I spent Thursday last week getting my sister Samantha settled at her new school. During our time there we had the chance to sit through a service in Hughes Chapel.
That place has so many memories for me but it also has an awesome sense of history. Numerous revivals have taken place in that very room...there is a sense of reverence and awe just sitting in the chapel. Now I love our church but we currently meet in a school cafeteria/auditorium. Yeah, not quite the solemn setting of Hughes. On Sunday, my heart longed to be reminded of the power and holiness of God. There is something to be said for walking into church with the realization that you are gathering with other believers to worship God, the God who spoke the world into being. Sometimes I believe we come to church more for the social aspect than for a desire to spend time with the Lord. Now I'm not saying that you need a building such as Hughes to experience the presence of God but it certainly can put you in a place of expectation.I also spent time contemplating some of the words that were sung during church on Sunday.
"Take my body and build it up
May it be broken as an offering of love
For I have nothing
I have nothing without You"
Do we really understand what that means? Are we willing to be broken for the cause of Christ or are those just words? I believe it was A.W. Tozer who is quoted as saying, "Christians don't tell lies, they just go to church and sing them." Ouch. As I was listening to the music I couldn't help but think of the lives of men like Jim Elliott who died to bring the Gospel to those who had never even heard the name of Jesus. How am I even worthy to sing about laying down my life for the cause of Christ? Listening to that particular song being led on Sunday I didn't sing along, I just couldn't.
As I poured out my thoughts to Jon we also talked about a sermon I listened to the other day preached by Leonard Ravenhill. In the sermon he talked about seeing the true nature of a pastor's relationship with the Lord not by his preaching but by his prayers. The way a person talks with the Lord can quickly tell you a lot about their relationship with Him. What does my prayer life say about me?
So yeah, there is not a nice bow to tie up all these rambling thoughts but I figured I would share some of what has been rolling around in my head since Sunday. One more thing, I just finished up the book Five Who Changed the World by Daniel Akin and would highly recommend it. The book is a quick read but super convicting. That's all for now. I'll work on posting with more regularity in the coming weeks, we'll see how that goes.
