february 18, 2001
church was good today. i know, i know. you'd tell me that church is good all the time, and as a matter of fact, i'd agree with you wholeheartedly. but today was one of those days where things just seemed especially good. i don't know if i'll do a good job of explaining what it was that made it so, but i'll give it a shot anyways. for those of you who can't wait to figure out what i'm gonna say at the end, let me spare you the suspense and attribute the blessings i received at church today absolutely, positively, 100% to - who else??? - to god!
i have to confess something first. the young adult group at my church meets for "cafe excelente" every sunday afternoon at 1:30. it's a time for the members of the young adult group (to be referred from now on as "the old folks"...ha ha, i'm just playin...i'll call them "yaggers" as everyone else does) to hang out and have fellowship with each other. and before today...i had never gone! yeah, i'm a bad yagger. anyhow, pastor ryan asked me not only to attend today's cafe, he asked me to host the day's festivities (we played "who wants to be a millionaire?" and i was supposed to be the host...regis philkim...har har.) needless to say, i was hesitant, but i agreed to do it. long story short, i really had a good time and even got to meet some new yaggers. it got me thinking about all that i had been missing out on by not going. after cafe, we went into service. since i was already at church, i was able to get a "good seat" for worship. normally, (second cenfession!) i get to church a few minutes late for service and i'm relegated to sitting way in the back of the sanctuary. but today i got to sit up close and, it kinda surprised me, but it makes a difference. i had almost forgotten how moving and powerful it is to see and hear hundreds of people singing and praising god together, but i was reminded of it today. and the words - it's easy for someone like me, someone who's gone to church his entire life, to overlook or take for granted the words that we sing. but for whatever reason, today was different. taking a moment to meditate on the songs made the today's experience honest, true praise. for today's message, pastor ryan spoke from matthew 5, the passage where jesus teaches the believers that they are the salt and light of the world. now i must have heard sermons on this passage dozens and dozens of times in my life, yet the message was 'fresh,' like i had learned something new.
(gotta wrap this up! i have to leave in a few minutes...)
sometimes my spiritual "excitement" level plateaus or takes a dip, and worship becomes more routine than it is an expression of my faith and joy in god. i know that life in general has lots of ups and downs, but days like today remind me that god is always looking out for me and providing me more and more reasons to praise him. he's got a great sense of timing - god has always provided me days and moments like today to remind me of what an awesome, exciting god he is; that just as advertised, he is most definitely worthy of my praise.
the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
- lamentations 3:22-23