Ask the Pastor

A CLCer asked: “What is the difference between praise & worship?”

Good question.  In my humble opinion, you’ve hit on one of those areas where preachers sometimes make more out of something than Scripture does.  By that I mean that I’ve heard teachings about this and read a lot of different opinions about this (Google it and you’ll see what I mean) – but I do not find such clear differences in Scripture, so I think the terms are at least somewhat interchangeable.

Probably the best I could do from a Biblical standpoint is say that all praise is worship, but all worship is not praise.  Worship in Scripture would include acts of service or sacrifice; in fact, our daily lives, whether on our job or interacting with our family or whatever – all of it can be worship unto the Lord, because worship means we are showing reverence to our Maker.

Praise, on the other hand, is an action of giving God honor: singing, praying, lifting hands, bowing before Him, etc.

I’ve sometimes heard preachers say that “praise is thanking God for what He has done; worship is honoring God for who He is“.  Others say praise is what we do to get into God’s presence and worship is what we do once we’re there.  I think it was the late Judson Cornwall (one of my favorites on this subject) who wrote, “You can praise God at a distance, but you cannot worship Him from afar”.

Bottom-line: the differences between the two at best would be subtle and I don’t know that there’s much value in trying to split hairs about it.  What is important is that each of us as believers practice a lifestyle that includes praise & worship – for reasons that can easily become a Bible study in themselves.  In fact, I’d encourage you to do a study of the benefits of worship – it will change you!

Now, what would you like to Ask the Pastor?

1 verse and 2 questions

Doing my devotions this morning using the thru-the-Bible-guide we give out at CLC each year, one verse really jumped out at me: Jonah 2:8.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve been in this Leadership Intensive for the last couple of weeks, learning about patterns of behavior in my own life, but I sure can see the truth of Jonah’s observation: when we cling to our worthless idols (our ways of doing things, responding to difficulties with the same predictable behaviors, trying to avoid pain or experience pleasure), we actually forfeit the grace that could be ours!

So the first question is: what worthless idols are you clinging to?  (instead of trusting the Lord)

Second question is: what grace do you think could be yours if you trusted Him instead. 

Remember, grace is undeserved favor from God, and it’s also ability to do God’s will.

I don’t ever again want to cling to my idols, knowing I could have His grace instead – how ’bout you?        (Let me know how this rings true in your experience)

Home, sweet home

Well, it’s been good for me to be in Denver these past 2 weeks for the Leadership Intensive at Quiet Waters ministry, but I’m sure glad to be getting on the plane in a little while to head back to Chi-town!

Can’t wait to see my wife & family (including the ‘boys’, Jasper & Pedro) and then all of YOU at the Prayer Conference with Eddie & Alice Smith this Saturday at 10am.  It’s not too late to invite a friend to join you!

Welcome to a 21-day Adventure!

I’m officially welcoming those of you who signed up to participate in CLC’s 21 days of Prayer & Fasting this November 2-23.  Each morning during those days I’ll send you a brief devotional encouragement for the day here on my blog (you’ll be notified via email).

DISCLAIMER: my goal was not to increase readership of my blog, so at the end of the 21 days you can easily ‘unsubscribe’ if you don’t want to receive notice of the regular postings of my random thoughts.

Meanwhile, I have 2 tips for you to prepare for the fasting next week (no, one of them is not to eat as much as possible this week):

1.  Ask the Lord sincerely what HE wants you to do during this corporate fast – it could be almost anything, from fasting the whole 21 days, to fasting specific days, to giving up a certain meal, to giving up only certain foods, or even ‘fasting’ something other than food, like TV or the internet or negative speaking.  The list is limitless and there are different benefits to each, so ask the Lord which choice is right for YOU.

2.  Plan to journal during your 21 days.  Don’t feel pressured about that – it doesn’t have to be anything elaborate & there’s probably no ‘right’ way to do it.  I’m just encouraging you to keep a written record of your time with the Lord during those 21 days – impressions you may have, what happens as you fast, prayer requests and answers you may receive, etc.  Remember: the shortest pencil is better than the longest memory, so write it down!

Oh, just one more thing: I urge you to do everything possible to arrange your schedule so you can attend Saturday’s Prayer Conference with Eddie & Alice Smith in addition to this Sunday’s services where Alice will be ministering in Tinley Park and Shorewood, and Eddie will be ministering in South Bend.  Not only will their teaching be insightful, but the whole weekend will serve as a great kickoff to our 21 days of seeking the Lord together as a church family.  (In fact, why don’t you invite a friend to join you for this weekend?)

I can’t wait!  So glad you’ve committed to joining us-

The Bible sure speaks!

My devotions the last couple of days (using the same ‘thru the Bible’ guide we give out at CLC each year) have definitely spoken to me, so I thought I’d share some of what I’m hearing as I read:

1Chronicles 9 is one of those chapters that’s easy to ‘skip over’ – all those impossible-to-pronounce names – but notice this:

• verse 13: even then, ministry demanded abilities – that only God can give us!
• verses 17-27: there’s no such thing as insignificant in the Kingdom of God.  These guys had responsibility and they took it seriously (staying up all night!)
• verses 28-32: how meticulous and how organized they were – and should be since this is for the House of the Lord! Everybody has an important role to play and we can’t do without any of them!
• verse 33: day and night….seems like this is not just about a job; it’s who we are, 24/7

1Chronicles 10:13-14 really made me search my heart today. It’s pretty plain: Saul died because he wasn’t faithful to the Lord.  (How faithful am I?)  And, as the verse goes on to say, he didn’t inquire of the Lord, but looked to other people for his guidance.  Ouch!  ‘Nuff said.

Hebrews 13:7-8 challenged me and then comforted me: when I stand & teach the Word, others are to consider my way of life (does my life make the Word more attractive/believable?).  Sobering thoughts, but immediately followed by verse 8: regardless of how people feel about me, JESUS is the same, now & forever!

Hope you’re enjoying getting into the Word every day – it really is a lamp to our feet & a light to our path!

Help me out

The response to yesterday’s teaching and the comments I’ve heard since have just confirmed for me how timely our meetings with Eddie & Alice Smith this weekend are going to be.  It’s only a 3-hour seminar on Saturday morning with the both of them at our Tinley Park campus, followed by Eddie ministering in South Bend on Saturday night and Sunday morning while Alice will bring a different message at each service on Sunday (if I counted right, that’s over 7 hours of teaching on prayer, spiritual warfare & intimacy with God, crammed into one short weekend!)

I think the potential impact on each of us in our walk with the Lord is HUGE!  That’s why I’m asking for your help, in just two ways:

1.  Would you do everything possible to attend personally?  (This will be worth rearranging your schedule wherever possible)

2.  Would you help us get the word out to your Christian friends or relatives? (They don’t need to belong to CLC in order to get benefit from this prayer emphasis – and a personal invitation from you might make all the difference in the world)

That’s it – I will really appreciate your help….you’ll receive…. and so will your friends!

All For Him

Part of my short time at home last weekend was spent at a wonderful fundraiser at CLC for the new ministry called “All For Him”.  The whole evening was terrific, with the festivities led by elders and longtime CLCers, Scott & Nannette Pachol, with special music from Ana Chavez and Crystal Petrovic (man, those girls can SANG!)

The highlight of the evening came from Pastor Jaime Flores, who shared his heart with pictures & video clips of the work he’s already done in Peru and Guatemala and Mexico as part of CLC and our Hispanic ministry, Centro de Vida Christiana.  AFH has plans for digging wells to provide clean water in the Amazon region of Peru, where many children go blind by age 9 because of the unsafe water, building more churches and a house for the pastor in that same region, and more.  AFH is also actively involved in serving orphaned children in Guatemala, providing them with food, lodging, education and love.

It’s a great cause, doing great things to serve some very needed people.  But as I said Saturday night at the dinner, it’s not the needs of Peru that motivate me to be a part – because there will always be more needs than any of us can possibly respond to.  I was there Saturday because I believe in Jaime Flores.  I’ve observed, first-hand, how he came to the Lord at CLC in the early years of our ministry and how he has grown in the Lord because of his sincere hunger and thirst for more.  His faithful service at CLC and CdVC over the years prompted us to ordain him into pastoral ministry and we stand behind all his missions ministry because we know Jaime’s heart for people.  Those in attendance Saturday (which included many of his co-workers at the CTA, in addition to friends from CLC and CdVC) obviously agreed, as they gave a great cash offering and committed almost $1,000/month for this cause!

So if you weren’t there Saturday night, and you’d like to be a sponsor for the great work AFH is doing, contact Jaime directly or even go online to make your pledge here.

Sunday reflections

Whew….I’m fried.  Either I got older this week, or there’s a huge difference between team-teaching with my wife while sitting on a stool and preaching solo while standing….because by the time I packed and drove to Midway again for the return flight to Denver (final week of my Leadership Intensive at Quiet Waters Retreat Center), picked up my rental car and drove to the Center, I’m wiped out!

But it’s a good tired:

• one of my favorite things is hanging out in the lobby after services and listening to the stories of CLCers – this week’s included a tough, masculine CLCer who told me how he cried like a baby during the Cleansing Streams retreat this weekend, and wept his way to significant victory & breakthru!
• two other ladies told me of their excitement over last week’s Membership Class and their joy over officially joining CLC and volunteering for ministry (I never get tired of those stories!)
• my wife came home with glowing reports of the service today at our South Bend campus and more indications that God is up to something at our newest campus!
• Pastor Dan reported a jump in attendance today in Shorewood and better-yet, as many as 9 people who prayed a salvation prayer at the close of their service!
• And at the Tinley Park campus, I felt over-caffeinated all day, even though I didn’t have a single cup of coffee – I was just pumped about what happens “When We Pray” – it was fun preaching today, and of course, I rejoice over several who made salvation decisions in our services!
• I was especially encouraged by the great show of unity & commitment to 21 days of prayer & fasting – I really believe this is going to be a significant journey for many of us!
• It’s not too early to begin inviting your Christian friends to join us Saturday for the prayer conference with Eddie & Alice Smith - I can’t wait!

That’s about all my brain can remember now as the adrenaline has worn off & sleep is calling-

Oh, one more thing: seemed kind of strange not to watch the Bears today, due to the bye week – but it reminded me of something I didn’t report last week.  I watched a bit of Monday Night Football last week when the Broncos got slaughtered by the Patriots, and since I’m in Denver, the local press was all over their team the next day – even more so than our Chicago sportswriters, if you can believe it.  In fact, my favorite quip was from one of their writers who mentioned that the Broncos were also on their bye week this Sunday, and then said, “the bye is favored by 10 points!”

I’m hoping the rest did our boys some good and next week they’ll be flying high again!  Later-

Ask the Pastor (a couple days’ late)

I’ve been doing this feature each Friday for several months, but last week no one submitted a question…until this afternoon.  So here goes, just a little later than usual:

Someone who heard today’s message asked: why do you think that God allowed or had to allow Peter to see the vision with the “unclean animals” three times before he moved forward with it in Acts 10:16? I am not sure why that came up in my studies, but I wondered if it could be because of the three men who were waiting for Him or was it is stubborness, or something else.

Good question.  While the Bible doesn’t say specifically why the vision was repeated, here’s what I do know: three is the Biblical number of completion (Jonah was 3 days in the belly of the whale; Jesus was in the grave for 3 days; 3 members of the Trinity, etc, etc, etc) – so the most likely reason the vision was repeated was to make the ‘revelation’ complete.

However, as you pointed out, Peter’s stubborness is obvious (remind you of anyone?) in this story & others, so it may simply be that the Lord repeated the vision three times in an effort to get through to Peter! 

I’m glad He’ll do whatever it takes to get through to you and me, too!

Now, what would you like to Ask the Pastor?

Facebook & Home, Sweet Home

Just finished my last session of the leadership intensive here in Denver, and I’m ready to board a plane and get home to my baby (and all the rest of you, too – of course)

And in the wackiest-yet announcement on this blog: I am now officially on FACEBOOK.

Still not sure what got into me….it really wasn’t planned or thought-out, but I responded to an invitation from a CLCer and now I’m accessible to the gazillion people worldwide who use Facebook to stay connected.

Now if I only had a clue what I’m doing….

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