Sunday, November 26, 2017

Praise, vacuum cleaners and bread



Recently, I was in a worship service where the praise was just incredible. I mean, it was not just above average but was a 16 on a scale of 1 - 10.  This worship service put the duper in super duper.

The words and the melodies absolutely pushed me into the heavenlies. I felt full of his Spirit, his love and his peace. I was not afraid of any of life's challenges. Fear had been crowded out in every sense imaginable. An image of a loving, accepting and forgiving father was front and center in my spirit.

I felt a rush of persistent joy which is only brought about by this category of worship, which I might label as 'in the Spirit' worship. Joy permeated everything about me, filling all the inner nooks and crannies that often do not get this kind of light suffused onto it.  If I were a loaf of bread, then joy would be the yeast, affecting virtually every atom in the loaf. Yeast also makes bread rise which is a perfect analogy for what joy does to us in worship.



In this worship service, I felt myself joined to heaven and the particular vision I had was of me being sucked up into heaven by a heavenly vacuum cleaner. Weird vision, huh? Yet the illustration holds in that when things go into a vacuum cleaner, they are transported from one place (usually the floor) to another (usually the bag). The analogy holds true also in that the transport is facilitated by an external power. 

In other words, I was picked up and whooshed to heavenly places. 




But isn't this just a side-benefit of worship and praise? We are lifted, elevated and moved upwards to be joined with the realm of God and his angels. 

The yeast and the vacuum were working overtime in God's kingdom.

I also feel that God shows me things in worship. I have had several very strong realizations and understandings while I was smack-dab in the middle of worship with hands raised, singing in the spirit and so on. Certain truths became clear to me that were not clear in any other context.

For example, I was worshipping in an early morning church service once and had the most vivid vision of God as my merciful Father and this truth permeated to my absolute core. Merciful was driven home again and again to me ... merciful ... not critical, judgmental or placing yoke after yoke on me. Rather a father who placed only life inside me. 

To say this was moving is an understatement. It inwardly flipped me out, in a most wonderful way.

The worship service ended and I left the gathering encouraged, peaceful, happy and unafraid. My day was changed materially. I felt the Spirit of Christ coursing through me. All of this is part of our being transformed into the image of Christ. What a wonderful thing! 


Psalm 150:1 says "Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. ... Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven!"

Hebrews 13:15 says "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise --the fruit of lips that openly profess his name."

Even though the above worship experience occurred in a church service, all of the above magic happens to me when I am alone in my car, at home, really wherever I am. A nice touch when your God happens to be omnipresent, right?

This is what happens to me during praise. Joy, revelation and peace. 

Do you want this for your life also? I do!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Words are ambidextrous

It was a close race for student council president in high school.


The candidates had one last chance to sway votes and it was at an assembly that afternoon.  Each would have ten minutes to persuade the listeners that they were the best choice.

I was in the audience.

The first one made an uneventful speech and sat down.  The second one began his speech with ‘Would everyone please stand up?’

Everyone stood up.


“Now would you sit back down?”

Everyone sat back down.  The auditorium was filled with laughter at this sudden up and down for no apparent reason.

“I have just demonstrated the power my words have … I had the power to make several hundred people do what I wanted just by speaking. You need a student council president with this kind of power.”

He won.

Our words are either airborne physicians or airborne assassins.  What comes out of your mouth can defile, corrupt, tarnish, despoil, sully and taint you. Or your words can heal, restore, rebuild, cure, mend and repair you.


Pray that our hearts give birth to words of light daily, that encircle us always in a constant verbal halo.

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Saturday, November 16, 2013

Teaching Christ what he doesn't know

This is about my friend who refers to his life as a carousel… In order to read this, there are a few verses at the beginning and then my writing is midway… Click on the link below or if that doesn't work copy it into a browser

http://e2.ma/message/3xc4f/bwgg1


Thursday, November 14, 2013

Look back, Jack

Something I wrote about fear today… Here's how to navigate this link, there are a few verses at the beginning and then my writing begins… click on the link below or if that doesn't work copy it into your browser

http://e2.ma/message/7cb4f/bwgg1

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The basketball and the clarinet

Imagine being Michael Jordan - incredible at basketball - yet feeling like you needed to excel at being a clarinet player.  You might go through life shooting a few hoops but you would train, train, train during your clarinet lessons, hoping to be the very best you could be, in order to live up to the expectations of others.

Meanwhile, your natural gift would languish, harpooned by those very expectations.


Carl Rogers is a writer whose writings I love.

By the way, he is the father of modern American psychology (and studied to be a Lutheran minister at one time).

He posits an interesting question for his readers: what is the meaning of life?

As Christians we understand the answer to be obvious but listen to how he answers the question, what is the meaning of life?

"To be that self which one truly is."

I'm sorry but that knocks my socks off and sets my hair on fire simultaneously.

I think it is truth that we Christians need sorely to hear ... no, not just hear but hear and digest.

He goes on to say that 'one is never more strong than when one is fully one's self'.

I think this has powerful ramifications for those wanting an authentic walk in Christ ... not an experience that has a shelf-life of just a few years.  If you achieve authenticity in your life in Christ, you can fully expect to navigate life's mountains and valleys well (notice I said navigate, not avoid) and reach life's end stronger than you started.

You just have to relax into God's natural gifting for your life.

You need to put down the clarinet and start playing basketball again.


If you are a writer, write.

If you are a musician, play.

If you are a businessperson, deal.

If you are a chef, cook.

If you are a speechwriter, write speeches.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  When you embrace who you are in Christ, your light will never show more brightly.  Your organic attributes that God put in your DNA will blaze forth, sending his fragrance everywhere.

In other words, being yourself is godly.

Here's some homework ... consider what I have said then apply it to your life by asking God to show you if there is any truth in it for you.

See you at the game!

(follow me on twitter!  connect with @Blankenthoughts)