Thoughts

Hello everyone,

The past two days have been quite interesting to say the least. The house my uncle lives in acts as a home to more than just his family. My uncle and aunt have been hosting many teams from all over who have a desire to reach out to the Kurds. The house is four stories including the basement. The third and fourth story have rooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and a prayer/worship room. My uncle and aunt have done a great job facilitating those who have a desire to help others spiritual and physical ways.

 The only room has not been being used a lot is the basement. So, in an act to fix this issue, Uncle Bill, Kevin, and I (with the help of my little cousins) began to paint. After painting for several hours, we arrived to the the last corner which contained what seemed an unending amount of water bottles given to my uncle by the U.S. Army. Thus began the strenuous work of moving the water.

After several hours of grueling work and several attempts to get the paint off my feet, the team that we had worshiped with several days ago came over to use the prayer room. I was overjoyed. For several years I have struggled with worship. I have always held beliefs on how worship should be, but never had the boldness or courage to stand out. Worship to me is such an important factor in a Christian's life. It brings glory to God for who He is and what He has done, it building the spiritual relationship between the Father and you, and it will also help in your day to day life, making life overall better.

The sad thing is, I have noticed in many churches, Bible studies, and gatherings, that worship is not used to it's full potential. People will mouth the words, or look around. People will stand there not paying attention to the words and what they mean. This is a major problem because if you aren't worshiping your Lord with your whole heart, then what is the point? I see community worship as a time filled with emotion. It is a time as a church we come together and remember what God has done and sing His holy name.

Lets pretend you are watching your favorite football team with all your friends and your team is losing by a 3 points with little time remaining. Just before the clock hits zero, your favorite player gets a touchdown. what happens next? Well usually you jump up and down or yell or give high fives or hugs. The excitement you get when you see the team you love win boils up and out of you which turns into physical excitement.

Why isn't worship the same way? Why do we sit chained to our seat singing words? It seems to me that if you have a passionate love for God, it should boil out while you worship. This is the way I have always viewed worship but have never really had the boldness to say or do anything about it.

But last night, yet again, was simply marvelous. I recall the first few songs we all were sitting down on mats meditating and just thinking about God. Some began to stand and sing and dance while others stayed seated and studied God's Word. Soon every one was up singing and praising God. Tears began to flow as people thought more and more about God and the love He provides. People stood next to each other confessing sins and doubts and struggles. In Arabic and in English we would pray over each other.

True, worship and the Christian walk should  not be based on emotions. If all you do is have these emotional experiences, you will not grow. But it is absolutely necessary to meditate, thinking what God has done, and crying out to Him, thanking Him for what He has done and what He is doing.

Moving on...
I have begun to think more and more about allowing love to flow through me like a river and the different ways I can apply it to my life. People ever where around us need encouragement. We are a people filled with loneliness and depression. We as Christians need to be out more helping with our community. Things as simple as smiling at those who walk past you or as amazing as praying over strangers you talk to.

 We are not called to be comfortable but uncomfortable. There shouldn't be people (especially in America) who have never heard of Jesus or felt the love of a Christian. Shame on us! We need to be out there constantly loving others because ,as true believers, we have love flowing through us! We have this ocean of love and grace and the Holy Spirit we need to tap into so that others can get it. We are Children of the Almighty God. We have power because God works through us to change lives. All we need to do is hear God speaking, and act on it.

Sorry this is really long. Just two out of many things that have been going through my head. Today was a wonderful day fill with hiking and exploring God's wonderful creation. Check out the pictures!

I love you all and hope the best!

Jake