Links & Quotes

Psalm 99 lists four different ways saints come to worship before God’s throne. The Old English spelling is “worthship” because God is worth all of the praise we can lift to Him—especially when we think about the sins He has forgiven 🙌🏻

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“True love hates that which is unlovely. It is inevitable that a man, who is full of love, should feel intense indignation against that which is contrary to love. Hence the apostle says, ‘If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.’” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on 1 John 4:18-20 

Christians aren’t supposed to be “lone rangers” but in community with other saints. T.M. Moore wrote, “Our Christian friends can be a very helpful resource for improving our conversational skills, if we will take the time to talk about spiritual things. As iron sharpens iron, we may expect that, by engaging often in conversations with other believers, over matters of the highest moment, our conversational skills will improve steadily over time. We might even have some fun.”

The social conditions that led up to the Prayer Revival of 1857, in many ways, mirror those in America today. Check out a short history lesson about spiritual revivals. 

“And, in yet another sense, handing everything over to Christ does not, of course, mean that you stop trying. To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” —C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity 

A young man in the middle school where I serve asked to read a copy of my book When Sheep Bite. Nearly every day on his lunch break, Nick would come into talk with me about what he read, and share some insights he had gleaned. He wrote the most sincere and straightforward endorsement that I have ever received.

Links & Quotes

Leaders must go first: 

  • Set challenging goals 
  • Share those goals with a friend 
  • Stick with it no matter what—no excuses! 

Check out the full episode “Resilience over Resignation” where Greg and I talk about the resilience of leadership.

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“Expect great things from God: Attempt great things for God.” —William Carey 

“God gave us a self, not so that we would have something to exult in, but something to exult with. He gave us a self, not to be the object of our joy, but the subject of joy. That is, not to be the focus of happiness in front of the mirror or the selfie, but the furnace of happiness in front of Jesus. He gave us a self, not as an instrument of self-worth but as an instrument of worship.” —John Piper

“In reference to this command [Leviticus 19:17], the rabbis teach that if we feel offended by someone, we must go to him, tell him how we feel, give him a chance to explain and possibly apologize, and then forget and forgive.” —Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider  

“Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.” —Jonathan Edwards 

“The struggle itself is not proof that something is wrong with your faith. Rather, it is evidence that something is alive in you that now opposes sin. Before Christ, there was no real fight. Now there is tension, resistance, even grief over sin.” —Dr. Mike Paalz, commenting on Romans 7:14-23 

Seeing The Invisible In The Visible

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. (Hebrews 11:3 NLT) 

Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:3) 

The Latin phrase ex nihilo isn’t quite right. God didn’t create something out of nothing, but He created everything out of Himself. 

“God’s command” (Greek: rhema Theos) = “God said” (Hebrew Elohim amar). 

God is not an artist who mixed His paints to apply them to His canvas. He is not a sculptor who chiseled an image out of a block of marble. Nor is He an artisan who fashioned a lump of clay into a beautiful piece of pottery. 

He created the materials by His breath. The sound of His voice created all of the visible universe. His voice still reverberates through His creation, keeping everything from galaxies to electrons in their proper places. 

“We understand”—perceive with our eyes of faith—that “God said” into existence all that we can see. 

We can see our Creator by studying His creation. The more we marvel at the visible universe, the more we will worship the Creator of the universe. 

Check out two related posts:

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The Change From “Why?” To Worship

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

On this episode of The Podcast, let’s talk about seeing something brighter in the darkest of times. 

Check out all of the Scriptures I reference in this video here. 

You may seem some glimmers of light in your dark place—like Paul did in the Roman prison—but even if you don’t see anything but darkness, make the choice to worship. I need to remind myself that God has a plan for my life and that He is working out all the details for my good and to bring glory to Himself. 

Let’s change our self-focused “Why me?” to God-focused worship as we say, “Thank You, Jesus, that You are using me to build Your kingdom!” 

You may also be interested in:

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Links & Quotes

If you want your heart to be able to perform better, you are going to have to stress it a bit—that’s called exercise. The same thing is true for the heart of leadership—we have to exercise our leadership so that it can rise to the challenge later.

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J. Warner Wallace wrote, “Everyone, whether they realize it or not, is engaged in worship. We all adore something, elevating it above the rest, sometimes so much that we overlook its flaws.” Check out this post about being careful about what we worship.

“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.” —Charles Spurgeon 

“We should avoid end-time hysteria and ‘not grow weary in doing good’ (2 Thessalonians 3:13). There will be good work to do (vocationally and socially and personally) right up to the Lord’s coming. Our normal earthly duties will not end until the Lord appears. The rule then, until he comes, is, ‘Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men’ (Colossians 3:23).” —John Piper 

Greg Morse has a fascinating post connecting the fable of Chicken Little with the historical account of Noah and the imminent return of Jesus. “I hope an acorn falls afresh on our heads as we observe an Old Testament saint who was the Chicken Little of his day. A man who remained awake and faithful with his back against the end of the world: a man named Noah.”

Call It To Mind And Speak It Out

[King David] appointed Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord and to celebrate by calling to mind, thanking and praising the Lord, the God of Israel: … O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known His doings among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His wondrous works and devoutly praise them! … Earnestly remember the marvelous deeds which He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He uttered as in Egypt. … Be mindful of His covenant forever, the promise which He commanded and established to a thousand generations. … Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all peoples. (1 Chronicles 16:4, 8-9, 12, 15, 24 AMPC) 

Calling to mind … meditate … earnestly remember … be mindful. All these things lead to both worship and proclamation. 

Recalling to mind all that God has done for us in the past, all that He is for us now, and all that He will do in the future gives us a song of praise. This praise is to be proclaimed among all people—both fellow worshipers and those who don’t know God as their Savior yet. 

The more we meditate on Who God is, the more we praise Him; the more we praise Him, the more compelling our testimony to the nations becomes. 

I blogged about forgetfulness leading to ingratitude in my post Forgetfulness Can Be Fatal. And I also blogged about how calling God’s goodness to mind empowers us in our spiritual battles in the post Grateful Remembering Fortifies Us Against Temptation. 

A Tour Of The Tabernacle

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

I was absolutely fascinated by a Messianic Jew’s insights on the Old Testament Tabernacle, and how every aspect of it pointed to Jesus the Messiah. 

The overview of the construction of the Tabernacle starts in Exodus 25 and covers the next fifteen chapters in that book. Here are a few of my main takeaways from my friend’s teaching. 

All of the Scriptures I mention can be found here. 

The materials for the Tabernacle are brought as a freewill offering given by freed slaves (Exodus 25:1-2). This gold, silver, bronze, linens, and other materials were gifts from the Egyptians when the Israelites left on the night of the Passover. 

The Tabernacle is at the center of the Israelite camp (Numbers 2:1-34), signifying God’s presence in the center of our lives. When the Israelite community moved out, the tribe of Judah went first. Judah means “praise.” What a great reminder to let praise to God be at the forefront of all we do! 

In Exodus 27:16, the materials to be used for the curtains compromising the entrance to the Tabernacle are blue, purple, and scarlet. The blue is for sky (Heaven), the purple designates royalty, and the scarlet signifies the blood of the sacrifices. Jesus came to earth as royalty from Heaven, and by His shed blood He opens the way for all of us to be with Him in Heaven forever! Jesus said He was the only way to Heaven (Hebrews 2:14-15; John 14:6). 

The bronze altar for cleansing was just inside the entrance (Exodus 27:1-8). The worshiper offered this sacrifice in place of their sin. The priests would then move to the laver to wash off the dirt of the world. It’s important to note that the priests wash at the laver, not in the laver. Jesus is the One who washes us and cleanses us (Ephesians 5:26). 

There are four different coverings over the Holy Place. As the priest progresses farther into the Holy Place, the coverings become thicker, so less outside light is visible. 

  • First covering (Exodus 26:1) was blue, purple, and scarlet yarns (like the colors at the entrance) with cherubim woven into the fabric. The priests looking up would see these angels. 
  • Second covering (v. 7) was goat’s hair. Goats were used for sin offerings, reminding the priests that there was a sacrifice to cleanse them so they could approach the presence of God. 
  • Third covering (v. 14) was a red-dyed ram skin, showing the blood that covers us. 
  • Fourth covering (v. 14) was the durable leather of a badger. Now there would have been very little light from outside, but the angels would still be seen for those inside the Holy Place. 

In the Holy Place was the showbread (sometimes called the bread of presence) pointing to Jesus as our Bread of Life (Exodus 25:23-30; John 6:35). Also in the Holy Place was the lampstand filled oil (vv. 31-37). Only one stick holds the oil and supplies the other six branches. The priests could only work by the light of God. Jesus is our light (John 8:12). And we also find the altar of incense here (30:1-7). This was a unique perfume that wasn’t used anywhere else. The prayers of the saints that arise before the throne in Heaven as said to rise as incense (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8). Worshipers in God’s presence are saturated with the aroma of Jesus (2 Corinthians 2:14-15). 

In the Holy of Holies is the ark of the covenant of the Lord (25:10-22). Inside the ark were the stone tablets that contained the Ten Commandments. On top of the ark, overshadowed by the wings of two huge cherubim angels, was the mercyseat or atonement cover. Notice that mercy is over the Law, and that the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus covers my disobedience and makes me at one with God (the literal definition of atonement). 

How beautifully all of these aspects of the earthly Tabernacle point to Jesus (Hebrews 8:5, 10:1)! And even more amazingly, Jesus fulfilled every requirement in this Tabernacle to make it possible for all who put their faith in Him to enter the Heavenly Tabernacle and remain in His presence for ever and ever! 

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The Warnings In Jeroboam’s Sin

Jeroboam knew that saints who worship together will stick together. A unified church is hard to defeat. 

He first appeals to an easier option than the hard work it takes to travel all the way up to Jerusalem for the feasts of worship. 

   If this people goes up to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to sacrifice, then the heart of this people will turn again to their Lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah. So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go all the way up to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” (1 Kings 12:27-28)

He then gave them replicas of the devoted things in Jerusalem—“behold your gods.” He tricked them to accept the counterfeit as the real thing. 

Next, he appointed unqualified priests (v. 31; 13:33). These priests weren’t accountable to God, but only to Jeroboam. 

Finally, he proposed an alternative date that they could gather to “worship” (vv. 32-33). 

Jeroboam’s sin was to make true worship seem like burdensome work, and then to pass off cheap and easy substitutes to make it appear that the people were worshiping God. But the Bible says, “And this thing became the sin of the dynasty of Jeroboam that caused it to be abolished and destroyed from the face of the earth” (1 Kings 13:34). 

Links & Quotes

Why do Christians lift their hands to God? This is a clip from one of the sermons in our series looking at the worship songs that Israelite pilgrims sang as they ascended to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts.

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“Civil governments are established by God [Romans 13:1] to restrain the criminal elements of human society—even though these officers are often filled and run by evil people. We must divorce our feelings about the people that hold these offices from the authority of the office itself.” —Dr. Henry Halley 

“Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” —Sam Walton 

This article opens with this thought: “Scientists will probably never fully understand photosynthesis as additional research uncovers even more fascinating mysteries.” It then goes on to outline how plants use quantum mechanics nearly perfectly to manage the flow of energy during photosynthesis. Truly this is more evidence of an All-Wise Creator.

In sharing a mini-biography of Henry Martyn, this article outlines how God prepares missionaries for the field to which He has called them. “God used [Martyn’s] classical education at Cambridge alongside his spiritual maturity formed by intentional mentorship to get him ready for his unique task of engaging Muslims and translating the Bible.”

T.M. Moore has an outstanding series for pastoral leaders. In a recent post, Moore wrote, “Paul’s vision was too vast, too all-encompassing, too transformative, too urgent, and too other-worldly to stop with, say, a vision that focused on more members, better facilities, larger budgets, additional staff, or regular ‘growth.’ None of these, nor any of a thousand other ways church leaders might express their hopes for their churches, is a proper vision for church leaders.” I was grateful for T.M.’s endorsement of my book Shepherd Leadership where I talk about the biblical metrics for church leaders.

“One of the dangers of having a lot of money is that you may be quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give, and so fail to realize your need for God. If everything seems to come simply by signing checks, you may forget that you are at every moment totally dependent on God.” —C.S. Lewis 

Links & Quotes

When we pray the closing words of the prayer Jesus gave us—“For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen!”—we are both acknowledging God’s awesomeness and we are asking for our lives to display this reality.

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“He who loves iniquity does not love his fellow man, for ‘he who loves iniquity does not love, but rather hates his own soul.’ And certainly he who does not love his own soul will in no way be capable of loving the soul of another.” —Aelred of Rievaulx (1109-1167) 

Steven Lee shows us the biblical principles that God forms us through failure. One passage especially stood out to me because it is a central thought to both of my books. Lee writes, “God measures success according to faithfulness: ‘One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much’ (Luke 16:10). Do we strive for success as defined by God? Are we seeking to be faithful with all that he has entrusted to us—time, talents, and treasure? Or have we adopted the lying weights and measures of our world? Will our labors result in hearing the words ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matthew 25:23)? Put aside striving for the world’s facade of perfection.”

“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.” —Vince Lombardi 

T.M. Moore teases us with this: “The most important question we can ask guides us in answering many other questions besides, questions such as, ‘Whom should I marry?’ and ‘How can I stop wasting time?’ and ‘What’s the best way to use my wealth?’’ Any question that helps us answer those and a myriad other questions that might arise during the day must be pretty important. Indeed, it must be the most important question any of us could ask.” What is that most important question? Check out his thought-provoking answer. 

“Life is not a spectator sport. If you’re going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, you’re wasting your life.” —Jackie Robinson 

When God gives you a victory, write it down (see Exodus 17:14). When God gives you a promise, write it down. Then read it regularly so you don’t forget it. This will keep you grateful, it will keep you expectant, and it will keep you dependent on the victory-giving, promise-keeping God.