Courage

This is an excellent article by Lee Eclov on pastoral courage.  I agree, some times you have to put your hat on your sword and march into the smoke with the full assurance that Jesus is there.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2013/winter/into-smoke.html?utm_source=ctdirect-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=9504152&utm_content=162269367&utm_campaign=2013&start=1

Enjoy.

SDG  March 21, 2013

The LORD Almighty is His Name

The LORD Almighty is His Name

I have been spending time pondering worship lately.  One thing that has informed this pondering is a comment made by Tim Keller in talk that he gave about idolatry called “Counterfeit Gods”.  During the course of his argument he states the erroneous position of many that say “I am not a worshiper because I do not enter a religious institution and call upon a god.”  He goes on to point out the error of this is found in the fact that worship is by no means confined to an institution religious or otherwise.  Worship is bowing down to anything outside of ourselves with or without the trappings of an organization.  So his rightful conclusion is we all do it whether we acknowledge it or not.

Even in the Bible we are shown that it is the object of our praise that defines our worship.  In Exodus the people bow down in their Egyptian homes and worship the LORD.  In Ezra the people gather on the foundation of what will become the rebuilt temple and worship the LORD proclaiming “You are good and Your love endures forever.”  Worship is the act of giving our praise to The One who is outside of ourselves.

A few years ago, Dr. Stephen Dempster, made a group of us aware of a subtle aspect of the prophet Amos that points us to worship.  I remember him pointing out in class and him eventually sharing with us a Revue Biblique article that he wrote about the fragments of an ancient hymn that is found in the book of Amos.  That fine detail of the prophet’s writing pointed out by a diligent professor has stuck with me even after 20 years when it was first brought to my attention.  What it looks like Amos is doing is that he is referring to a hymn that I am suggesting to you was titled “The LORD Almighty is His Name”.  Amos uses it to shock his readers out of idolatry and into worship.  He wants them to open up their blind eyes and soften their hard hearts and see that just singing the song is not enough.  He wants them to know that we must worship The LORD Almighty and none other.  Idolatry is false worship by giving praise to something or someone other than The LORD Almighty.  Since that class and reading that article I have been sensitive to the use of the phrase “The LORD Almighty is His Name” in the Old Testament and I am including below a possible compilation of that ancient hymn.  One verse is taken from the Prophet Jeremiah and the rest from Amos.  There may be more verses in the Scripture that I have missed and I will keep searching.  Nevertheless, it stands as a bold Biblical call to worship Him who has done all things and can do all things.

The LORD Almighty is His Name

He who appoints the sun to shine by day
Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night.
Who stirs up the sea so that it waves roar.
The LORD Almighty is His Name. (Jeremiah 31:35)

He who forms the mountains
Creates the wind and reveals His thoughts to man.
He who turns dawn to darkness and treads the high places of earth.
The LORD Almighty is His Name. (Amos 4:13)

He who made the Pleiades and Orion
Who turns blackness into dawn and darkens day into night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea  and pours them out over the face of the land.
The LORD Almighty is His Name. (Amos 5:8)

He who touches the earth and it melts,
And all who live in it mourn.
The whole land rises like the Nile
Then sinks like the river of Egypt
The LORD Almighty is His Name. (Amos 9:5)

He who builds His lofty palace in the heavens
And sets its foundation on the earth.
Who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out over the face of the land.
The LORD Almighty is His Name.

 

SDG

February 26, 2013