Biblical Christians are quite aware of the battle with the flesh. Paul describes it very clearly in Romans 7:7-25. His description is pretty well true of at least a portion of all of our daily lives. When you hear the words “gratifying the desires of the flesh,” very possibly the more heinous sins come to your mind; the ones that too often  irrevocably destroy relationships, families, people, trust, or leave one in ruin. What is often overlooked, or for which we make the excuse, “this is who I am,” are the “little” battles that take place hundreds of time a day; the battles that are so often lost that we strike it up to who we are; it is simply a manner of living, thinking, talking, and behaving that you seemingly can never change.

“The flesh” is used in a number of different ways and contexts in the Bible; but here and in much of Scripture it simply means human. We are all flesh, because we are all human. However, humanity in the Garden of Eden before sin entered the world is not the humanity as it is now. Innately you are a sinner from conception; it’s in your genes. Apart from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit from the time of your rebirth in Christ, you will always sin; can’t help it, because it is who you are. But the born-again believer continues both to sin and obey, practice unrighteousness and live righteously. The flesh is still with us; which is often why we say “I’m only human!” This attitude to life is simply making provision for your flesh, your fallen humanity. We get irritated, speak gruffly, lose our temper, speak without thinking, yell; the list goes on indefinitely. But you chalk it up to the fact that you are human, or you’re sick, or you’re tired, or whatever.

While you may think it is a battle not worth fighting, or with little chance of any success, it is the essence of the Christian life; it is the marathon of sanctification; it is what Christ is calling you to do and be every day.  It is what our text is all about.  Just as you most likely have the same clothes on that you started the day with, “putting on the Lord Jesus Christ” is a way of life for the entire day; day after day.  But it is exactly where most Christians fail! The battle is lost not in the repeated and many failures; it is lost in not fighting the battle at all because you don’t think it is winnable, or not worth it. And the truth is that all the “little” lost battles when accepted as the way it is build up to the “big” lost battle in which the results are ruinous.

The Bible gives direction in myriad ways to make provision for the spirit, and not the flesh. If you don’t plan for it and prepare for it and commit to it in the power of the Spirit, it isn’t going to happen. It’s a daily discipline. Every day I HAVE to take pills, injections, eye drops and prepare frequent small meals of the right stuff to remain healthy. The spirit needs the same daily discipline or the battles will be lost. Don’t feed the beast; feed your soul.

But this serves to introduce the subject of physical fitness which we are told is a not so practiced discipline in American lives. It is now being trumpeted that we are an obese nation. Along with the incredible speed of technological advancement in the last generation we have experienced both the blessings and curses which accompany it. Technology can be used for both sanctifying and paganizing purposes, and one of the non-sanctifying results of much of the new technology, I am not talking about work-out machines, is to steal time away from  more redeeming activity that is better for the body, and also for the soul.

Yet you may ask, what is the sanctifying goal of physical fitness? Why do we do it if we do, and what is our goal? Is it to look better, or to live longer, or to save on doctor bills? Probably, all of the above. But this wasn’t the Apostle Paul’s primary purpose to which he speaks in our text. I have often wondered what specific things Paul did to stay in shape, because when you read of what he endured, he had to be an excellent physical specimen. One factor, of course, is the thousands of miles he must have walked. What Paul says is that he went into strict training to win a crown that would never fade away; obviously an eternal crown to the glory of God. Have you ever thought that your physical activity is for the glory of God? Is that or could that be your motivating factor of first importance leading to discipline?

This past week I attended the memorial service of a friend and fellow believer from my younger years. He was 20 years my senior but I can still vividly recall his warm smile, sincere interest in me, and redemptive conversation when I was a child up through my early adulthood. Our paths went in divergent directions and to different areas of the country. At his service I was reminded of his disciplined physical activity that was performed with great joy and with great delight in His Creator and in His creation; and as often as he could he did it with his family and friends, including my father. I learned that at the age of 50 he set as a goal to climb all 54 fourteeners in Colorado; which means all 54 of the mountain peaks in Colorado 14,000 feet and over. He summited 43 of them before sustaining a stroke that precluded any more climbs at that altitude. He did all this while being a husband and father of four children; very active in his church; sustaining an energetic and compassionate veterinary career, to include many mission trips volunteering his veterinary services.  As I heard this I thought he should have lived to be 120 rather than 85. (Brain cancer took his life in a matter of weeks from diagnosis).

But he did not do all this to extend his life and neither should we; nor to improve his appearance or lessen his doctor bills, though these are subsidiary benefits not to be discounted. I think he did it of first importance to glorify God and to glory in what opportunities God had given him in his own body and in the delight of Creation. Physical fitness will never extend your life beyond what God has ordained for you, nor will it completely overcome the mystery of your genetics. Consider Jim Fix the great runner who died of a heart attack in his early 50’s while running, yet still outlived all the men in his family by ten years who also died of a heart attack. Consider the Strongest Man in the World, Paul Anderson, who died at the age of 61 from kidney disease, yet never gave up his physical fitness regime even when confined to his bed. No, God has ordained all the days for each one of us, and man knows not his time whether or not he chooses to pursue as physically fit a body and soul as possible.

Physical fitness with the goal of bringing glory to God is not a vanity; it is a necessity if God has given you a body capable of it. If you are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30), physical fitness is a part of it.  Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and this speaks of the integral and intricate connection and communication of body and spirit, of mind and soul. Striving to be physically fit to the glory of God is an expression of your desire to love God more.

From the little we know of the shepherds from Luke’s account, I believe they were acquainted with the prophecies of a coming Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures. Shepherds, again by scholars who look for indications as determined by the knowledge of the culture, were assumed to be uneducated, poor, non-credible witnesses, and even thieves. But such stereo-typing does not tell us about the true nature of these shepherds. God, the Holy Spirit, has chosen to tell us all we need to know, and He has given us enough information to come to some fairly accurate conclusions about these men despite the lack of certain details.  Any truly objective and intelligent reader of the nativity accounts should know immediately that this is not the story any human would make up to explain an entrance of God into human history, taking on flesh and becoming man in these particular, revealed circumstances. The skeptics are only blowing smoke. Their minds are made up and simply are not swayed by truth. An open, observant, thoughtful mind has much to contemplate and consider for his own great benefit and spiritual health. Pity those who ignore such a magnificent beginning to the story of salvation.

Like us the shepherds were men who were terrified in encountering something totally foreign to their previous experience as the heavenly host lit up the night sky. Yet they believed the message and responded to it immediately and eagerly. What they saw, they believed. This was the promised Messiah, this Babe in the manger! Then they told about what their eyes of faith had beheld. Apparently their hearers believed them because of the genuine character of their testimony. But this is the last we hear of these shepherds. This is also the case with so many who had a life changing encounter with Christ in the Gospels; we do not hear of them again. We would love to hear sequels of their lives, but the Holy Spirit now keeps such information from us. There is so much that awaits us in eternity.

In pondering what happened to the shepherds, or the Magi, or the Samaritan woman at the well, or many of the miraculously healed; and having no following information, I came to a conclusion that these historical accounts are turned back on us. What happened afterward to you? What transpired in your life after you encountered Christ? This is the more important sequel to know and to live. One day you will sit down with one of or all of these shepherds and hear the rest of the story. But today it is your time to create your “after-story”. As you do, their “continuing story” may take on greater clarity in your mind and heart. What is the nature of your life as you leave the manger, or the cross, or the empty tomb, or the Mount of Ascension? What is your story going to be tomorrow? Will it be an account you will want to tell to your children, your family, and all you meet? And just possibly they will marvel at the things you are able to tell them.

Morbid! That is the sense one gets from this title. The young particularly think little, if at all, of death.  Even vigorous middle age folks do not expect a fatal heart attack will strike in the next moment. The elderly know it is on its way; just not today. I have been doing my daily worship lately in a nice copy of the 1853 Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. Every page of the text is encompassed with beautiful “illuminations” from woodcuts by Durer, Holbein, and others in imitation of Queen Elizabeth’s (the 1^st) Book of Christian prayers, to aid in devotion as one reads the Word and the collected prayers therein. One section of the book takes you through the Psalms in the course of a month, reading some on each day as Morning Prayer and others each evening as Evening Prayer. The illustrations around the text on every page immediately caught my eye. They are of individual people from every station, class, and age in life, of both sexes; and in each there is a skeleton, representing death, clinging to them, looking over their shoulder so to speak.

At first it is quite an unexpected sight. But it definitely gets you thinking biblically. The Word of God does not avoid the subject of death.  In fact, its very purpose is to prepare one for death; even to explain why death is, what it is, and what to do about it. If death is such a prominent subject on practically every page of the Bible, why not visually illustrate it to vividly remind one of its nearness? Nevertheless, our fallen nature is to avoid the very thought of our death or a loved one’s in any way we can. Hence we surmise it is “morbid thinking,” when it is actually righteous, truthful, sanctified thinking. When the Psalmist wrote about God, “He will preserve my going out and my coming in forevermore,” he knew well it did not mean he or his would avoid the experience of death, or that tomorrow on this earth is promised any of us.  The “sting” of death of which the Scripture speaks encompasses a number of truths, one of which, it is a subject we steer clear of as we would an oncoming car, or falling off a cliff. We naturally avoid things that will hurt or damage our bodies or separate us from those we love and for whom we care; we are sure it will cause great pain (sting)! And death is, at least this side of the divide, in the estimation of most, painful!

Paul quoted a verse of Psalm 44 in Romans 8, “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” This certainly speaks of dying to self so you might live now to Christ and serve others today for His sake. It also means that the thought of death in serving Christ and others, doing your duty as one whom Christ has purchased with His own blood, causes you to look death in the face without fear, no matter when God has planned it for you. And it means we are often to consider the potential nearness of our death, even as the Judge is near, right at your door (James 5:9).  The intent is the powerful perspective of your death being near should cause you to daily reorder your priorities in a right direction, and live with those around you in an increasingly sanctified manner; being more intentional of soon standing in the presence of your Savior. Such thinking is not morbid! It is living in freedom; not fearing the bonds or the sting of death.

Is God really gracious; is He really good, since pain and suffering are such a large part of the nature of this present world?  The Psalmist in Psalm 118 states emphatically that God is gracious; that He is good.  He then in the following three verses encourages Israel and those who fear the Lord in the strongest language possible to confess the truth that God is who He says He is: gracious, good, and merciful forever.  The strength of this plea is seen in its triple repetition.  But the crux of his argument is found in verses 8 and 9.  “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in man.  It is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in princes.”  “Man” represents humanity.  It represents you with your own observation and reasoning.  “Princes” includes every authority, expert, scientist, you name it; anyone whose observations you are tempted to trust over God’s Word.

Whether you accept the diagnosis or not, God tells us that man sees in part, that you see through murky glass, that our perspective is not His and is deficient.  We often lose sight of that fact and believe we see as well or better than the God of the Universe; and what is more there is always a shrewd, deceptive “voice” in our ear telling us our sight is just fine and can be fully trusted.  He spoke in Eve’s ear, “Did God really say?”

If we truly live, we live by faith.  Faith is receiving and trusting God at His word, even though our immediate observation tells us differently.  Human observation uninformed by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit is filled with error and will lead you astray.  Man is a marvelously made creature, and has accomplished a great deal in amassing knowledge concerning the universe, but he is still deficient in seeing it perfectly as it is and will be; he is deficient in wisdom in coming to the right conclusions of what he believes he knows and has observed.  History has taught us the truth of this.  In millenniums of history man has been unable to conquer the universe, the society, or eradicate evil.  Hope lies only in the message of God’s Word, and in accepting Him at His word.  This is where our confidence must find its refuge.

I do not pretend to understand the fullness of God’s plan from beginning to end.  His ways are higher than mine or yours.  It is why His plan and the present order of the universe are called in Scripture a MYSTERY.  I am willing to accept this mystery and to marvel at my gracious God as He works it out in His Son, Jesus Christ.  My triune God has given me plenty of reasons to know that my confidence is not in vain.  I pray this is true for you as well.

This past week I spoke at the funeral of a dear woman who had known me from the time I was 4 years of age. She and her husband were able and encouraging supporters of my pastoral ministry in the Pacific Northwest in the 70s and 80s. My sister married their son. Betty died at the age of 92 in a car accident. She was vigorous in mind and body though in her ninth decade of life. I asked at the funeral what the audience of friends and family would have considered the prime of her life to be: As a school girl in Korea where her parents were missionaries? At the age of the young picture on her memorial service program? When she married her dear husband with whom she lived 68 years? When she became a mother, or grandmother? Or so many other times in a life well lived in the faith? I told them that last Tuesday, the day the Lord took Betty home, was the prime of her life. And I told the audience TODAY is the prime of your life!

I said this because the Bible presents a gospel which is a TODAY gospel. Take the time to peruse a complete concordance and the Scripture references under the word TODAY and you will see what I am talking about. The gospel is a message for today, whenever today occurs in your life, whether this day or your today a week or a year from now, if indeed you still breathe. Every day you wake you awaken to a day which is the prime of your life, even if you are 92 and no longer 25 or 37 or 42. This is true because the Gospel message makes demands on you every today of your life. Whether or not we listen to the Lord’s voice that day, or if we harden our heart to his voice, it is the prime of your life; and it is another day of either the fleshing out of your salvation, or another day when the opportunity and the call was there but you hardened your heart to it. The Bible teaches that all your TODAYS are the day of salvation.  And every today you either reaffirm your salvation in your response, OR your answer by word, thought, or deed is a hardening of heart to His voice.

The caveat especially for you Bereans, who search the Scriptures to see whether what I am saying is true, is the condition in some lives of dementia, Alzheimers, or diminished conscious capacity for one reason or another. Frankly, I do not completely understand this occurrence in the life of the saints. I understand the physical aging process, but not the spiritual aspect of it. One day we will see clearly God’s purpose here. But if this is not your condition, and you would not be reading this if it were, this caveat presents no means of escaping the truth of the claims and demands of the gospel upon you. The living Word of God still says to you, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.”

Today, the prime of your life, what will your answer be? As Joshua of old challenges us, “Choose TODAY whom you will serve, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

One of the bright, shining “stars” in the march of the church through history wrote, “God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars” (Martin Luther). It is truly said that nature is the art of God, and who but a dunce can argue that no greater work of art has ever been painted, sculpted, designed or brought to be, than what the Almighty God has presented us in the universe He made. At one time in human history the night sky was the family’s joy and entertainment once the sun set and darkness enveloped the earth. They gathered on the flat roofs of their simple homes and learned and studied the heavens, watching the stars and planets in their courses and deciphering their language, while relishing the glory of God (see Psalm 19). Coupled with the specific revelation of God’s prophets, the gospel is never silent in His creation.

The knowledge and observation of the stars and their constellations led the magi to Christ; they prophesied the Messiah; they depicted the fall of Satan; they illuminate the “morning star” which rises in your heart when the Savior resides in you; they display the countless host of believers, the true sons and daughters of Abraham, just as the sands of the seashore; they are signs of the seasons, bearers of the message of the rainbow, and trumpeters to the return of Christ. The greatest star in speaking forth the majesty and power of God is the sun, set in the sky to warm and energize our home, the earth; to provide life to its inhabitants; and most enlightening of all, it is nature’s picture of our bridegroom, rejoicing to run His course on our behalf (Psalm 19:5), and to present His bride (you, the church) radiant and pure to the Father. These stars, the sun, and the moon are analogies, real in nature, living pictures, which God has given you to better understand His own nature and the nature of His Son in the work of redemption. We do not nearly reflect on them often or deeply enough so we might know Him better and enjoy Him more.

George Washington Carver said, “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.” And with Thackeray’s eloquence we are reminded, “And lo! In a flash of crimson splendor, with blazing scarlet clouds running before his chariot, and heralding his majestic approach, God’s sun rises upon the world.” Is this how you see each day, each night? For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, look and listen with curious faith so as not to miss creation’s voice emanating from the heart of the Father and the Son, by the inspiration of the Spirit. Every day and night you have the opportunity to look, listen, learn, and enjoy. . . . . . and give Him glory.

The Apostle Paul in our text was saying goodbye to well-loved brothers and sisters he had discipled in the faith and now knew he would not see again in this life.  His words of parting are some of the most poignant in all of Scripture; and if you can place yourself in the emotion of the moment, your eyes may water as you empathize with the sadness that brought tears to the Ephesian elders.  The circumstances of your daily life are not always so clear cut as Paul’s at this occasion.  On his way to Jerusalem, not unlike Jesus years earlier, he knew it was unlikely he would pass this way again.  There are certainly circumstances in some lives that tell them they may not see loved ones again before heaven, but we most often part with loved ones and friends thinking tomorrow will be another day like today; yet sometimes tomorrow never comes.

This week I was with my 94 year old father at his home in Colorado, together with my daughter, her husband, and two of my father’s thirty two great-grandchildren.  They were visiting from New York City.  As they were about to leave my father asked me to lead us all in prayer, even though there was the probability he would see them several more times before their return to New York.  I then spent the afternoon alone with him.  As I was leaving, with the knowledge I was having breakfast with him the next day, he once again wanted to part with prayer.  Now you may say, well sure, he is 94 and death could come sooner than later; so why not be more earnest in every goodbye?  But the truth is that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, even the youngest.

It may not always be an audible prayer as we say goodbye expecting to see each other at the end of the day or on the morrow, but there are thoughts and words that ought to come to mind in parting with those we love, friends, and those in whom we have an investment; at least, if we are a serious Christian, know life is fragile, and recognize life is best lived with eternity in view.  With some in our life, partings are numerous even if only hours, while for others it might be days, months or much longer.  Why should longer-separation goodbyes be more earnest than shorter, though that is our habit?  At the very least, we should be reminded to think “How well has my life and words conveyed in this time together, even brief, the whole counsel of God?”  Now you may think, “Wow, the whole counsel of God is a mouthful worthy of years of instruction, not moments.”  But this is not the warranted perspective.  Rather, whatever your time or conversation was about now, did I convey what is consistent with God’s whole counsel, in my words, demeanor, and thoughts?  This is not only a good exercise in “bringing every thought into captivity for Christ,” I think it is what God calls us to be and do more readily than the rut we allow to characterize our life.

My purpose is not to put words into your mouth, a formula that devolves into mindless ritual.  It is to encourage you to think more Christianly of goodbyes, parting, and the holy value of time together in conversation, doing work, parenting, counseling, advising, listening, joking, hanging out, et cetera.  The goodbye is a reminder that you both part under God’s mercy, and will meet again only because of His mercy.  Did you part “innocent of their blood?”  That seems heavy, but maybe this meaning of it will help: did you part with the words by which you most want to be remembered; were you a millstone or a “weight-lifter” in the trajectory of their faith; what thought have you left in their mind to spur them on to good works?  Whether encouraging or admonishing, teaching or modeling did you point them in the right direction?  Maybe you think this is all a bit laborious, unwieldy, and impractical. It really isn’t; it’s simply obedience.

Solving mysteries demands a detective-like curiosity. That is why so many people love mystery novels. But by the last page they “know who dun it.” The once mystery is mystery no longer. I think this is the same way in which many consciously or unconsciously interpret the “mystery” of the gospel. Once you have heard the gospel preached, and you are acquainted, or so you think, with what the Bible says of the gospel and of God, the mystery is gone. You get it! It becomes “old hat.” The “mystery” is mystery no longer. In YOUR mind it is solved.

Well, this is NOT the meaning of “mystery” as in the “mystery of God” or the “mystery of the gospel!” It is not even the meaning of “mystery” in the mystery of husband and wife oneness. That is a lifetime study if there ever was one. We might see more clearly the mystery of being “ONE” in marriage and the male and female psyche and God’s creative rationale for making man male and female as He did, once we get to heaven, but anyone who says he or she gets it now? You can be sure they are blowing smoke! On the other hand, the mystery of God can never be fully comprehended by us in all its manifold depths even in heaven, when we see not dimly, but face to face.” Still every unfolding of the mystery in our mind and experience is a delight that can be matched nowhere else. It is the gift that never stops giving.  Augustine rightly said centuries ago, “If you can comprehend it, it’s not God.” We are finite creatures, and though we will live forever, we will never become God, nor plumb the depths of His immensity. But when you develop a mindset that you know everything there is to know, or as much as you think it is essential for you to know, curiosity to know Him dies, and so do you.  

Passionate curiosity to know God is your lifeline to all that lies in your future; it is your purpose for being. As the Westminster Catechism begins, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever;” this is exactly what you are doing when you exercise an indefatigable curiosity to never cease exploring the frontier of the wonder and glory of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; to know Him, and yet never come to the end of Him. Curiosity propels us to relentlessly pursue finding out many things in life, some of which we are better off not knowing; the sense in which “curiosity killed the cat” is prophetically true for us. Our curiosity pursues such trivial things of this world, in light of eternity; like what did Charlie Sheen say or do this week. Or what is the latest gossip? Or how many hours can I spend on Facebook? Unlike such time consuming trivia that leads eventually to deep regrets about time ill-spent, curiosity about the mystery of God, compelling your heart and mind to search out every facet of His being, leads to one enjoyment after another with no end and no regret.

My wife and I once drove along the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Every numerous curve of this literal ribbon of highway clinging to the side of the cliff above the spectacular blue Mediterranean opened another vista which we repeatedly thought could not be surpassed; and yet it was, at the very next curve. As you purposefully stir and engage the curiosity of your heart and mind in pursuit of the mystery of God, it will reward you with one discovery after another, delving into the depths of who He is. In that unfolding process you will also discover yourself, a glorious being upon whom He has chosen to bestow glory. And, you will then realize you have finally come home!

How shall we express a passion for worship?

A number of the older military chapels I have been in are decorated with beautiful stained glass windows some of which were designed to honor soldiers who died in battle for their country. During a worship service in such a chapel a young boy whispered to his father, sitting next to him in the pew, asking who the figures were in the stained glass windows. The father whispered back that they were soldiers who died in the service; to which the boy asked, “Was it the morning or the evening service?”  I think many would agree that such feelings are not limited to children. The Prime Minister of England at the close of the First World War, David Lloyd George, once wrote: “When I was a boy, the thought of Heaven used to frighten me more than the thought of Hell. I pictured Heaven as a place where time would be perpetual Sundays, with perpetual services from which there would be no escape.” Whatever your pictures of Heaven may be, the fact remains that the Scriptures declare the supreme activity of your life to be worship of the living God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If it is your supreme activity in life should it not be something about which you are keenly passionate?

The first occurrence of the word “worship” in the Bible is in Genesis 22, the account of Abraham and his son Isaac climbing to the top of Mt. Moriah that they might worship. What astounds me as I read this story is the earnest, incredible faith which Abraham displays in responding to the God he sees and who he knows as his God. It is here in Genesis 22 that I begin to understand why Abraham is given so much space in the “Hall of Fame” chapter of faith of Hebrews 11. There will be little passion for worshipping God if our faith does not see Him as Abraham did, nor if what was foretold by Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah is not right at the heart of your worship.

Centuries later in the same spot where Abraham once laid Isaac on an altar, King David builds another  altar for worship, and makes a statement of faith which is an essential ingredient of passion for worship: “I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24) Is worship so vital to our life that we will sacrifice whatever it takes for it? As the people of God in Malachi 1, do we bring our leftovers of mind and heart to the worship of the living God? They worshipped God Malachi said, but clearly their heart wasn’t in it. Just look at the offerings they brought (Malachi 1:7-9). In a spiritual sense is this what we bring?

In the last book of the Bible, the Living Lord and King of the Church directs the Apostle John to write to professing believers who were in the Church at Laodicea. He essentially says to them, “Here I am! I am at your heart’s door and I am knocking. If you will open the door I will come in and eat with you and you with me.” This is not written to unbelievers, but to those who claimed Christ as their Lord, yet did not have a passion for worshipping Him (look at Rev. 3:14-22), which is akin to “eating” with Him as in Psalm 23:5 or Luke 24:30-31. Eating with Him is to recognize Him, converse with Him, be fed by Him, and be satisfied (as you would at a fine meal) with His real presence. Too often we get hung up on the form of worship while completely ignoring the Person of our worship.

Passion for worship doesn’t just happen. It is fueled by an earnest faith to whom the words “I am the resurrection and the life” mean just what they say. He can resurrect a dead passion. It recognizes that passion costs and will sacrifice what it takes to obtain it. And it will open the door and break bread with Him, no matter what distraction attempts to keep the door closed.