“Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!” (Psalm 134, NKJV)

There is a command and a promise here, and we can examine it using the “Five W’s” of standard journalism. The who is the servants of the Lord, people who serve and love God. The what is to bless the Lord, to worship and lift Him up. The when is at night. The where is in the sanctuary, in the house of the Lord (the church). The why is also to bless the Lord (this is both the what and the why — we bless the Lord and worship Him as an act and also as a reason). The how is by lifting up your hands.

And the reward? That the Lord who made Heaven and Earth would bless you (you, who keep His commandments to bless God, at night, in His house, by lifting holy hands and standing in the sanctuary). Think about it! For those who love God, this is not a hard command to keep. It really isn’t. And the benefit, the blessing of God for those who are faithful? Priceless!

If we honor the God who sent His Son to save and redeem us, and we honor the sacrifice Jesus made for us, then going to church at night is no chore. We should be more than eager to spend time with our brothers and sisters in Christ, raising our voices and our hands in one accord, pouring out blessing and honor and glory to Jesus Christ, who loved us enough to die for our sins and paved the way for right relationship with Father God.

It is not our duty to go to church twice on Sunday. It is our privilege! When do we start to realize this and live our lives according to that truth? It isn’t a chore, it’s an honor!

This song is called “From the Inside Out” by Hillsong United and can be found on the United We Stand album (I have it from the iWorship 24/7 album, which is a compilation of some really great worship songs).

If you were like me and fed the mood, try breaking through with worship. Guaranteed it works. Lose yourself in worshipping God. You might as well get used to it now… if you are a Christian, this is what we’ll be doing for eternity. Get some practice in!

From the Inside Out – Hillsong United

A thousand times I’ve failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I’m caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart and my soul, I give You control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise, become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart, my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out, O my soul cries out

My Soul cries out to You
My Soul cries out to You
to You, to You

My heart, my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out, O my soul cries out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out, O my soul cries out
From the inside out, O my soul cries out
From the inside out, O my soul cries out.

Here we can see God’s direction played out, and Joash’s obedience to the Word of God:

“And Elisha said to him, ‘Take a bow and some arrows.’ So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, ‘Put your hand on the bow.’ So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, ‘Open the east window’; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, ‘Shoot’; and he shot. And he said, ‘The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.’” (2 Kings 13:15-17, NKJV)

Joash obeyed everything that Elisha said, and Elisha gave him detailed instructions. This clearly shows obedience. Yet the following verses, while showing obedience, also show a lack of passion, zeal, and enthusiasm — which are things that God wants from us as well:

“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows’; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground’; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.’” (2 Kings 13:18-19, NKJV)

Obedience is important, absolutely! If Joash had not obeyed the Word of God through Elisha, he would not have struck Syria at all, and God’s deliverance would not be evident whatsoever. Yet, even though he was obedient, he was not zealous about what God had said. He was not given the specifics of what striking the ground would produce, yet his lack of response ultimately meant that God did not respond as fully as He wanted to. God wanted to give Joash complete victory, but the king’s response limited God. And as a result of that limitation, complete victory was not attained.

We can, and do, limit what God can do in our lives. The above illustrates this clearly. It is also spelled out quite plainly in the Psalms:

“How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” (Psalms 78:40-41, NKJV)

If you want to release the full victory and blessing of God in your life, do not limit Him. Do not hold back in your worship, in your prayers, in your intercession before the Holy One of Israel! Be obedient, yes, but do not hold back! Let the outward be an expression of the inward, abandon yourself and be passionate for God, be zealous and enthusiastic. Paying lip service to God, doing the prescribed works without love, loyalty, passion will get you somewhere, but it will not get you what you want, or what God wants to give you.

Abandon yourself, lose yourself, in worship. Let holiness and righteousness consume you, set a fire in your heart, to strive for and hunger after the Presence of the Almighty God. Prayer, worship, studying and consuming the Word, losing yourself in love and adoration to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — show Him that He is the first and foremost in your life! Couple that with obedience to His Word, to His commands and direction, then you have a potent mix, a formula for victory and success in whatever it is you are crying out to the Lord for!

The term Christian is thrown about quite loosely and I think a lot of people call themselves a Christian because they believe in God. Or they (mostly) do nice things for people. Or they go to church for Christmas… and maybe Easter if they feel like it. Maybe they think they are Christian because they were baptized as a baby. Or maybe they asked Jesus into their heart as a child.

Do any of these things make you a Christian? In and of themselves, no. Being baptized doesn’t make you a Christian. Asking Jesus into your heart once, or twice, or a whole bunch of times even, doesn’t make you a Christian. These are stepping stones on the way to becoming a Christian, sure. But making you a Christian? No way.

Let’s put it this way. Do your friends and family and co-workers know that you are a Christian? If not, then you need to do some serious soul-searching and figure out why that is. I’m not saying you need to evangelize to them all (but if you are at all concerned about their eternal souls, which you should be, then you should be talking to them about the hope within you, right?), but you need to live a lifestyle that, without a doubt, reflects that you are a Christian. Does this mean you need to be perfect? Nope. I’m far from perfect. And I am pretty much scared spitless to evangelize to people — I am more than willing to talk about Jesus and my hope and faith and love for Christ if it is brought up, but to just out of the blue talk to someone about it? I have a real hard time with that, and it really takes some prayer and dependency on the Holy Spirit to move me beyond my natural tendency to clam up.

But at the same time, I know that when people spend some time talking to me, they know I’m a Christian. I haven’t always been this way, of course, but as I’m growing and learning, I am becoming more public, more obvious. Things like saying “God bless you” roll off the tongue with such ease now, when they were so hard to say before. Taking my Bible to church was something I would do if I remembered it, but it didn’t really matter if it didn’t come with me. My Bible goes with me every time I’m at church now. And instead of tucking it away or hiding it in a stack of whatever else I happen to be carrying, it’s on top, shining for the world to see.

These are a few examples, but they convey a very important thing: I’m not ashamed or trying to hide who I am. And this is a very very important thing to realize, because Jesus says:

““Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”” (Matt 10:32-33, NKJV)

Being denied before God means an eternity separated from God. And if God is in heaven, then that means we will not be in heaven. There’s only one place left.

Look at what else Jesus says:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt 4:13-16, NKJV)

I heard this the other day and it really made sense. As Christians, we are the Bride of Christ, right? Ok, so all you married people out there… you do acknowledge the fact that you have a spouse, right? That you’re married? You don’t tuck your significant other in the closet and bring him or her our when the lights are off and no one is around, right?

So if we, as the church, are the Bride of Christ, why are so many of us denying the fact that we have a “husband”?

Think about it! If you ignored your spouse, didn’t spend any time with them, didn’t give them any affection, didn’t stand up for them… how long do you think your spouse is going to remain your spouse? He or she might suffer it for a while, but I’m pretty sure that at some point they are going to pointedly say to you that you’re doing something wrong and you need to acknowledge them and treat them better. Shape up or ship out. I’m pretty sure that most of us would feel the same way. Dejected, lonely, frustrated, angry — these are things anyone who is consistently ignored by their spouse feels. So then the question becomes: if we feel this way when we are neglected by our spouse, how do you think Jesus feels when His spouse-to-be is neglecting Him?

We are salt and we are light. We need to make the fact that we are Christians known. People need to look at us and know there is something different about us without us even opening our mouths and saying a word. God’s light should be shining from within us. We should be doing, and acting, and speaking, things that befit someone who belongs to a body that will be married to the King of Kings! Our attitude should be so Christ-like that people will know that we are more than just “good people” without even bringing God into the conversation. And when they ask why you’re so happy, or joyful, or what makes you so different, why do we hide the fact that it is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that has transformed and redeemed and saved us?

Living lives that are righteous, holy, and obedient before Father God are what will draw people to us and let them know that we are different without us even having to try. We need to love our neighbours as ourselves:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35, NKJV)

Finally, look at the origination of the term Christian:

“So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” (Acts 11:26b, NKJV)

The disciples were called Christians! Not “the good people”, not the people who “went to church sometimes” — none of these were called Christians. The disciples were called Christians. If we profess to be Christians, we need to be disciples of Jesus Christ! There are three keys in this half of the verse: the first is that they were disciples. The second is that they assembled with the church (“spirituality without the church” is not Christianity!). The third is that they taught people.

Are you a Christian? How do you know if you’re a Christian? You know you’re a Christian if you lead a life of selfless abandon to Jesus Christ, that you love Him, that you strive to be obedient in all things. That you put on your robes of righteousness for His Name’s sake, not yours. That you do everything you can to lead a holy and righteous life. That you teach people, through words and actions. That you are a city on the hill, a light uncovered for all to see. That you do not deny Jesus — at any time. That you love His Word, that it is your daily bread. That you put Jesus before everything, before relaxation and recreation, before music or books or TV or video games or “hanging out”. That you love the Body of Christ, the church, and your brothers and sisters in Christ, and you strive for unity in all things with the Body. That you are a bride that wants to wear robes without wrinkle or spot and that you are head-over-heals in abandoned love with the only One who can save, who has given you the free gift of salvation and eternal life! That you repent of your sins, get baptized, and be filled with the Holy Spirit and then let the Holy Spirit shine through you!

Lord God, make more disciples for you! You are calling Your people to repentance, to holy and righteous living, just as You are Holy and Righteous! Shape me into a vessel of honor for Your Name’s sake, Lord, not mine. Never for me, but always for You! Jesus I love You, I exalt You, and I magnify Your precious Name! Father, thank You for sending Your Son to die on the cross for our my, to bridge the gap between you and me, so that I can know You and, more importantly, that You know me. Thank You Jesus for all that you have done for mankind, are doing for mankind, and will do for mankind. Thank You that You love us so much! Help me to be a worthy disciple, showing you through my words and deeds, showing a lost and dying world the one true path to everlasting life! Amen and Amen!

But, we’re also called to do the work of God, because while God has called each of us to a particular occupation at a certain point in time, He has also called each of us to ministry. No, he has not called all of us to be preachers or evangelists or full-time ministry workers, but we all have a ministry. The trick, then, is to balance. Do we forsake God’s work for the sake of a natural occupation, or do we forsake the natural occupation for the sake of God’s work?

I believe the answer is neither. God has called us to be good stewards — both of career and calling. We are to be faithful in our natural work, and faithful in our spiritual work. So the real answer is there needs to be balance (unless, of course, your career is also your calling, such as with full-time ministers).

I believe that, even as Paul preached and did miraculous things, yet still worked, we need to do the same. The key is balance, but before someone thinks this is a message about balancing TV and prayer, or balancing video games and reading the Word, I think when it comes to worldly pursuits of recreation (sports, games, TV, whatever), there is no call to be balanced. You can completely forsake those pursuits, or enjoy a game of golf, or go to a hockey game, etc. and still be unbalanced because you’re feeding on the Word, praying, and going to church — that is a healthy unbalancing. This isn’t supporting “balance” in terms of going to church on Sunday and staying home to watch the hockey game on TV instead of going to church Sunday night (i.e. “honey, we’ve been to church already so let’s stay home and watch the game… we need balance after all!”). Not at all. This is strictly talking about balance of calling (ministry) and career (occupation) because God wants us to work. We weren’t created to have recreation, we were created to work.

The first thing in the Bible that tells us about the nature of God is that He works — He created the heavens and the earth. As early as Genesis 1:3, God is working. God created man with a “dominion mandate” or a call to work:

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” (Gen 1:28, NKJV)

The first words out of God’s mouth to Adam and Eve were that they should work!

“So, because he (Paul) was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.” (Acts 18:3-4, NKJV)

Here we see two interesting things: Paul clearly worked, and he also clearly taught people about the gospel. I think if God wanted us to forsake all for the gospel (and He has asked us to forsake much, but not work), then I don’t think Paul would have been making tents as well.

It reminds me of the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. This is often interpreted as speaking of the spiritual, but I believe it speaks of the natural as well. The basic premise of this parable is that a man (Jesus) travelled to a far away kingdom and left his servants (us) in charge of his affairs. There are three servants: one received five talents, one received two talents, and another one talent. As an aside, isn’t it interesting that this form of currency is called a talent? The first servants put his talents to work, and when the master comes, he has ten talents. He has worked with that was entrusted to him. Likewise the second, who turned the two talents he was given into four. To these, the master says:

“His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”” (Matt 25:21, NKJV)

The third servant, however, buried his talent. He did not use it, but hid it away so that it would remain “safe” — not losing it in risky ventures or putting it to work, but keeping it so he could restore exactly what was entrusted to him. Of this, the master says:

“But his lord answered and said to him, “You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.” … “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”” (Matt 25:26, 29-30, NKJV)

The master was given back exactly what he gave out to begin with and yet the servant who had done this is called “lazy” and “wicked”. God looks for increase! In the spiritual, this means spreading the gospel and reaping a harvest, doing God’s work. But we can look at this in the natural as well, given God’s first mandate to man — God looks for increase in the natural as well. As can be seen here, it is God’s desire to bless us, but we need to work in order to receive that blessing. Hiding your talent, whether it be your faith or natural talents, will get you in trouble with God!

When we “work” our faith, doing ministry, we work for God. Yet the Bible also clearly says that when we work for man, we must also work as unto Jesus:

“Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.” (Col 3:22-25, NKJV)

The message can’t be any clearer! Work as if working for God. This ties very closely to what I spoke about a few days ago, about Giving God our best. If you are distracted at work, you’re not working heartily. It doesn’t matter what the distraction is — excitement about an upcoming concert or game, going on holidays, or being busy with ministry outside of work. We need to be diligent, “faithful servants”, working as hard as we possibly can for the glory of God in our workplace, for the sake of Jesus who lives within us, rather than for the sake of pride or to please our boss. There is a clear warning here as well: if you do wrong, you will be repaid in kind and despite being a Christian, there is no partiality. So if you’re slacking at work and you get reprimanded, that is your reward. If you work hard, consistently, your boss will notice and you will be rewarded (whether it’s a simple thanks or a raise or promotion, or blessing from God in some other area (peace at work, at home, or increase in ministry, etc.) you will be rewarded). But the pre-requisite of actually doing the work is required. This is simply common sense as well — if you work hard at work, you get noticed, you get promoted, etc. But it is a Biblical principle as well.

Finally, there is the matter of being a witness, a living example, of Jesus living in us. What kind of witness are we for Christ if we do not work with passion and focus? If we are more than willing to share the gospel with co-workers, but then don’t do the work called for us to do in the workplace, what kind of witness does that show them? Does that show them a legitimacy in the gospel, or does it show them that we are just like everyone else? I don’t care if you’re running a company or scrubbing toilets, if God calls us to do our job heartily then that is what we should be doing. Why? Because that is what God tells us to do, and also because we become a more effective witness to those around us.

I know this is perhaps a hard thing to do, but think about it. Nowadays, especially among so many young people, there is such a lack of ambition, of striving, of working hard. I’m not sure what it is, but in this time more than anything we can absolutely shine as witnesses for the Hope that is within us, by being patient, faithful, diligent, and hard working at our natural jobs. Do the work eagerly and with joy! We have an asset that no one else has, and when things get tough then step back and pray to God for His peace and strength. He is faithful to grant it! We need to be the “peculiar people” that is noted in the King James translation (Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:9). We need to be strange, not just because we’re Christians and the world counts us strange, but because we have joy in the midst of the daily grind — something that most others do not!

I honestly don’t think there is a more effective witness than this. If your work suffers because you’re too busy with the gospel’s work, then you are being a bad witness, and a bad steward of what God has entrusted you with. Whether it is work, ministry, family, relationships — God has called us to be a good steward, a faithful servant, of the things we have been entrusted with. Forsaking one for the sake of another is not being a good witness. Giving more weight to one than to another is not a good witness. We were called to be a faithful people, faithful in all things, in all areas of our life… not just the ones we like most.

Finally, this part of 1 Timothy 3 is very valuable. 1 Timothy 3 talks about the requirements for bishops (overseers, elders, pastors) and deacons. These are qualities we should all strive for, but this one verse stands out in particular because I believe it speaks directly to being a good witness to those outside the church:

“Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” (1 Tim 3:7, NKJV)

We need to have a good testimony to those outside — of course we need to have a good testimony among our brothers and sisters in Christ, but we also need to have a good testimony, a good reputation, among those who are not in the faith.

The bottom line is we need to be faithful to what God has given us, not neglecting any one thing for the sake of another. Whatever the struggle may be: being faithful to God Himself, faithful to others (i.e. being honest, trustworthy), faithful to family or spouse, faithful to our ministries, or faithful to work, we can and need to take it to God. God is faithful to those who sincerely ask and trust in Him. He will provide us the strength and direction we need to fulfill His calling in our lives, whatever and wherever that calling is, spiritual or natural.

“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sites on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever!’” (Rev 5:12, NKJV)

Can you imagine the glory, the praise, the continual worship, the adoration and love and gratitude and blessing poured upon Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, in heaven? I can’t. This world is such a shadow, such a dim thing compared to what eternity will be like. And even here on earth, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the absolute abandonment and joy we can receive when we worship our Lord Jesus in spirit and truth, that anointing and blessing that comes from God the Father… I honestly believe it pales in comparison to what heaven will be like, despite how absolutely beautiful and fantastic it is.

Last night at church, as we were worshipping, I felt such an impression of “worthy, worthy, worthy”… it was so heavy, like it had weight, an importance behind it. It bubbled out of me like a desperate cry… God, You are so infinitely worthy! Worthy of my love, my time, my attention, my energy, my hopes, my dreams. You are worth more than I could possibly ever offer You!

And after such a wonderful encounter with God, and an awesome message, the reality hit me.

If He is so worthy (and He is) why aren’t we giving Him our best?

I mean, we sing songs about how worthy He is, how He sent His Son to die for us, how we owe Him everything. We sing songs about living lives pure and holy before Him, about inviting Him in, about becoming living sacrifices. And yeah, singing those songs are great and there can be a real heartfelt passion there, but… if He is so worthy, why aren’t we giving Him our best. I mean our absolute best?

So many times in the last few months I have been absolutely humbled by the overwhelming realization of who Jesus is and what He did for me. The absolute brutality of the cross — the suffering in body, in soul, and in spirit. Jesus took on the sin of every man, woman, and child as they pierced His flesh and hung Him on a tree. He felt the hatred of men towards Him as they cried out “crucify Him! Crucify Him!”. In the spirit, He felt the judgement and wrath of a holy and righteous God, poured out upon Him because He took all of our sin as the sacrificial Lamb of God. A wrath and hatred for all things evil, all sin, all the awful things that you and I and every human being from Adam until Jesus comes again — that burning anger was poured out on Jesus who took that on Himself because He loved us, He loved me, enough to suffer that in order to bridge the divide that sin created between God and man. And the really amazing thing is that I know that if there were only one person on the planet, He would have done the same thing anyways.

Humbled yet? I know I am. I keep thinking about Isaiah and the vision he had of God sitting in heaven:

“And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’” (Isaiah 6:3-5, NKJV)

This is how I feel! I am a man of unclean lips! What I felt yesterday was that God is so worthy of our best and we’re giving Him leftovers. God demands the best of all we are, and we’re giving Him scraps fit for dogs! God forgive us — compared to what God has given us, we’re giving Him so very little of what we can, and should, offer Him! I am giving Him less than He deserves, so much less than what He deserves but God knows I am desperately trying to give Him more. Lord, take me, use me, help me to live a life of no compromise.. to be a living sacrifice, to be a witness and example of Your love and Your life in me!

If God is our King, and He is our Lord, then we need to start treating Him like it! We need to give Him the best of our attention — when we’re in church we should be there to adore Him, eager to consume the bread of His word for the Life it is! We should be taking notes, following along in our Bibles, lifting our hands and our feet and singing our hearts out! Not holding back, not texting on our phones, not leaving our Bible at home because we can’t be bothered to take it with us.

We need to give Him the best of our time — if the church God has placed us in has more than just Sunday-morning service, we need to go! This wasn’t an easy thing for me because I like my “down time”, but I’ve since realized that with God, He is my down time! Today work was getting crazy and busy and overwhelming and I was getting frustrated and tired. Then I felt such an impression to worship that I just turned up the worship songs, stood up, and lifted my hands before my God and worshipped Him as hard as I could for 15 minutes. It was brief, but it was powerful! And after tha,t there was peace, relaxation, an energy that I didn’t have before (I honestly felt like I had just woken up, refreshed, and having just downed an espresso or two!). What an amazing thing God gives us when we turn to Him! I could have easily gone and had a coffee, grumbled, muttered, whatever… but nothing would have given me the peace and vitality that just worshipping my Lord and Saviour gave me. Thank You, Lord, for that! But there is a very real key here: God honors the time we give Him. I have experienced this over and over again. Give God time and He will give you back whatever you sacrificed for Him. Did you give up sleep? The sleep you do get will be sounder, better, and you’ll wake even more refreshed. Did you give Him time that belonged to family or work? You’ll get that “time” back in increased productivity, a deeper quality to your family life (honestly though, your family should be in church with you! That is family time!).

(I need to quickly qualify the family time because there is a point of extremes. Yes, you should be in church as much as you can, and your family with you. But if you’re running around all the time, going to this church or that, or to that event, and not taking some time with your family, then you need to rethink what you’re doing. Good family time is so important, and we think it’s all rush rush rush, going here or there, when we need to take time to grow in our family units. That isn’t to say family time is sitting in front of the TV; if that’s your idea of family time you might as well be in church. I mean good engaging family time: playing board games, reading stories or the Bible, spending time talking and, more importantly, teaching your children about God is absolutely vital to maintaining a good strong family unit. As well, praying together, as a family, is more vital than you can imagine!)

So instead of skipping church to “minister” to a friend, you need to go to church (with or without them) — that will minister to them even more. They’ll know where your priorities are! Instead of spending time watching TV or playing video games, we should be spending our time at church or in His Word, or praying, or worshipping Him. I’m not saying don’t watch TV or play games or enjoy recreation, but what I’m saying is that the best of your time should be given to God and after you have honored Him and been obedient, then watch TV or whatever. Make all of that secondary, because God should be primary!

We need to give Him the best of our money — tithes and offerings. This is something God demands from us. 10% belongs to Him. We need to be faithful here; I believe it so deeply because I’ve experienced it. Tithing is so critical to receiving the full blessing of God. Offerings and alms are like lending money to God and He pays back with interest! But most importantly, because He asks us, we should do it. He’s worthy, right? Right!

We need to give Him the best of our talent — we need to be using our gifts and talents and skills for the increase of God’s kingdom! Whether this is serving in the church, whether this is ministering to people on the streets — whatever it is that God called you to do we should be doing it cheerfully and without grumbling. At our work, at our church, at our homes… everything we do should be done as if we were doing it for God. He deserves the best we have, and that includes the best work ethic! People should be scrambling to hire Christians, not wanting to get rid of them because we’re no different than the world in our work ethic! We need to be working hard because God gave us talents to improve and increase, and because He gives us the strength we need if we ask Him. We’ve got a huge advantage over worldly workers if we would only see it!

We need to give Him the best of our adoration — God deserves it. In heaven we will be crying out “worthy, worthy, worthy” for all eternity, so we might as well start practicing it now! We need to give God our reverence, we need to worship and pour out our love on Him because He is so very much worth it! We need to bless Him, crave His Presence, do whatever He asks of us because we love Him so much, because of what He has done for us and just because He loves us! He is called our heavenly Father for a reason! Now, I know that’s hard for those of us who don’t have fathers that pour out affection on us or make time for us, but realize that our Father is not like our earthly fathers. I mean, I love my daughter… I love her a lot. I would spend all of my time with her if I could. She’s beautiful, she’s smart, she’s kind, she’s generous, she has everything that makes her attractive to be around. I love her with all my heart. And yet, my love for her pales in comparison to God’s love for her. Jesus died for her too! God loves her with such an abundant love that I couldn’t even know it to describe it.

But what is amazing to me is that she loves me without question, without reservation. My daughter loves me to the point where it makes my heart ache because I am the recipient of that love. And I think God designed the family unit in this way so that we as parents can actually feel how God feels when kids love their parents unconditionally. And so that we as parents can feel how He feels when our kids misbehave or are not obedient, because that’s what we do to Him.

I also think that the way we feel pride in our kids when they excel and put their heart into something and give something their all (a test, a sport, whatever) is similar to the pride God feels in us when we give our tasks our best. And similarly, how we feel when our kids don’t try, lack ambition to succeed, when they’re not listening to us, when they don’t talk to us, when they don’t want to hang out with us… that disappointment we feel is small compared to the disappointment God feels when His children (us!) don’t listen (obey), don’t want to talk (pray), don’t want to hang out (go to church), don’t want to try, don’t want to persevere, don’t want to care, and so on.

The bottom line is that if we profess to love God, we need to bear witness to that. God sees the heart, He is not fooled by our silly justifications. He isn’t fooled when we want to watch a talk show rather than read His Word and justify it by saying we’ll do it later. You can’t trick God by saying that you’ll skip a service because you got to that really good part in a game, or a book, or you’re having a good time with friends, or the big game is on TV. God sees all, and He sees where our priorities lie by how we act, what we say, and what we do.

The Old Testament is full of examples of the sacrifices and offerings God ordained for His people. They were commanded to give the best of their flock, the best of their crops, the first fruits. I think that we’ve forgotten this, or haven’t read our Bibles enough to know it. We were bought with the most awful price, our lives are no longer our own. Yes, we are slaves to Christ because of the currency He used to pay for our redemption, His own blood. We can’t possibly pay Him back for what He gave us, but the very least we can do is live our lives obedient to His Word and express our love for Him in the most obvious way possible — by giving Him our absolute best, because He is worthy, worthy, worthy!

“For He will deliver the needy when He cries,
The poor also, and him who has no helper.
He will spare the poor and needy,
And will save the souls of the needy.
He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;
And precious shall be their blood in His sight.” (Ps 72:12-14, NKJV)

The above was part of my Bible reading guide this morning and it spoke volumes due to what we had done yesterday. Yesterday, we had put on a BBQ in probably the roughest neighbourhood in our inner city, a free BBQ to feed the homeless, helpless, and the less fortunate. Why did we do this? Because we love God, and we know He loves these people and street people are of value as well (which the above verse definitely indicates!), and they deserve to be shown the same dignity and respect that we are all accustomed to.

This is the third year this event has been put on, and preparation for it began months ago. There were preparations in the natural, of course, soliciting donations for the event, but there were also preparations in the spiritual realm. Twice we had done prayer walks around the field, just praying that God would do what He does best: meet with people, transform people, that His Spirit would be there in a very real way. As organizers, we had prayed together and individually for this thing for weeks beforehand.

Yesterday morning I was up at six in the morning, preparing to be down at the site for eight in the morning to begin setup. That morning I was reading from the book of Acts, and the works of the early church inspired me for the day. What powerful things the early church had done! What beautiful adoration to God, to His Word, to His divine purpose! What a humbling thing to try and recreate by the work we were doing!

The BBQ was an absolute success. Despite little technical setbacks early on that, in the grand scheme of things, really amounted to nothing, we had an opportunity to feed at least 500-700 people. Local media was out, so we got a few seconds of exposure on the local TV stations (keep reading to see the clips) and there should be an article in the local newspaper regarding it as well. It was a hot day, up to 24C and many of us got sun burnt. We gave away so much, a thousand hot dogs and a thousand hamburgers, brand-new clothes that were donated, pillows, donuts, fruit, chips, pop, bottles of water. Thank you to the many companies that supported us and gave freely to the event, and thank you to the many volunteers that helped. God bless you all!

Now that the natural results have been described, I need to describe the spiritual. And this is what made this day so exciting, so powerful, and so exhausting. As I said, we were praying for weeks before the event and even driving down, the music in the car was off, and I was praying for the BBQ, for the volunteers, for the food, for the people that were coming to the event. And God moved in an absolutely powerful way! Thank You God that You listen to the heart-felt prayers of Your people who are striving to be obedient and do Your will! There is so much to describe, so it may be a bit disjointed — please bear with me.

First and foremost, there was such a sense of joy among the volunteers. There were no arguments, no one complained about having to do more than others, or do something they didn’t like. We were united in one purpose. There were smiles everywhere, people were so welcoming to those coming through the line to be fed, there was a genuine servanthood evident. There was such complete _peace_ in that place. You need to understand that these are people who are accustomed to a life of strife and fighting, that literally fight over scraps of food. Yet it was so peaceful in the field. There was no striving for places in line. They were patient, despite the heat, and they were grateful for the food. They were polite, thankful. To put this in perspective, I drove off-site around 2:30 in order to get some coffee. Not even a block away I saw two men yelling at each other and fighting. When we were loading the left over supplies into the church at 6:00 there were young men and women, right before the doors of the church (which is also right in the middle of downtown) fighting and swearing and arguing. But in that place, at that time, there was complete and utter peace. No fighting, no arguing, no dissension.

I believe with all of my heart that God put His angels around that field as a hedge of protection. As we walked around and prayed for that field in the weeks leading up to the BBQ, and on the day of the event as we prayed, I believe God anointed that piece of land for His purpose while we were there. We prayed for protection and we got it. We prayed for peace, we prayed that the ground would be saturated with the blood of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit would overshadow that field and we received all of these things.

I remember a half dozen of us were behind the stage when the first pastor was preaching and we were crying out to God for repentance and open ears and open hearts and open minds. We cried out to God on behalf of the people, that the Holy Spirit would use the pastor’s mouth to speak life to these people. And we were rewarded with about a dozen people coming forward to the altar to be prayed for and receive Bibles.

Later in the afternoon a few us were getting ready to go off-site to clean up garbage. We had put it off to wait for someone who was supposed to come with us, and so we waited about an extra 20-30 minutes. Right when we were about to go (despite the person we were waiting for not coming back), preaching began and there was such an anointing that fell that we knew cleaning up the garbage of the streets around us was secondary to cleaning up the people before us, so we went into the crowd of people instead and just talked to people, showing them they were of value, speaking life into their lives, and just providing an ear to listen to them. Many people were prayed for, many seeds were planted.

After that, we had another pastor preaching and at the end of his message, he asked people who wanted to receive prayer to just put up their hands. I was at the front watching the sound board, having sat down for the first time in probably six hours, and I looked out and one man caught my eye. His hand was up and I felt led to go over to him and as the pastor was praying, I just stood behind him, put my hand on his shoulders and prayed. After the prayer was done I was able to sit with him and talk to him about how much Jesus loved him, how much value He had before God, and just really inspire him and lift him up. I told him about the inner city church, and he said he had a friend that went there and had asked him to go. I encouraged him to go, and I pray that he did go this morning, or will go this evening.

It was a long day of praying and interceding for people, and then there was the cleanup. Tearing everything down and hauling it back to the church was a job and a half, and we had less people to help with the tear-down than we did for the setup. Thank you so much to those who stuck around to help bring all this stuff back to the church! We were all tired and exhausted but we did it with a cheerfulness I don’t know if you would find anywhere else. And when that was said and done, we had another divine appointment waiting when we got back to the field. At this point, the field was empty, and all that was left were dirty BBQs waiting to be loaded up and taken away.

But with the five of us there, we had a man come over trying to sell us some shoes. He was obviously a street person, and not one of us really had a need for shoes (despite them being really nice shoes!). But my friend, God bless him, offered to buy the shoes if he could talk to the man for a few minutes about Jesus. You could see his back get rigid and he got defensive, but he was willing, so the two of them went off for at least 20 minutes. Then they came back, we chatted a bit, and then someone asked if we could pray for him. At this point, he had his $30 for the shoes and could have declined, but I know he was there by divine appointment and he was willing. I don’t know if he expected something short and sweet, but there were five of us and we all prayed over him… we covered him for at least 15 minutes and the Holy Spirit was definitely there. We poured God’s love over him, our love over him, the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and guidance and discernment. We covered him the blood of Jesus and prayed that his heart would be changed and that he too, would find his way the next day to church, and that the enemies lies would be exposed for what they were. He was told in no uncertain terms that the shoes meant absolutely nothing to us, but that we had a deep and sincere desire to minister to his spirit, that the money meant nothing to us. He left with his money, and thanked us for the prayers. I sincerely hope he made his way to the church this morning as well; I pray that the Holy Spirit ordered his steps because I know that he was there by divine appointment. God had His hand in the whole day, and this meeting was no exception, no coincidence.

I got home at 8:30 last night, over 12.5hrs after leaving that morning. It was an exhausting day: physically and spiritually. But it was also one of the most beautiful days I’ve experienced, and despite what God did for the people that we served, I know that He was pouring His love into me — not necessarily love for _me_, but sharing His love for His children, for the people that live on the streets, the people that most would discount as non-people, people of no value. He was giving me His love for them so that it would become _my_ love for them! I know that a gratefulness for God Himself and a love for people was birthed in me yesterday, and it spilled over this morning.

Despite a good 9hrs of sleep and still being exhausted this morning, and feeling that I couldn’t give God what He deserved at church this morning, I was completely and utterly abandoned in worship to my almighty Lord and Saviour Jesus. The Holy Spirit visited me so powerfully that if I could have I would have knelt in the aisle and wept with joy before my God. As it was, I stood with arms raised and wept before Him, declaring my love for Him and the awesome privilege that He gave me to be able to do His work yesterday. Jesus, I love you so much, and thank You for the most awesome privilege of being able to serve a people so dear to Your heart! Thank You!

And the message this morning really struck me, as it was about the fruit of repentance, or the true signs of a Christian believer. And the first of the three fruit was being generous and compassionate. How amazing that this message came a day after the service we had done! (Have you ever noticed that God affirms His work in your life through the ministry of the Word? I sure have!) A true Christian will display the fruits of generosity and compassion to people, as John the Baptist said:

“So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise.”” (Luke 3:10-11, NKJV)

I count myself privileged that God saw fit to use me yesterday, and I may myself available for continued. He blessed my heart yesterday, truly, and my reward this morning was to feel Him so powerfully to the point where I felt like I couldn’t contain it anymore. Thank You Jesus so much that You love me and care for me, and that You are continuing to shape me into a vessel of honour that can be poured out to bless Your people!

The following video clips are from the news yesterday. We got a little bit of coverage, but sadly they didn’t keep any of the parts talking about God. Truly this was done in His service, for His honour and His glory. And while the media might not acknowledge that, every person who was there yesterday, from those giving their testimonies and those putting ketchup on a bun, to those who received food for their bellies and their spirits, _they_ know that this was done all for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you again, to all the volunteers that helped out. I had a lot of family out to help, and I’m so proud of them for being willing to give of themselves to this cause. I’m grateful to my little girl who handed out water and pop with such enthusiasm and generosity; you make me so proud. And to my lovely wife who gave of herself the whole day, serving people and talking and listening, bless you for doing what God has called you to do. I feel such a pride for my family, yet I am humble before my God who counted me trustworthy enough yesterday to minister to people. What a privilege!

… is sad to have just seen someone who was baptized a few years back, but today says, ‘It’s not working for me any more…’ I sometimes wonder why God doesn’t do a better job of keeping his people. But I also wonder, ‘What are all the dynamics that come into play in a decision like that?’

I think this is the wrong question to ask, honestly. I think the real question is: “why aren’t we doing a better job of keeping people?”. If God doesn’t change… if He’s the same today, as He was yesterday, and will be tomorrow, then it isn’t up to God to keep us, it’s up to us to keep ourselves and those around us. Blaming God because someone was baptized and then a few years later has strayed and says “it just wasn’t for me” is a cop-out, and playing the blame-game with someone Who doesn’t deserve that kind of criticism.

I think the problem really comes down to emotion, rather than faith. Too many people “try” Christianity and then when it doesn’t do what they want, they give up on it. But I don’t understand this, because I don’t understand why they “get into it” in the first place then. Do we “get into” Christianity because we expect God to do something for us? I think this is usually it. We want God to heal us, prosper us, take care of us. We go to a meeting, are swept away in anointed worship, get on a “high” and then come to the altar and profess our love and need of a Saviour.

Often it’s like going to a good concert, or a good sports game. In the moment, it’s amazing, the crowd is excited and loud, our hearts are pounding, and we’re cheering like crazy. The next day we’re exhausted but still on the same high. What a great game/concert/worship service that was! We can go around pumped up by that excitement we were a part of for days… sometimes weeks.

But then the excitement fades as real life takes it’s toll. There are long days at work, arguments with the spouse, dealing with kids, hanging out with friends. We spend our time watching TV or playing video games, and the excitement, feelings, and memories dim. What excited us in the moment last week is no longer vivid because the boring day-in, day-out of our life is back. And we no longer feel like we did.

For a concert or sports game, this is par for the course. These things fade, they don’t last forever. However an encounter with God, a real encounter with God, should last forever. You can’t have an encounter with a holy and righteous God and not come away changed. I mean, you can’t have a real encounter without it being a life changing encounter. I love the way Paul Washer describes an encounter with God; it goes on the premise that a meeting with God is like a meeting with a semi-truck. When you encounter that truck going full speed on the highway, one of you will leave that encounter changed — and it isn’t going to be the truck! When you hit that truck, your life is changed in a way that will never be the same again.

Got that imagination working? Imagine it. That is one awfully messy transformation! That is a complete and utter and total transformation! And that is how we should be changed when we meet God, when we truly meet God!

Sadly, this isn’t often the case. And I put myself in the same place… many times have I gone to meetings or camps where I ended up on my face before a God who loved me so much that even if I were the only person on the planet, He still would have sent His Son to die on the cross for me, so that I could have a relationship with God the Father. I know a Saviour that loves me so much that if I were the only person on the planet, He still would have gone willingly to the cross to be humiliated, beaten, and received the full wrath of Almighty God on my behalf. And weeks later I threw that love back in His face as if it meant nothing, and lived life my own way, on my own terms, again!

God forgive me, I am just as guilty as the next man, and have done it many times. It pains me to admit it, and I am ashamed that I have repeatedly despised that most beautiful and generous gift on so many occasions, but I believe this is what happens to a lot of people. It certainly has happened to me.

The real problem is that when things get tough (or we don’t think God is working the way we want Him to) we think that there is something wrong with God, when the reality is there is something wrong with us. You look at a world where self-help books are the source of help to so many people, where people are told to “visualize” success, where the law of the land is me, me, ME! Where people think they are their own gods, that they aren’t responsible for what happens to them and the choices they make. Oh no… I’ll take all the credit for the good things that happen to me, but when bad things happen, God is to blame… He is my scapegoat.

Yet, if God never changed (and we know this to be true), then who really is to blame? God is the same today as He was when we felt so overwhelmed with love for Him, and felt loved by Him. When the feeling wears off, is it God who loves us less? No! It is us who love Him less!

I think there are four places where we can put God.

The first is right in front of us where He belongs. He is first and foremost, He is the most important thing, and we come before Him daily with love and adoration, humility and thanksgiving.

Or we stuff Him in our pocket, and pull Him out when things are too tough to handle on our own. God is useful only when we need Him, but if we don’t need Him, then we won’t pay any attention to Him. He’s safe and secure, tucked away, ready to be called out on a moment’s notice should we need Him.

Third, I think people put Him on a shelf. They don’t have God handy when they need Him, they have to go figure out where they left Him, dust Him off, and then get some help from Him. These are people that will only go to God in the most extreme of circumstances because He’s not even worth enough, to them, to carry around. These people don’t want God to interfere, to make things uncomfortable, to be inconvenienced with a Christian lifestyle. I think these people have a very cluttered shelf and God takes up a small part of the shelf, usually at the back. More prominent on the shelf are the other icons, idols, and self-helps that they reach for first.

Finally, there are the people who are so stubborn and hard-hearted that they deny His very existence. They don’t even have a shelf to put Him on.

In each of these scenarios, however, God is still God. The difference is where we put Him.

So, in a large part, we are responsible for our own relationship with God because, after all, it is our relationship with God. He already proved how much He loved us. If God did nothing else for me from this point forward, I would know that He loved me more than I deserved by what Jesus did for me at the cross. But because God loves me, He continues to bless me and give me good gifts (be they spiritual, emotional, material, whatever). He makes His relationship known to me, He speaks to me, He comforts me. He is always there when I need Him, and I always know where to find Him because He’s out front. God isn’t the co-pilot, as the popular bumper sticker says, God IS the pilot! I’m just along for the ride.

I also think that we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, are responsible for our “siblings”. The Great Commission tells us what our job is, but it also tells us that we have a responsibility:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” (Matt 28:18-20, NKJV)

Our job is clear: to make disciples and to teach people. Our responsibility is clear: to make disciples and teach people. The dictionary defines “disciples” as: follower, adherent, believer, admirer, devotee, acolyte, votary; pupil, student, learner; upholder, supporter, advocate, proponent, apologist.

A disciple of Jesus Christ is one who continues to learn, who follows His commands, who is devoted to Him and His Word, who supports His people. We are most certainly responsible for our brothers and sisters in Christ! When Cain was asked by God where his brother Abel was (after he had killed him), and Cain replied “am I my brother’s keeper?” I think that God’s answer was a thundering YES!

The bottom line is that we as people need to take responsibility for our own actions. It’s not up to God to “keep us”, it’s up to us to remain faithful. And if we see a brother or sister stumble, or get discouraged, or become lost — we need to deal with that, and not ignore it. Yes, it is their life, but if God has given them to you by being family, or a friend, or someone to whom you are in a position of leadership or authority, then I very much think that God makes you, and me, responsible for how we treat, talk to, encourage, ignore, berate, condemn, or judge them. Ultimately they are responsible for their own salvation and relationship with God, of course, but we do have a responsibility to them as well, and a responsibility to God as to how we deal with them (for good or bad).

I think we need to realize that the burden is on us, not God, to continue our relationship with Him. We have the choice. God made His choice thousands of years ago when Adam and Eve first sinned, because even then He spoke about the coming of Jesus! God made a way for us to have relationship with Him, and all it costs us is love and obedience. Because if we love Him, then the things He asks of us are not hard or, if they are hard, they are worth the effort and cost (and don’t forget, He will give us the strength we need to accomplish what He asks of us if only we will ask Him!).

Remember, Jesus paid the most awful price to bridge the gap between man and God. And we do not need to earn what He has given us; it is a gift, a most beautiful gift. It is freely given, and easily received. He already demonstrated the love He has for us, beyond anything we could ever imagine.

No, it’s not up to God to keep us. It’s up to us to keep ourselves in the faith, and God makes this easy if we put our faith, hope, strength, trust, and love in Him… and Him alone.

God bless! I know this is a hard truth to bear, but it is truth, and I hope it encourages you and grows your relationship with God the Father!

Since angels are in the Bible, I whole-heartedly believe in them. Absolutely and without question. What I do question is what people describe as the purpose of angels. I question this need to describe the angelic hierarchy, to categorize them, to find out their names, to talk with them, pray to them, or order them about like they are our own personal genies. We have been told to worship God, yet I believe that what a lot of people are doing is worshipping angels.

The definition of “worship” is: adoration, reverence, devotion. When people focus on angels, seek after them, talk to them, concentrate on them, then they are, in essence, worshipping them. There is a stern warning about worshipping angels, and people who read their Bibles would know it:

“Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”” (Rev 22:8-9, NKJV)

John was told not to worship the angel who had shown him such amazing and wonderful things as indicated in the book of Revelations. Why then would we think it is ok to give angels this same reverence and adoration today when it wasn’t ok to do it 2000 years ago?

As with all things, the Bible is our litmus test. So what does the Bible say about angels? It doesn’t talk much about angelic hierarchies, and very few angels are named. But it clearly says that angels are messengers of God, that they lead or prepare the way according to God’s Will, and that they also stand in the way, hinder, and destroy certain things — again, according to God’s Will. Angels are always met with reverence — not only because they are supernatural beings, but because they were a manifestation of the Will of God, because they brought God’s message to people. Heb 1:14 says that angels are “ministering spirits” . Psalms 91:11 and Psalms 103:20 say that angels do God’s commands, not ours. Matt 13:41 indicates that Jesus commands angels, not us.

There is another very clear warning against angel worship:

“Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.” (Col 2:18-19, NKJV)

I like how the Message reads for that passage as well:

“Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They’re a lot of hot air, that’s all they are. They’re completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.” (Col 2:18-19, MSG)

The warning is clear: don’t chase after angels, chase after Jesus — He is the Head, and He is the source of life. Don’t follow vain ideas, outlandish obsessions, things that satisfy the flesh. This is what angel worship is.

Also look to Heb 1:4 and 1:6; Jesus is superior to angels, and angels worship Jesus. So if Jesus is so much more than angels, why do people put faith in angels, and pray to angels, and worship angels. Why worship the created rather than the Creator?

I also find it very dangerous because a lot of the “reading materials” about guardian angels and information on angels, sounds suspiciously like New Age spirit guides. Any Christian will tell you that a “spirit guide” is nothing but demonic, but why do we go soft when talking about angels? In particular, why is it that the same meditational practice to talk to your angel is so similar to that of talking to a “spirit guide”, but because it’s an angel it’s ok? Read the following quote and tell me if this is something that a Bible-believing Christian should ever do:

Make yourself comfortable, sitting or lying down. Be aware of your breathing… Let your body become limp and relaxed. Empty your mind; create space, just as though the whole of the universe was there, inside you. Now just be. No doing. Only being. Communicate to your angel that you wish to connect with her/him. Wait in peace. Be aware of what happens. It may not seem much at first. Be patient. Subtle changes will occur. You may see light, colors or form. You may be aware of a presence. You may feel tingling sensations. You may feel emotion. You will feel love. You can ask or invoke, use stillness for clear reception, use “heart sensing,” pay them by sending them love, and maintain harmony in your aura and home environment.

The source of the above quote is a catholic web site that is devoted to angels and information on angels. The mission statement and beliefs of the site, as stated, all sound great: they believe in the Holy Trinity, they believe in prayer, in anointed worship, and so forth. It sounds very inspiring and very Christian. Until you read the above. If you were to do a search on how to contact your spirit guide, you would find similar themes as the above: be aware of breathing, relax, empty your mind, visualize, speak with your angel (aka spirit guide). What kind of heresy is this! Confess Jesus as the Christ and then tell people that communicating with angels in a prescribed meditational way that is identical to New Age or spiritist/medium/occult mechanisms is ok? No, more than ok, that people should be doing this? That it is ok? What nonsense is this? And more importantly, why do people who call themselves Christian buy into this rot when it is so clearly spoken against in the Bible?

To conclude, I know what kind of angels these people who claim to talk to them, visualize them, converse with them, and so forth are actually dealing with. There are two types of angels: the holy angels that obey God the Father and Jesus the Son, and the fallen angels that follow Satan. Since we know that the New Age movement and “spirit guides” are of the devil, then would it not make sense to conclude that angels contacted in the same fashion are from the same origin? Rev 9:11 says that Satan is an angel and Rev 12:7-9 says Satan has angels.

“But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2 Cor 11:12-15, NKJV)

Satan comes as an angel of light, with subtlety, with feelings of love and warm fuzzies. Do not be deceived! We are told to test the spirits, but how many do? So wrapped up in the wonderful feelings, the adoration, the worship of these beings they do not think to question. Yet we are told explicitly to test the spirits:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” (1 John 4:1-3, NKJV)

I think the message is abundantly clear. We do not command angels. They are not here to do our bidding. We are not to worship them or chase after them. We are not supposed to pray to them. They are servants of Jesus, just as we are. Their purpose and function is to praise God and do His Work, just as it is for us. Anything that puts esteem on angels, or a focus on angels, is taking away glory that belongs to God. A holy angel of God would not at all want to take away glory from God. But an angel of darkness sure would. That was the reason why Lucifer was cast out of heaven to begin with! He thought to exalt himself above God. Any doctrine that tries to do the same thing is of the same origin.

As Christians we need to be aware of this and not chase after or find a fascination in this kind of thing. This is demonic, New Age teaching to the core. It has been spruced up to put a “Christian” or “Jewish” face on something that is of terrible danger, to make it more palatable to people. We need to discern this kind of teaching and be aware of it, and toss it out when it comes at you, rebuking it in the name of Jesus. Anything that takes His Glory away from Him is not anything we as Christians should participate in, even slightly. My prayers belong to my Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus, and if He sees fit to send an angel to answer them, then blessed am I! But if not, that is ok too. No angel will be receiving my prayers, thank you very much!