Not a Camouflaged Soul

Category: Faith

  • Sunday Letdown? Nah.

    The Internet
    Image by Martin Deutsch via Flickr

    Since the advent of #Sundaysetlist blog posts, where music ministers and leaders submit their setlists from their respective worship services for others to view on Twitter and The Worship Community (review a couple of them here and here), my blog stats on Sundays have rebounded. For a long time, Sunday was my lowest hit day at NoCamo.

    Ironically, when that was the case, I was sorta GLAD my stats were down on Sunday! My readers SHOULD have better things to do on Sunday than to read my blog.

    Low readership on Sunday? No big deal. Unless the Internet breaks or Christ comes back, readers can catch up on Monday if they so desire. Perfectly fine with me.

  • Behind the Curtain 091910

    I am beginning a new series on this blog entitled Behind the Curtain. In it, I intend to give readers a sneak peek into the thought processes I have while preparing for worship at FBC-FH.

    During the offering this past Sunday, we showed a video entitled HONEST CHURCH : recreating the church. To be frank, I didn’t decide to show this video until Saturday evening.

    I knew Pastor Bryan was preaching from 2 Corinthians and what it means to be a minister. I began reflecting on what being a minister actually means. It isn’t a job. It isn’t a hobby. It isn’t something we just show up to do at church. Ministry is a call of God to do a specific task for a specific time in a specific place. ALL believers are called to ministry.

    As I was preparing for Sunday, I saw this particular worship element. I got excited. It was exactly what was needed for that day and time.

    Take a look…

  • What Changed His Mind?

    And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Matthew 27:44 ESV

    Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.  Mark 15:32 ESV

    I read these scriptures the other day. I hadn’t heard this aspect of the Crucifixion story expressed in a while. Both of the thieves that were crucified with Christ railed (or blasphemed) at Him at the outset.

    If you think about it, that makes sense. Think about what rumors they must have heard in prison. Imagine the things they overheard prison guards saying as they talked amongst themselves. And while on the cross, it is hard to imagine the things said about Jesus that the Bible doesn’t record. To be despised as He was, there had to be a cacophony of taunts, insults, and curses hurled at our Lord.

    But then we read the following…

    One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:39-43 ESV

    What changed His mind? We know everything Christ said on the cross, so we know He wasn’t participating in any kind of debate while He suffered. And we know the other thief’s thoughts about Jesus.

    Jamy and I talked about this in the kitchen after I read it. What she said was on the money. She said that, in spite of everything hideous and sub-human that was going on around Him, Christ’s glory was still visible. And the second thief had a heart that was willing to see it. And once He really looked at Jesus, that thief could not help but see who Jesus was: the Son of God.

    When I think of the times I have questioned Christ, it saddens me. All we need to do is to see Him for who He really is, and all our questions are answered. His love and His grace and His mercy are evident, as long as we have eyes to see.