Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Worship and Outward Joy

Church leaders make decisions that result in determined outcomes.  A church leader who decides that his presentation of Jesus and the gospel is going to be always positive and people who attend worship will always be happy and joyful outwardly, he will draw a crowd that wants what he is presenting.  And the better he presents happiness and joyfulness in Jesus the larger his crowd will be.  In contrast, a minister who decides to call people not to be friends with the world will need to present a worship experience that will allow sinners to resist the devil, to cleanse their hands, to purify their hearts, to confess their double mindedness, to lament, to mourn, to weep, to let their laughter be turned to mourning and their joy to gloom.  To do all is to humble themselves before the Lord.  Such a presentation is going to draw a crowd that wants to be humbled and the better the church leader presents such a humble worship experience the smaller the crowd will be.  That is the way of it. 

I asked a Bible study group what would happen if we put on our reader board for advertisement, "Come and worship with us!  Cleanse your hands, purify your hearts, lament, mourn and weep."  they just laughed.  James 4