July 11, 2008

 

Let’s continue today in the Psalms. Read with me Psalm 2:1-12, “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.’ I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten you. Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear,  And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”

Now let’s make it personal. I will put my name in for my personal application and you insert yours in the same places, “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.’ I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Greg Manuel, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten you. Ask of Me, and I will give you, Greg Manuel, the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear,  And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed is Greg Manuel who has put his trust in Him.”

Make this Psalm your personal affirmation today.

July 10, 2008

The Bible give us clear direction and instruction for our lives. I love to read Psalm 1:1-6, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

Now let’s make it personal. I will put my name in for my personal application and you insert yours in the same places, “Greg Manuel is a blessed man because he does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But Greg Manuel’s delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. Greg Manuel is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever Greg Manuel does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

Make this your personal affirmation today.

April 6, 2008

A Revelation of True Worship

 

There is a diverse selection of thoughts, teachings, doctrines, and “How-To” manuals that are available to us in our modern culture of Christianity that relate to the subject of worship. A few days ago I spent quite a bit of time just browsing a local Christian bookstore and I came to an overwhelming conclusion; somebody knows just enough about something to make you think you know nothing about everything! Every imaginable angle you can conceive has been explored in the subject of Worship. What could possibly be revealed that could serve to enlighten us with a deeper understanding of our worship? I mean, as I looked at all of the four-color book covers, and the complete workbook kits that would guide me to what worship was really meant to be, I had to read them all, at once, without pause, just in case I was missing something about God and His desire regarding worship!

 

I found the same setting I was experiencing in the book of Acts (Acts 17:22-29). Paul was on his evangelistic journey through city after city spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Fresh from the Damascus Road conversion, and of course that little “Jerusalem Council” thing over circumcision, and oh yeah, the contest of wills between the preachers about the validity of an assistant named John Mark, Paul comes to the city of Athens. What he finds has an amazing resemblance to what we witness in our church culture of today. This whole picture hit me really hard. After my repentance, I wanted to share it with you.

 

As Paul walks through Athens he makes note of the hundreds of individual altars and designated places of worship to perceived deities. His words, “as I passed by and beheld you devotions,” indicate the religious manner in which the Athenians engaged in worship. One altar that epitomized their worship desire more than any other was inscribed with the title, “To the Unknown God!” This was the opening object lesson of Paul’s preaching to them, “the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.” Is it possible for you and I to be in the same mindset regarding worship as the Greeks of Paul’s day? Do we worship the act of worship? Can we erect altars of worship to a God we do not know?

 

In proclaiming the “Unknown God” to the crowd on Mars Hill that day Paul reveals what true worship really is. First, God made the world and everything in it, so He does not dwell in Temples made with hands. Second, neither is He worshipped with man’s hands as if He needed anything. Third, everyone came from the same blood and functions within the boundaries God set. Fourth, the reason God made the world, put man here, and allows to exist is that we seek Him and feel after Him because He is close to each of us. Finally, the Revelation of True Worship is, “in Him we live and move and have our being.” Worship is meant to be result of God’s creation seeking His heart for His desire. A Revelation of True Worship is not found in what we do, but rather in why we live!

April 5, 2008

The Lost Innocence of Worship 

As children we have the luxury of enjoying a realm of imagination that is only limited by our ability to think. The beautiful part to me personally about the exploits of my childhood is simply that I could be whatever I wanted to be without the restraints of reality. I did not just play with cars and trucks, I was any car or truck I wanted to be. This wonderful process is allowed before the cultures of our environment place us in the death grip of their expectations and introduces us to the limitation of cynicism. But that of course is another subject altogether, for another day.

 

One of my all-time favorite pastimes in the imaginarium of my childhood was playing war! I am sure my parents had to have invested a minimum of a million dollars in those intricately detailed, little plastic army men. There were not enough hours in the day to adequately explore the innumerable possibilities that one could contemplate in a bag of one hundred, olive green, single posed, plastic army men. And if you could afford the sheer pleasure found in a piece of the plastic mechanized infantry, that combination could keep a child awake all night!

 

The terrain made no difference. Outside, inside, on the ground, in a tree, the bedroom, the bathtub, in a house, with a mouse, with Sam I am, with green eggs and ham, you get the picture! My personal choice as I remember it was as far back under our house as I could possible get. I realize now this was a simple defense ploy for me adapted out of the demonic terror my younger brother was to a meticulously groomed battlefield. What had taken most of the day to construct; he could destruct in mere seconds! Let me pause here and weep for the innocence of a childhood lost that was much to brief, and far to long gone.

 

I am realizing this morning, the transition we supposedly make from imagination to reality in an effort to become adults never really happens, its just that the size of our imaginations increases so drastically, and the cost associated with those imaginations become so enormous that we hide them deep within our real worlds out of fear. It is my firm belief that one of the most obvious places we mirror this behavior is in our worship.

 

Watch children worship. What do you notice? I remember one of my own children coming out his room and relaying to me in the most casual manner, “God just came by and said He loved me!” You would never have convinced him it did not happen. Are there are some things God spoke to you in the innocence of your spiritual childhood? You know, back before you came to the understanding of was considered by your peers to be acceptable forms of worship. If you lose the innocence of worship, you trade the wonder of God for the regiment of life’s realities. Oh yeah, by the way, those places you imagined as a child, where did you get that ability to transcend reality and enjoy the pleasure and mystery of what you could not see? I think you know!

April 4, 2008

Today is my 27th Wedding Anniversary with my beautiful wife Marvelle. This woman has consistently loved me for the majority of my life. I have spent more time with her than any other human being on the face of the earth. She has given me two amazing sons, individual and unique, both in their own right, men of character, integrity and honor. She has given me a restoration of hope in humanity in the beautiful face of my daughter. The best of everything I am is within the compassionate heart of my daughter. As I look around my world today, her fingerprints are everywhere. I am blessed and thankful to have this love of the amazing woman I am honored to call my wife.

For almost three decades I have witnessed this woman live a life of worship and submission unto the God she loves above all. If ever I have met a true Christian, it is Marvelle. If she is your friend, you will know no greater friendship than the one she shares with you. If she is your prayer partner, you will never go deeper into the heart of God than she can lead you. If she is your healer, you will never be nearer to the source of health than when she ministers to you. If you are lucky enough to have shared an in-depth conversation with her, you have witnessed the love of Chirst. If you were unfortunate enough to have to keep pace with her in a work environment, you are probably still trying to recover! Marvelle has taught me, helped me, forgiven me, blessed me, believed in me, committed to me, submitted to me, and in its purest form, loved me.

I love you Marvelle for being who you are in my failures and successes. We both know there have been many more failures than successes. Through every season of our lives you have made me feel as if my existence was enough for you. I have never had a single doubt about your love for me, even when I doubted mine for you. The Mother you have been, and continue to be to our children is truly a gift that only you could have given me. I am grateful for your tireless giving, even when I tried to convince you there was nothing left to give. Somehow you always find a way to heal me. I am the man I am because you love me.

The twenty calls each day on my cell phone-love them! The advent of your cell phone ”text” life-Love it! The sincere questions regarding a decision between the two dollar and five dollar pair of shoes-love them! The way you draw a bath tub full of only hot water, then scream when you step into it-love it! The death you die every day until you get desserts-Love it! The loyalty you give your friends -Love it! When you want to trade cars with me because your car is low on gas-Love it! When you pump five dollars worth of gas in your car until you can get me to fill it up-Love it! For actually running out of gas trying to find me to get you gas-Love it! Opening one hundred browsers on your laptop and then pushing it away in frustration when it does not respond as quick as you think it should-Love it! Fainting at hospitals with the utmost class and descretion-Love it! Never wanting to eat a meal without checking on the kids first-Love it! Never wanting to eat a meal alone-Love it! For believing every night I was actually looking forward to rubbing your back-Love it! The way you love my Mother-Love it!  For giving up the Weather Channel during our 21 Day Fast-Love it! For making the term “Grandmother To Be” look so hot-Love it! And, for being the most stable place in my world-I love you, Marvelle! Happy 27th Wedding Anniversary!

April 3, 2008

The Sacrifice of Worship 

One word can paint a thousand pictures. When we hear the word, “sacrifice,” the images are innumerable. Sacrifice does not have the same value for everyone. It’s not like the word Birthday! Everyone has the same definition of Birthday; duh, the day you were born! The word sacrifice is always defined through the relevance of the individual that hears it, and is almost always associated with personal cost.

 

When God speaks to Abraham in Genesis 22, He does not leave what He is asking for open to Abraham’s perspective. God makes it very clear, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love…and offer him there as a burnt offering.” Because Abraham has had a prior experience with God regarding sacrifices (Genesis 15) there is no doubt in his mind what God is asking. Watch the words God uses as he speaks to Abraham; take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love. It must have echoed with the same dull reality of hearing the Doctor say to my wife and I, “Your son Tyler will never live through the night.” There are some things God will say to you for which no amount of faith or trust will provide adequate preparation. It is in that initial moment of truthful despair, that an individual determines the Sacrifice of Worship.

 

Abraham’s actions from the moment God spoke to him reveal the level of sacrifice, and the intent of worship. He clearly tells those in his company, “The lad and I will go yonder to worship.” The Sacrifice of Worship is not found in the method you employ to offer God what you desire, it is rather the determination to bring God what He is asking for, in the manner in which He is requesting. We can term what we do in oblation to God as worship until we are exhausted from the exertion, but it will never be worship until God declares it to be so!

 

I have discovered in my own life that the Sacrifice of Worship will always include several key elements that separate it unto God. God will always provide the object He desires to receive in sacrifice. You will never have to guess what God is asking for. His requests will come from the resource of His blessing into your life. He will not ask for what He has not already given you! There will also be a season of separation in which you and the sacrifice will journey together to an altar of God’s choosing. He will show you when and where out of the solitude of a lonely path. The Sacrifice of Worship will also include a climb of structured obedience. Simple divine commands built one upon the other in a succession of obedience. Every step of obedience will elevate you into the next dimension of God’s purpose for requesting the sacrifice from you. That process will be counted to you as Righteousness.

 

The Sacrifice of Worship is simply your obedience to what God is requesting. Remember, it’s not worship until God says it is!

April 2, 2008

The Restoration of Worship 

Here’s a quick Bible history of what I want to talk to you about. This introductory synopsis is to ease those diseased with the gift of suspicion, and to of course tout my ability as a noteworthy scholar of spiritual antiquities. Don’t even look at me like that, and do not make me write a sentence that will require three dictionaries, a thesaurus, and a forty-minute World Wide Web search to understand! Just walk with me for a moment.

 

If something is going to be restored, the first fact that has to be established is; what was the original state of the entity being selected for restoration? The second factor is to what degree is the restoration to be recognized as complete. There were very distinct laws concerning restoration given in the Bible. Exodus 22, gives the decree that stolen sheep are to be restored at a ration of 4 to 1, and 5 to 1 for oxen, and applied to stolen livestock that had been killed or sold. If the livestock was found alive it must be restored doubled. Proverbs 6:31, declares that a thief caught in the act of stealing must restore the stolen good sevenfold.

 

What was the original state of Worship? Isaiah 14, shows a window into the conflict that allowed the fall of Lucifer. In this text Lucifer makes known his intention to; ascend into heaven, exalt his throne above the stars of God, sit upon the mount of the congregation, ascend above the heights of the clouds, and be like the most High! Lucifer’s perspective on God’s position must be attributed to a first hand knowledge. Jesus reviews the fall of Lucifer in Luke 10:18, “I beheld Satan fall as lightening from heaven. The scope of all perspectives focus on worship!

 

Lucifer was the Worship Leader of Heaven! The original state of worship was one of perfect pitch and beauty. Ezekiel 28:12-13, shows Lucifer as the most beautiful creature made by the hands of God. Ezekiel saw him as, “full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” According to this same text Lucifer was created a living worship instrument; “the workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was perfected on the day you were created.” As he moved, the very movement of Lucifer would create beautiful harmonies of sound in woodwind tones, accented with cymbals and bells. The original state of worship was that of a living, moving, harmony producing being that glorified God by its very existence. Ezekiel also make this distinction, “you were the anointed cherub that covered,” signifying his close association to God Himself. Lucifer wanted to be the object of worship. He is still trying to attain that position in Luke 4:7, when he tempts Jesus to, “worship me and all shall be thine.”

 

For you and I to restore worship to it’s original state is to become living and moving beings that produce worship by our very existence. And remember, the lowest level of Biblical restoration was always at least twice. When you worship with your life, you are at least twice as powerful as Lucifer ever was!

April 1, 2008

The Heart of Worship 

The heart is an amazing mechanism. It is the central core of what makes our bodies function. The heart is defined as a muscle that pumps the blood through a serious of various sized veins and arteries allowing it to service the entire body. There are internal organs you can function without. But, nothing in your body can survive without blood, and blood cannot flow without being pumped through a distribution system that is powered by a heart.

When it became necessary for my Father to undergo heart surgery several years ago it was amazing to me what was involved in replacing a valve, and bypassing several arteries that were no longer functional. The doctors were extremely kind in trying to explain the process in simple terms that we could understand. I think the one thing that remains more clear to me than anything else the doctors said was this, “This is a very serious, possibly fatal task. Anytime you open the heart, best case scenario, you are risking everything.” There was no question in our minds as to the seriousness of the operation. Because his heart would have to be completely stopped there was no guarantee that the doctors could actually get a sustained heart rhythm started again. The risks were enormous but without it my Father had a 100% prognosis of eminent death. Some decisions become so desperate that the risks are outweighed by the fact that there are no other options.

In a spiritual sense, as we seek to understand the structure and functions of the Body of Christ, I believe the central mechanism, or the heart, is in fact worship. Worship is the single action that sustains on a continual basis all other endeavors of the Christian walk and life. The first commandment given to Moses in Exodus 20 determines the priority of worship, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Worship is the heart of our spiritual quest to know and understand God. The term idolatry exists solely as the all-encompassing alternative to worshipping anything other than God!

At the risk of being stereotyped and labeled I want to open the heart of worship. Some decisions become so desperate that the risks are outweighed by the fact that there are no other options. I believe worship is that important and stands alone in a list of what must be engaged for our spiritual life. There is something vitally wrong with Christianity and to correct it we need spiritual open-heart surgery.

We are given the surgical tools we need in Hebrews 4:12. ” the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Let’s allow the word of God to cut away and by-pass everything that is congesting our spiritual heart. 

 Psalms 27:4 gives us the primary heart of worship, “One thing have I desired of the Lord…that I may dwell in the House of the Lord…to behold His beauty. This is the heart of worship.

March 27, 2008

I was sitting in my home this afternoon and I was startled by something so deafening it jolted me. It wasn’t an actual sound; it was the absence of it entirely! Our three children are now gone more than they are home. Two are grown and a third is in High School. This afternoon I was saddened by the loss of something I used to think would be the demise of my hearing. The house was quiet, too quiet. I suddenly missed the piercing decibel of tones that was once our home. The loud, overbearing sound of our children living out loud.

This time of year in Tennessee is especially endearing with the entrance of Spring. Spring brings gorgeous days that start with a jacket to block the nippy mornings, but is soon replaced by the sheer joy of the warmth the sun brings by noon. As I was thinking about the silence, I was also wondering if the kids had their coats. They would be needing their coats as the sun goes down again. That is when I realized, we have been putting coats on them for the past twenty years and it is no longer our responsibility. Our children must now choose their own coats. My question for you today is this, “Whose coat are you wearing, and what does it represent?”

So often in our lives we are forced to wear the garments that others put on us for their own comfort. Sounds strange doesn’t it? We wear attitudes, beliefs and convictions so others can be comfortable around us. What boundaries have you been forced to live in?

There is a blind man’s story told in the Gospel of Mark. His name was Bartemaeus. He was sitting by the roadside begging for any token of survival someone else would bestow upon him. How long do you intend to stay quietly on the side of life’s highway, letting everything pass you by because society has limits for you? Bart begins to cry out when he hears Jesus is near. Jesus is the only hope he has to be viewed outside of the station life has sequestered him in. Today, Jesus is the only hope you have for freedom from the chains everyone else has become accustomed to seeing you bound with! Watch the crowd hold their finger to their lips and “shshsh” the blind man! Bart’s response was to scream louder! At some point in your desperation you will lose your fear of people and do whatever you have to in an all out effort to be set free.

Lay aside the weight that you bear for others. Do what Bart did in Mark 10: 50, “And he (Blind Bartemaeus), casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.” It may have looked as if he just dropped his coat, but if you have ever had to wear the weight of something you could not change you completely understand why he “cast it off.” When you have had enough you will cast off the beggars coat. Bart tears the beggars coat off because he knows deep within he will never need to beg again after he gets to Jesus. A blind becomes a whole man and walks away, leaving a coat he was never meant to wear lying in the dust. It brings me to what I wanted to ask you, “May I take your coat please?”

Let it go! Isaiah 61:3 promises you that God has sent Jesus, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” God has a coat of worship and praise to replace your garment of heaviness. Even Jesus gave up his coat in John 19:23, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.”

You have no idea how free you will be until you take the leap of faith to cry out to Jesus, leave your beggar’s coat lying in the dust of yesterday, and walk away with a vision you have never known. I am praying for you to have that kind of courage today.

March 26, 2008

There are many wonderful events I can recall from the childhood I spent in the rural areas of my early development. Actually, we lived so far back in the woods we did not experience the sunrise until noon! Anyway, what I was trying to share with you was the country school phenomenon known as the “Science Fair.” I know you have probably heard of Science Fairs before, but I am quite sure those were worlds away from the dark and sinister, completely humorous event we called, “The Science Fair.”

 

You could count of the usual six-dozen, Baking Soda and Sprite spewing Volcanoes, and of course the stillborn collection of farm animals exhibited in one-gallon glass containers filled with formaldehyde. And who could forget the twenty-one stages of an unborn chicken, from the egg to the chick, displayed in actual form through the visual enhancement of a Gerber Baby Food Jar! See what I mean! Our Science Fair was a little different. What I remember the most about it, beyond the wild array of subjects and objects was this; you were graded and awarded on presentation, not on quality of content!

 

How is your presentation coming? You know, that whole - Worship as a lifestyle - thing? Let me help you understand something about the way your worship is graded. You will be awarded on presentation, not quality of content!

 

Romans 12:1, gives us the requirement, “Present you bodies a living sacrifice, holy and accept able to God, which is your reasonable service.” I want you to know that you have been given a 100%, failsafe, proven beyond all doubt, formula for success when it comes to your presentation of worship to God. All He is asking for is who you are! The only way you can fail to receive the “First Prize” in your worship to God is to withhold who you are from Him.

 

Look at this incredible scene with me from John 4. In the heat of the day, around noon, Jesus sits alone by a well. A woman comes to the well and Jesus first statement to her was a request, “Give me a drink.” We learn later in the text that she is an outcast breed, coming to the well ay an odd time to avoid social confrontation, because she is a five-time divorcee, and is currently in a relationship that has no requirements attached to it. Now hear Jesus opening request, “Give me a drink.” Jesus is not interested in what she is. He is not concerned with what she has done. There is no qualifier to determine the level of her worthiness. Jesus wants who she is! He is asking her to make a presentation to Him of who she is!

 

You can hear her shock, “Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus reply is simple, “I really want to give you drink of everlasting life.” The woman observes, “You have nothing to draw the water with.” Jesus looks at her and makes it clear, “You are the vessel I will use and what I give you will be a well of living water, springing up from within.”

 

What God wants in a Presentation of Worship is you, as you are, where you are!