Day 16

On Sunday, my brother wrote an excellent post on his blog, Everyday Strangers. It was titled Genuine Worship and it urged the reader to examine themselves during worship and think about if they were half-hearted, just going through the motions, or putting on a show for others. Here is my brother's heart for worship and for writing this post: "I want people to be able to genuinely worship on every song that we sing. I want people to experience the grace of God like never before and fall down in amazement. I cannot command someone to have genuine worship because it is a heart issue. What I can do is pray for them and encourage them to seek Him day after day."
If you would like to read the whole thing for yourself, and I highly suggest that you do, here is the link: http://everydaystrangers.blogspot.com/2011/10/genuine-worship.html

My brother's blog post got a lot of attention this week. When I received the weekly update for Ignite, our church's college and career group, I saw his post at the beginning of it. Our pastor saw the update as well and was so impressed he asked permission to put it on the church-wide email update that went out today.

Apparently my brother stepped on a few toes with what he had to say, because a few hours later our pastor sent out another email explaining the post and that the intent was not to condemn, but to encourage individuals to examine their hearts for genuine worship. This makes joyful and proud of my brother at the same time. He had the courage to write about a controversial topic, and what he had to say did indeed create some controversy. However, that means that he got it right in his post, for only when truth is spoken can a person be convicted by the Holy Spirit. I don't believe someone should step on toes just because they can, but I also know that that was not my brother's purpose in writing. He genuinely wants people to worship with their whole heart, and I believe he encouraged people to do it better by asking some tough questions. If someone felt condemned or judged, it's probably because they know their heart isn't in the right place when it comes to worship, and his post touched a nerve. My prayer is that instead of feeling judged, those people will examine themselves and come to the Lord with a heart full of genuine worship. Our Lord deserves nothing less.

May your heart be filled with joy in worship.