is moving toward a time when every eye shall see that everything is summed up in him. He is the purpose of creation. He is the agent of creation. He is the sustainer of creation. He is the redeemer of creation. All the thoughts of the Godhead are made manifest in him.

Sadly, most of us are blind to his glory. We can only see a world where mankind is the center. We worry that mankind is destroying creation without any thought to who finally makes final decisions about his realm. People spend tons of wasted time and energy worrying about the conspiracies that are under the control of evil, thinking that evil will decide what happens to God's creation. They should check with the one whose word holds it together.

Holding it all together

It is true that creation works better when mankind cooperates with his design. When we try to alter the way he instructs in managing it, things go awry. But, we should make no mistake that he will bring things to pass in the right time to fulfill his purpose for all of creation. That means that our first priority is to know and love him. Nothing is more serious or more urgent. When we know the one who created it all and who now holds it together, we have great hope. Without that, we are at the mercy of blind men and evil forces.

Look to him!