Sunday Mornings

In Psalm 73 a man named Asaph, a worship leader in the Old Testament Temple, said this, "But as for me, my feet had almost slipped. I had nearly lost my foothold...until I entered the sanctuary of God". So often this is my Sunday morning experience, especially in the last couple of years.  

No matter what my successes or failures have been leading up to Sunday, it seems that when I intentionally come into God's presence with God's people with the motivation to worship Him, my spirit, my demeanor, my attitude often changes. I've always been grateful for this reality. But even more grateful in recent weeks and months.

The last 24 months have easily been the most challenging of my nearly 20 years of pastoral ministry.  Leading necessary change that some did not like (and so they left the church), dealing with and trying to resolve conflicts in marriages and between believers, attacks from the outside by people and by the enemy of our souls. There have been several times I was tempted to quit. Only through the power of God and the encouragement of friends and family have I been sustained.

So during a given week I'm dealing with all of these challenging things and then I come to Saturday night. I'm down, discouraged, I don't even want to think about having to get in front of people and preach, encourage, instruct and lead. Somehow I drag myself out of bed Sunday morning and make my way to the church. Just entering the building doesn't do it (our buildings are not the modern day Temple, if you didn't know). Just praying and studying my message notes doesn't do it. Going through all the pre-service preparation doesn't do it. Then, I walk in as the worship center is filling with people and something begins to change. 

You see, the Bible clearly says in the New Testament that WE are the Temple of God, the Holy Spirit lives in us! God's presence, which used to dwell in the OT Temple, now resides in each follower of Jesus! Listen to these words of the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 3:16-17:  "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple."

God is just as passionate and protective of His Temple now as He was thousands of years ago, but today that Temple is you and me!

So what is it that happens on Sunday morning that always seems to right my spirit and redirect my heart?  God's collective presence increases as all of these "temples" of God gather to worship Him! My soul is literally joined with many others who genuinely want to worship and celebrate our God, the One who lives in us!

So I'm grateful for Sunday morning. No matter what the week has been like, if I come with an open heart and a willing spirit, I will meet with God and His people. 

"But as for me, my feet had almost slipped. I had nearly lost my foothold...until I entered the sanctuary of God". (Psalm 73:2; 17)

The Title of My Blog

Less is More

Over the last 20 years or so I've consistently said that my life verse is John 3:30 - He must become greater, I must become less. - I still find myself wrestling with what this verse means to me and why I resonate with it.  Here's some random thoughts:

• My name is John, the gospel is John, hmmm, interesting 😇
• When i was in elementary school my favorite time of the day was 3:30 because that's what time we got out of school each day!
• I'm not good at memorization and this is a short verse
• These words were spoken by...wait for it...a guy named "John" (the Baptist)
• Maybe I want people to think I'm both very spiritual and very humble (even if sometimes I'm neither)

More often than not, if pressed to give an answer to why I hold this as my life verse, I say something like this: "Because I know myself pretty well. I like for people to like me. I like getting positive attention. It just so happens that as a pastor, someone hands me a microphone once per week or so and for some reason people come, sit and listen. So I know that I could start thinking that this life, this world, my ministry, all of it revolves around me. But here's the thing, I know it doesn't. I know that everything revolves around the life, ministry and person of Jesus. I want my life, ministry, relationships and world to revolve around Him too. My default, human tendency is to make all of this about me. So I must intentionally and consistently make Jesus greater and me less as best I can."

Somehow God works out a human equation that says this:  "If you will love me with all that you are (make Him greater) and love others the way you would want to be loved (make myself less), I will make more of your life than you could possibly imagine!"

So in that heavenly equation:  Less is More 

So there you go. The title of my blog.